Melbourne Writers Festival diary dates

The Melbourne Writers Festival, which opens later this month, is bearing down like some kind of benign leviathan. And this year there are a few events that might appeal to theatrenauts. There isn't a category on the website called "theatre", so I'm listing some here so you can put them straight into your diary.

The Arrival: A performance of Sydney composer Ben Walsh's sonic-scape of Sean Tan's The Arrival, performed by Orkestra of the Underground. Melbourne Recital Centre, 7.30, August 26.

New Indie Theatre: I'll be chairing what promises to be a lively discussion on the independent scene with Declan Greene, Anne Louise Sarks and Angus Cerini. ACMI Cinema 1, 4pm, August 28.

In Conversation: Daniel Keene. Multiply awarded playwright Keene talks to Deborah Leiser-Moore about working in France, the Keene/Taylor Theatre Project and so on. 11.30am, The Cube, September 2.

Meant To Be Spoken: Declan Greene, Lally Katz, Katy Warner, Daniel Keene, Robert Reid, Peta Brady and Angus Cerini read their own work. Hosted by Deborah Leiser-Moore. ACMI The Cube, 7pm September 3.

Essaying Opinion: Do Richard Flanagan, Robert Manne and Marieke Hardy think we are being served well by our publishers and thinkers? Chaired by me. 11.30am at the BMW Edge, September 3. (Ok, not theatre, but hey.)

Writing for theatre workshop: Lally Katz. Wheeler Centre, 2pm September 4.

There are many more events, literally hundreds of them, but you can find that out for yourself. The program and booking details are available here. My personal suggestion is not to miss Eliot Weinberger because OMG Eliot Weinberger is coming OMG. Disclaimer: I'm a member of the Programming Committee for the MWF. No, I didn't suggest programming Keene.