Event Type: Free

Celebrate Hobart’s designation as a UNESCO City of Literature at Hobart LitFest!

Join us for a dynamic program showcasing Tasmania’s finest writers, with engaging panels, book launches, interactive workshops, and intimate readings. This is an incredible opportunity to connect with the literary talent that makes Hobart unique. The festival will culminate in an exciting Independent Book Fair, where you can discover and support local independent authors and publishers. Don’t miss out on this celebration of words, culture, and creativity in the heart of Tasmania.

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Saturday Program

Saturday 5^th April 2025 – 12:00PM
Saturday Ticket / Full Festival Ticket

Opening Lines and Unresolved Issues: How to begin and how to end a really good story
Katherine Johnson, Kathryn Lomer and Robbie Arnott are all Award-winning Tasmanian authors, who will be sharing some insights as to how they set their opening scenes, what to say at the end, and what might be best left unsaid.

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Saturday 5^th April 2025 – 1:15PM
Saturday Ticket / Full Festival Ticket

People are so Gullible: Do Facts in History even matter anymore?
Our world is full of heavy words and grand proclamations hurled with such passion and force because someone wants us to believe them. But saying something does not make it so. Esteemed Tasmanian historians Hamish Maxwell-Stewart, Robert Cox and Alison Alexander remind us of the value of Fact and Evidence in Writing History.

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Saturday 5^th April 2025 – 2:30PM
Saturday Ticket / Full Festival Ticket

Short stories and Long shots: Weaving the improbable with the credible (in under 5,000 words)
The short story has been a valued and favoured form for writers and readers for hundreds of years. What art is there in fashioning an engaging tale without the freedom of unlimited length.  Cameron Hindrum, Leigh Swinbourne and Mallika Naguran have each published collections of short stories, and will share their thoughts on how to tame big ideas in order to reveal all that the reader needs to know, sometimes in only a few pages.

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Saturday 5^th April 2025 – 3:45PM
Saturday Ticket / Full Festival Ticket

Burning Bridges, Burning Books & Burning Issues
We have always lauded a writer’s courage to say what needs to be said. With subtlety and satire, history’s sacred cows have been subjected to scrutiny. Award-winning Tasmanian authors, including Adam Ouston, Gina Mercer, and Ben Walter ponder the rights and obligations of the contemporary writer to say what they wish to say in an increasingly complex world.

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Saturday 5^th April 2025 – 5PM
Saturday Ticket / Full Festival Ticket

A Distillation of the Language: Why Poetry is the highest form of writing.
In this provocation, Pete Hay, Anne Kellas, and Sarah Day; three of Tasmania’s most highly regarded poets, will share why Poetry is their chosen form, and how Poetry, alone, allows human concerns, both personal and universal, to co-exist, and to be articulated within the most economic use of the English language.

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Saturday 5^th April 2025 – 7:30PM
Saturday Ticket / Full Festival Ticket

The Great Literary Debate – Plotting vs Pantsing
“It’s better to fly by the seat of your pants than plan and plot your book in detail.”

Come and watch local Tasmanian authors battle out this contentious topic while their tongues remain firmly planted in their cheeks.

The Panelists

Lissa Bilyk, Ruth Amos, DK Girl, Lou Powers, David Webby, Simon Thiessen, and Cary Lenehan

Facilitated by Mark Mannock. Adjudicated by the audience!

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Our Sponsors

Salamanca Art Centre’s Hobart LitFest is supported by the City of Hobart’s Event Grants Program.

We would like to thank the following sponsors for their generous support.

Celebrate Hobart’s designation as a UNESCO City of Literature at Hobart LitFest!

Join us for a dynamic program showcasing Tasmania’s finest writers, with engaging panels, book launches, interactive workshops, and intimate readings. This is an incredible opportunity to connect with the literary talent that makes Hobart unique. The festival will culminate in an exciting Independent Book Fair, where you can discover and support local independent authors and publishers. Don’t miss out on this celebration of words, culture, and creativity in the heart of Tasmania.

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Friday Program

Friday 4^th April 2025 – 4:00PM
Friday Ticket / Full Festival Ticket

Festival Hub Open
Welcome to the Hobart LitFest Hub – a cozy retreat for ticket holders! Enjoy complimentary tea and coffee as you unwind in a comfortable space designed for writer and readers alike. Whether you’re here to sit back with a good book, jot down your thoughts, or simply connect with fellow festivalgoers, our hub offers a perfect escape. Come in, recharge, and take a moment to enjoy the slightly quieter side of the festival.

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Friday 4^th April 2025 – 5:30PM
Friday Ticket / Full Festival Ticket

Tasmanian Literary Prize Longlist Open Mic
Join us for a special Open Mic session featuring Tasmanian Literary Prize Longlist authors! This intimate event offers a chance to hear short snippets of their captivating works, as they share their stories and voices with Hobart audiences. Don’t miss the opportunity to experience firsthand the talent and creativity of these exciting authors.

Presenting Authors : Susan Austin, Ian Broinowski, and Leigh Swinbourne

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Friday 4^th April 2025 – 7:00PM
Friday Ticket / Full Festival Ticket

Scratch Night with Bad Company Theatre
Step into the creative world of Hobart’s emerging playwrights at our Scratch Night! Join us for an evening of play readings, showcasing new works by up-and-coming local writers. Facilitated by the talented team at Bad Company Theatre, this is a unique opportunity to experience raw, untapped stories in their early stages. Be part of the creative process, offer feedback, and witness the future of Hobart theatre unfold!

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Friday 4^th April 2025 – 8:15PM
Friday Ticket / Full Festival Ticket

JUDGE A BOOK BY ITS COVER
Join PROTEA Impro as we perform a classic novel in JUDGE A BOOK BY ITS COVER. Which book? Well that’s up to you! As a Hobart LitFest special treat we’ll be asking about your favourite romance novels, romantic characters and Tas literature and then we’ll see them come to life in a stunning (or bewildering) improvised stage adaptation. Will it be a faithful adaptation? Not even close: Just give us some titles, some plot points, maybe a couple of characters and we’ll do the rest.

See you on Friday April 4th for 
JUDGE A BOOK BY ITS COVER 
‘Let’s build a romance novel!’

PROTEA Impro
PROTEA Impro is Tasmania’s leading improvised theatre company. Specialising in full length plays and narrative works which they have performed across the country and overseas. They also hold the Tasmanian licence for Theatresports™️ which they perform monthly at The Founders Room SAC. 

PROTEA Impro’s 2025 season is supported by Salamanca Arts Centre 

Tasmanian improvisation. Follow us on Insta @proteaimpro

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Our Sponsors

Salamanca Art Centre’s Hobart LitFest is supported by the City of Hobart’s Event Grants Program.

We would like to thank the following sponsors for their generous support.

Celebrate Hobart’s designation as a UNESCO City of Literature at Hobart LitFest!

Join us for a dynamic program showcasing Tasmania’s finest writers, with engaging panels, book launches, interactive workshops, and intimate readings. This is an incredible opportunity to connect with the literary talent that makes Hobart unique. The festival will culminate in an exciting Independent Book Fair, where you can discover and support local independent authors and publishers. Don’t miss out on this celebration of words, culture, and creativity in the heart of Tasmania.

Salamanca Arts Centre’s Hobart LitFest runs from Thursday 3^rd until Saturday 12^th April 2025 in the Long Gallery and is supported by the City of Hobart, and sponsored by Forty South Tasmania, Island Magazine, The Hobart Bookshop, and many other Tasmanian organisations, groups, and businesses.

Full Program for the Hobart LitFest 2025 can be found online HERE

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Thursday 3^rd April 2025 – 6:30PM
Opening Event including Keynote Speech by Peter Timms

How we have become a City of Literature & how we compare
Join us for the official opening of the festival followed by a keynote speech by Peter Timms, through which we will explore the journey that led to our city being recognised as a UNESCO City of Literature. Delve into the rich literary history, cultural influences, and key milestones that have shaped our city’s identity in the literary world. We’ll also compare our literary standing to other global cities, highlighting what sets us apart and what we can learn from their successes. Don’t miss this chance to reflect on our literary legacy and future over drinks and nibbles!

About the Presenter
Peter Timms held curatorial positions in Australian museums between 1973 and 1988. He was awarded a Churchill Fellowship in 1984 and an Australia Council Senior Writers’ Fellowship in 1994. Since 1988 he has been a freelance journalist and author, including five years as editor of Art Monthly Australia and art critic for The Age. Peter has published eleven books, including Australian Studio Pottery, Making Nature, What’s Wrong with Contemporary Art?, Australia’s Quarter Acre, Private Lives, and Hobart. His first novel, Asking for Trouble, was published by HarperCollins in 2014. His most recent book is Silliness: a Serious History.

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Full Program for the Hobart LitFest 2025 can be found online HERE

Find out more about Friday’s Program HERE

Find out more about Saturday’s Program HERE

Find out more about Sunday’s Program HERE

Find out more about Week Two’s Program HERE

\Find out more about the artists involved HERE

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Our Sponsors

Salamanca Art Centre’s Hobart LitFest is supported by the City of Hobart’s Event Grants Program.

We would like to thank the following sponsors for their generous support.

Exhibition Dates :
Friday 7 – Friday 28 March 2025
Monday – Friday 9:00am – 5:00pm
Saturday 8 & 15 March ONLY 10:00am – 2:30pm
Sundays & Public Holidays CLOSED

Opening Event :
Friday 7 March 2024, 5:30pm – 7:30pm

Meet Bevan.  Bevan likes flowers.  If Bevan could wear clothes he would wear florals.  Preferably velvet, maybe a jumpsuit. But Bevan is a bee, and bees don’t do that.

This narrative series by Jo Soszynski (Plum Birdy) follows Bevan the bee through his day.  Full of whimsy and borderline nonsensical musings, these paintings and accompanying text draw on the complexities of our inner worlds to explore themes of conformity and society’s inclination towards busyness.

Made for outdoor display, these works are created with exterior paints and materials and are intended to bring colour and quirky fun to a back fence or outdoor area.

Come and enjoy a fantastic escapade with Bevan.

Betty Nolan, Caroline McGregor, Jack Braudis

Exhibition Dates :
19 – 31 March 2025
Sunday – Friday 10:00am – 5:00pm 
10am – 5pm daily

Opening event:

21 March, 2025 | 6pm

Three painters, Betty Nolan, Caroline McGregor and Jack Braudis daub , draw, splash and dribble in an investigation into how abstract painting expresses meaning beyond observed reality.

Betty Nolan is an expressive abstract painter trained at Unitas and the University of Newcastle. Her current works build on previous exhibitions themed on space tourism, feminism and parallels between the body and the landscape.

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Caroline McGregor is an abstract artist with a Masters in Fine Arts from the National Art School (Darlinghurst). A sculptor as well as painter her works are interested in the liminal, (the space between things) and are characterised by a dark monochromatic subtlety whether in charcoal, oils or welded steel.

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Jack Braudis is best known as a painter of exuberant plein air landscapes. Characterised by thick richly textured oil paint his depiction of the landscape is influenced by the Rockport School in North America. This new work retains the exuberance of chasing the colour and light in Southern Tasmania but harks back to work undertaken at university in Boston. Mark Tobey, the New York Abstract Expressionists and Kandinsky of course are fundamental to his body of work.

Opening Event :
Friday 7 March 2025, 5:30pm – 7:30pm

Exhibition Dates :
Friday 7 – Monday 31 March 2025
Monday – Friday 9:00am – 5:00pm
Saturday 8,15 & 29 March 2025 10:30am – 2:30pm
**CLOSED on Sat 22 March 2025**
Sundays & Public Holidays CLOSED

Flora Notata by Angela Anderson, explores the relationship between people and plants in the urban environment via an immersive exhibition of Cyanotype prints, video projections, and sculptural installations.

“Flora Notata (Latin: ‘noted plants) is a meditation on plants and place; of getting to know the natural environments we live in, and ourselves, better.

Although I greatly enjoy the natural world around me, I realised that I barely noticed specific plants, or knew the names, origins, or habits, of many of those that I encounter daily. I decided to pay more attention in the places I spent time in to come to know that which I walked among.

I duly photographed and identified the foliage I noticed with an App. I came across flora endemic to the areas I was in and observed introduced plants, trees and weeds everywhere. I learned their names – in Latin – their origins, distribution, and growing habits. This was useful information at the time (much of it hasn’t stuck in my memory), but it lacked the feeling of wonder and majesty that the plants imparted: of the many and varied designs, the shadows of their unique forms, the way they moved and sounded in the breeze. 

Through the lens of the Cyanotype process – a 180-year-old camera-less photographic technique that produces images in shades of blue – the shadow selves of the plants revealed themselves. In making the prints many plant specimens resisted laying flat and I didn’t force them. This sense of movement seems fitting to the dynamic nature of plants in the environment – growing, blooming, blighted, fading, and decaying in continuous cycles, basking in the sun, hiding in or casting shade, bending to the breeze and the weather. Additionally, I video captured plants in motion and toned the resulting vignettes Cyanotype-blue to capture the sensory experience of the living world.

Curious about the experiences of others, I invited others to gather plants from their gardens for me to make prints of. The selections they made revealed individual values and aesthetics influenced by family background and social, cultural, and environmental conditions. They are both personal maps and  collective stories of place.

This small survey of plants serves as a reminder of the beauty and knowledge that grows when we pay attention. I invite you to explore your own everyday environment to see what you discover out there and also within yourself.”
– Angela Anderson

Every Friday evening (weather pending)
5:30pm – 7:30pm

FREE EVENT

**NO Rektango on the following Fridays in 2025 :
Friday 18 April 2025 (Good Friday)
Friday 1 August 2025

Over 20 years old and still going strong, Rektango is a weekly event held every Friday in Salamanca Art Centre’s own enchanting Courtyard. Hemmed in by a cliff face stretching up to Battery Point, people from all walks of life gather for live music every Friday evening between 5:30pm and 7:30pm.

It’s a FREE EVENT event run by the musicians themselves, with lots of dancing, catching up with old friends or meeting new ones. There’s hot mulled wine and fires in the winter, sangria in the summer, plus beers, ciders and wine and it always goes ahead unless rained out. The music may be anything from gypsy swing, cool funk or latin sambas to daft disco depending on when you drop in, one things we can promise is there will always be plenty of dancing.

To find out who is playing this week – or if tonight’s performance has been cancelled due to bad weather – check Rektango’s facebook page HERE

Jo Soszynski

Exhibition Dates :
6 March, 2025 – 6 April, 2025
**Installation viewable 24/7

“If you don’t know the trees you may be lost in the forest, but if you don’t know the stories you may be lost in life.” – Siberian Elder

Ancestry often reads like a story.  

Based on family letters and documents, this installation of sculpture, painting and objects explores the intersection between memory and reality.

It draws on stories of a family’s deportation out of Poland and of childhoods lost during World War Two.  From imprisonment in a Siberian working camp, to being orphaned in the Uzbeki cottonfields, to a new life in the West.

Here is a place where narratives overlap, and time and space merge.

Dedicated to Ludmila Goggin (1931 – 2024) who passed away during the making of this exhibition.  She was the last of the Bartniczak children.

Opening Event :
Thursday 20 March 2025, 6:00pm – 8:00pm

Exhibition Dates :
Thursday 20 – Monday 31 March 2025
10:00am – 3:00pm daily

An exhibition of works created as a result of the Struth Ruth! Group Residency at Melaleuca near Bathurst Harbour.  

Presented by the Struth Ruth! Art Group (consisting of graduates and non-graduate artists).

Featured Artists include : Helen Jessup, Trudy Humphries, Jane Broad, Karen Vincent, Janne Mooney, Helen Spaulding, and Susan Kenny.

The exhibition was inspired by a trip to the South West of Tasmania. The paintings are a showcase and a unique representation of our wonderful island.  

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Helen Jessup

Helen Jessup reinvented herself as a painter following retirement from her working life as a TAFE teacher, social worker and academic.  Robin Mary Calvert was her primary art teacher until she commenced a Bachelor of Fine Arts in 2013 completing in 2018. Helen joined Struth Ruth! in 2019. She has participated in many group, solo and competition exhibitions since retirement, including a recent residency at Derby. An exhibition displaying works generated from this residency opened in December 2023 and ran over the summer.

Helen paints and shows with several groups regularly, including weekly with local “Struth Ruth!”, Sunny Coasters residential bi annual En Plein Air group based in Orford, Images of Tasmania, an annual group or Art School alumni, and POGO, a  Hobart Based En Plein Air community. She is a member of Huon Art Exhibition Group, Cygnet, showing at the Lovett Gallery.

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Trudy Humphries

Born and raised on the northwest coast of Tasmania, Trudy Humphries has been immersed in the world of art for as long as she can remember. Her creative practice is deeply rooted in the landscapes around her, expressed through watercolour and acrylic painting. While Trudy’s current focus is inspired by nature, her artistic journey has also included installation art, exploring spacial dynamics, materiality, and conceptual narratives.

Trudy’s dedication to art extends beyond her personal practice – she spent approximately a decade teaching in various schools, as well as at the University of Tasmania (UTAS) and TAFE, guiding students in their own artistic explorations.

Trudy holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts (1996) and First Class Honours BFA (1999) from UTAS. In 2004, she completed a Master of Fine Arts with a focus on installation art. Furthering her commitment to education, she earned a Bachelor of Teaching in 2008.

Her work is influenced by artists such as Max Angus, Patricia Giles, Roger Murphy, Rosemary Mastnak, and Amanda Hyatt, whose approaches to colour, light, and atmosphere continue to inspire her practice.

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Jane Broad

Jane Broad completed her Bachelor of Fine Arts as a mature age student whilst working as a social worker. She has worked extensively with disadvantaged migrants both in tertiary education and in ESL contexts, and these experiences have informed her work, although she does also enjoy painting landscape and abstract

Jane has had three Solo Exhibitions, including one on Refugee experiences at the Moonah Arts Centre and participated in three group exhibitions. She was also a participant in the ‘Transformation’ mural exhibition.

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Karen Vincent

Karen Vincent has been painting since her first watercolour class with Tasmanian art teacher Terry Gough in the ’90s. Travels around Australia, Europe and in the United States, her second home, have involved mostly Plein Aire excursions with fellow artists and numerous exhibitions featuring natural landscapes.

Since returning to live in Tasmania, on the beautiful South Arm Peninsula, she has been increasingly working with other mediums and particularly enjoys pastel and acrylics. Seldom found in her art studio, Karen prefers the company of fellow artists working together to try to ‘capture’ the unique physical and spiritual qualities of Tasmania in the wild.

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Janne Mooney

Janne Mooney was originally a dental therapist but completed her B Fin Arts as a mature age student (with 3 children) majoring in ceramics. She has been an art teacher however this has been expressed through teaching ESL students at Rosny College and special needs students at St Francis.

Janne decided to learn to paint as a vehicle to work collectively with others as she found ceramics an isolating experience. She also joined Robin Mary Calvert’s group, becoming a founding member of the current group after several years with Robin Mary. Janne has participated in solo and group shows as well as curated many exhibitions for her students over the years  

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Helen Spaulding

Life circumstances, ie born in the 1950’s, female, married young, three children required Helen to express her artistic leanings as a hairdresser running a hairdressing salon, and the requirements of homemaking. On retirement she also commenced classes with Robin Mary Calvert and was a founding member in what has become ”Struth Ruth!”

Helen participated in several annual group exhibitions whilst part of Robin Mary Calvert’s group and has had works hung with the Struth Ruth group at local venues including Meadowbank / Coal valley Winery, Amaze Richmond and the commission at Molly’s Run, Cidery at Richmond.

She has also completed several commissioned works and has sold at the Rotary Art Exhibition at Wrest Point.

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Susan Kenny

Susan Kenny’s interest in art began at school and continued in a very protracted fashion for many years. Marriage, family and moving around the state made it difficult to complete her Fine Arts Degree.

She attended many Adult Ed art classes, painting weekends, and joined a painting group. Her journey certainly was rekindled over the past ten years when she joined Struth Ruth! She paints what pleases her, animals, landscapes, portraits, still life and occasionally abstract. Her painting also includes portraits and some commissioned landscapes, working indoors mostly from photographs she has taken, given our Tasmanian weather. She has been inspired recently to give Plein Air and watercolour a go. Her paintings are well received, participating in a Mural for Mollies Run Cidery, exhibiting at Amaze and Coal Valley Vineyard at Richmond. She paints mostly in Acrylic but as her journey continues she is keen to paint in oils too. That journey never ends.

Exhibition Dates :
Friday 7 – Sunday 16 February 2025
Friday – Sunday 10am – 5pm
Monday – Thursday 10am – 4pm

Opening Event :
5:30pm Thursday 6 February 2025

Photographer, Tom Polacheck’s exhibition highlights Madagascar’s rich maritime heritage, where wooden boats blend influences from Southeast Asian outrigger canoes, Arab dhows, and Western schooners along the island’s 3,000 km coastline.

A photo and video exhibition that celebrates the 1000s of traditional wooden boats that still prevail along Madagascar’s 3000km coast line. Madagascar is the last large coastal region where open-ocean, wooden sailing vessels still predominate. These vessels are critical for sustaining the daily lives of the people living there. They are central for providing food and transport in a region where roads and terrestrial infrastructure hardly exist. While off the coast of Africa, Madagascar retains strong links with the Pacific and SE Asia as its original inhabitants sailed there around 1200 years ago. Since then, it has been at the cross roads of the Atlantic-Indian Ocean trade routes. It has absorbed, combined and maintained the traditions and knowledge from (1) Southeast Asian/Pacific outrigger canoes (2) Arab dhows and (3) the western gaff rigged schooners.In November 2024, five Australian’s undertook a journey of discovery to Madagascar, (including a 2 week cruise in a traditional schooner) to learn about and document its rich maritime history. Presented here is a visual display of some of what they learned and discovered about this diverse range of beautiful vessels and the people that build and sail them.