FAQs

Melbourne Writers Festival begins Thursday 8 September 2022 with our Opening Night Address and runs until Sunday 11 September.

The full program will be announced on 27 July, with tickets on sale the next day.

It will also be released in The Age as a lift-out in Spectrum on Saturday 30 July.

Over 150 Festival events will take place in venues across the City of Melbourne and greater Melbourne.

To read more about our venues, visit our venues page.

Volunteer positions will be advertisedhere.

Sign up to our eNews to receive the latest information on volunteer and employment opportunities.

Most events at MWF are ticketed and require a booking, available via our website.

You can purchase tickets at our website (mwf.com.au), or by contacting our box office team at boxoffice@mwf.com.au or on (03) 9999 1199

A selection of events can be attended for free on a walk-up, ‘first in, first served’ basis with no booking required. Capacity is limited at these free events, so we recommend arriving at the venue early to avoid missing out on a seat.

Ticket prices for Festival events vary. Once the program is launched in July, please refer to the event listing on the printed program or our website to find out pricings.

MWF charges a booking fee for all transactions made on the MWF website, over the phone and in person to cover the costs of the booking service.

This fee is determined as a percentage of sale:
$0 or FREE: $0
$1.00–25.00: $2.20
$25.01–75.00: $3.85
$75.01–100.00: $4.95
$100.01–400.00: $6.05
$400.01 or more: $7.70

This year, MWF is providing e-tickets only.

For live events, your e-tickets will arrive in your inbox shortly after booking. You can bring a physical printout of your ticket to each event or show it on a mobile device.

Tickets will have been sent to your email. Please check your junk or spam folder if you cannot locate your tickets in your primary inbox.

If you are still unable to locate your tickets, please email ticketing@mwf.com.au with your full name and the email address used to book your tickets and our box office staff will assist you.

If you can’t locate your e-tickets on the day of your event, please speak to one of our friendly volunteers who will assist you.

Yes. Tickets are available to purchase online up until the event commences.

To book an accessibility ticket, including if you'd like to be seated near an Auslan interpreter, please contact our box office team at ticketing@mwf.com.au or on (03) 9999 1199

MWF also offers a no-cost ticket to Companion Card holders with the purchase of a ticket.

Please visit our Access page for more info.

Concession prices are available for most MWF events. If you hold any of the following, you’re eligible for a concession priced ticket.

- Children aged 18 years and under
- Pensioners
- Senior Card holders
- Companion Card holders
- Health Care Card holders
- Full Time Student Card holders

Come prepared to show your proof of concession with your ticket at the venue.

For more information, please email boxoffice@mwf.com.au or call (03) 9999 1199

The Festival does not offer exchanges or refunds on tickets, except when the event has been cancelled. For more information, see our Terms and Conditions of Sale.

The safety and wellbeing of our staff, volunteers, audiences and artists is our top priority. We encourage you to stay at home if you are feeling unwell or have symptoms of COVID.

So that you can still book tickets with confidence, we have introduced some additional flexibility to our ticketing and refund policy.

You will be entitled to a refund or exchange if you:
• are required to self-isolate or quarantine (and the event falls within the isolation/quarantine period)
• have COVID-like symptoms, have tested positive for COVID (including rapid antigen test), and/or are awaiting PCR test results.

Please contact us via email on ticketing@mwf.com.au before 10am on the day of your event to arrange a refund or exchange. MWF is unable to provide a refund or exchange after the event.

Festival events are one hour in duration, unless otherwise stated.

This excludes our writing workshop series.

Books will be available for purchase at Readings bookshop at the Festival.

Readings have books by authors featured across the entire program, including latest releases and earlier works of fiction, non-fiction, poetry, essays, and more.

Yes. Please note that in the interest of keeping our authors and readers safe and comfortable, masks will be required for book signings.

MWF Digital events are available individually on a Pay What You Can basis. If you want to be part of the whole story, you can purchase an all-in pass for $90 for all 10 online events.

You can access MWF Digital events through your online account. Simply log in here and click the 'On Demand' icon in the 'My Account' section.

You will need to create an account to purchase tickets online. There are two ways to create an account:

1. Click on the 'Account' link at the top of the page
2. Or select 'Check Out' when finalising a booking.

When creating an account after 'Check Out', you will be prompted by two options: 'Existing Customer' and 'New Customer'. Please type (do not cut and paste) your email address into the 'New Customer' field and select 'Continue'.

You will need to fill out the mandatory fields, including creating a password. Your password should include a combination of letters and numbers for your personal security.

To log in online, select 'Account' at the top of the page. You will be prompted for your email address and password. Select 'Log In'.

Select 'Account' at the top of the page. Underneath the login area is a link that says 'Forgotten Your Login?'. Select this, enter your email address and select 'Continue'. A temporary password will be emailed to you. Use this to log in. You will need to type this password, not copy and paste it. You will immediately be prompted to create a new password.

You must be logged into your account. Ensure you have selected 'Account' at the top of the page. Under the 'Your Account' header select 'Edit Your Details'. Change contact details and select 'Update'.

You must be logged into your account. Ensure you have selected 'Account' at the top of the page. Under the 'Your Account' header, select 'Edit Your Details'. Enter your new password twice (for confirmation) and select 'Update'.

Select a session. Specify the ticket quantity for each ticket type (e.g. one $20 ticket) from the drop-down list. If more than 10 tickets are required, use the drop-down to add additional tickets to the cart. Select 'Add to Cart'.

Select 'Cart' at the top of the page to view your cart. To make changes, select 'Edit Cart'. Change the quantity of tickets as required and select ‘Update’. You can also delete sessions by selecting the garbage can icon next to the line item. To clear your cart and start again, select 'Clear'.

To continue shopping, select 'Browse for Further Events'. This will take you back to the program listing.

Select 'My Cart'. Confirm the sessions, dates and quantities listed are correct. When satisfied, select 'Check Out' to proceed to the booking page. You will need to log in or create a new account before finalising payment. Details for this are listed above.

Online payments are accepted through MasterCard or Visa credit cards only. All bookings incur a booking fee with the exception of ticket purchased at $0. Please ensure that you read the Terms and Conditions as you will be bound by these conditions as soon as the booking is finalised.

Select 'Confirm Booking'. You will be taken to a booking confirmation page, listing your booking reference number. You will receive a confirmation email within minutes which will contain your tickets and receipt.

Use the Wishlist to create a selection of events you would like to attend. Please note that adding events to the Wishlist does not purchase a ticket; you will need to complete this process separately.

Using the Wishlist also allows you to create a schedule for your saved sessions, shareable by email, Facebook, Twitter or PDF.