The choice of novel for the Bathurst Writers' and Readers' Festival's Great Festival Read will invite local literature fans to discuss the history and significance of the region's Wiradyuri origins.
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The Yield, written by Tara June Winch, explores the significance of Wiradyuri culture from historical and contemporary perspectives, with a key focus on dispossession and endurance.
Festival co-organiser Jenny Barry said The Yield was deemed a perfect fit for this year's Great Festival Read.
"In a lot of ways, this book is a celebration of Wiradyuri culture, language and storytelling," Ms Barry said.
"The story follows a woman who returns from overseas to attend her grandfather's funeral and through both characters, you get a mix of the traumatic past [ie. Stolen Generations-era missions] and how it lead to a shared effort to heal the scars in the present."
With The Yield's strong focus on Wiradyuri culture and values, local elders Yanhadarrambal Jade Flynn, Wirribee Leanna Carr-Smith and Charles Sturt University head of Indigenous Australian curriculum and resources Dr Barbara Hill have been invited to join the panel.
They will be joined by Bathurst Memorial Entertainment Centre [BMEC] manager Stephen Champion, Bathurst Library's Lisa Holloway and Margaret Ling.
"We've always wanted to involve the Wiradyuri elders more at the festival, and this year's choice of novel provides the perfect background for them to lead the discussion," festival co-organiser Kylie Shead said.
"Everyone will read the book first, then congregate at BMEC for a discussion with the panellists, and the standout aspect of the Great Festival Read is hearing differing interpretations on the novel of choice."
Ms Barry said the Great Festival Read novel is chosen each year on the basis of its connection to the surrounding region.
"Last year, we featured a novel by Blue Mountains-based author Trevor Shearston [Hare's Fur] and the year before, we focused on The Lucky Galah, the debut novel by Bathurst's Tracy Sorensen," Ms Barry said.
The festival will run from May 1 to 3 at BMEC. An official program is due to be announced in the coming weeks.
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Sam Bolt
"I'm not in the business of telling people what to do. I'm much more in the business of describing things, situations and stuff like that and leaving them out there, and you can make up your minds about them." -Nick Cave
"I'm not in the business of telling people what to do. I'm much more in the business of describing things, situations and stuff like that and leaving them out there, and you can make up your minds about them." -Nick Cave
