One of Canberra’s most successful seasonal festivals is undergoing a minor shake-up as it seeks to expand its footprint.

In the past week, Canberra Writers Festival, known for its slogan “Power, Politics, Passion”, has advertised for a CEO and also announced a new partnership with the National Film and Sound Archive.

The search for the CEO, a newly-created position, follows news that founding director, Paul Donohue, who has served the festival for six years, has stepped down from the executive position as the board seeks to develop the organisation towards not just a single winter festival, but a project with year-round resonance.

Chair Jane O’Dwyer told CityNews that the board was grateful to Donohue as the first director and especially for continuing the festival during covid, which she said “really shook things up for us”.

Now the hope is that the appointment of a CEO will take the festival “to the next stage… we need refreshment and renewal.”

Artistic director Beejay Silcox  will continue to direct the artistic vision for the festival, which O’Dwyer said benefited from “a rich pool of potential”.

“We’re dedicated to ensuring that Canberra has a writers’ festival that’s deeply embedded in the fabric of this wonderful city, that provides the spaces to explore big questions, and celebrates the heft and craft of Australian storytellers,” she said, adding that the board was looking for a well-rounded and energetic CEO.

She cited their successful hosting of Behrouz Boochani in conversation with Amy Remeikis at the National Press Club last November as an example of  “all those contemporary things” the festival should be doing throughout the year.

Meantime, Silcox has not been idle, joining Chris Mercer, NFSA head of programs and place, to spearhead Book Club at the NFSA, a new series of screenings and discussions in 2024 exploring the transformation of significant books into films.

Ranging from cult classics Fight Club, Trainspotting and Crazy Rich Asians to works by Jane Austen and Louisa May Alcott, the program will involve regular post-screening discussions will featuring authors, filmmakers and media figures. The full program can be found here

‘The way a story transforms as it moves from page to screen is fascinating,” Silcox says, promising that Book Club at the NFSA would bring together “brilliant Australian writers and internationally resonant cinema”.