Independently Owned, Locally Grown, Community Loved
Libraries Are More Than Books. They're Where We Meet.
By Richard Evans, President of Whitsundays Writers Festival
Ask a child what a library is for, and they'll likely say books. Ask an adult, and you might get the same answer. Both are right. Neither goes far enough.
A library is a room full of doors. Every spine on every shelf opens onto somewhere else; a different century, a different mind, a different way of seeing the world. Take a child into that room, let them run a finger along the covers, let them choose something simply because the title caught their eye, and you've done something no worksheet or screen can replicate. You've handed them the first key to their own imagination. That moment, small, unremarkable, repeated in libraries every day, is one of the most important things we do for the next generation.
But that's only half the story.
Walk into any of our four Whitsunday Regional Council libraries on an ordinary weekday and you'll see it isn't only children turning pages. There are retirees doing the crossword together. Job seekers using the computers. New parents at storytime, swapping tips as much as picking up picture books. Someone quietly working through a form with a staff member who knows exactly which shelf, which website, or which government department to point them toward. The library has become one of the last places in town where you can simply be, without needing to buy something to justify staying.
That's the part we too often overlook. Libraries aren't just repositories of information. They're meeting places. Among the few genuinely public ones left. And the staff, who can help you track down that one specific book you half-remember or the exact piece of information you need, are as much a part of that community fabric as the shelves themselves.
This is why the Whitsundays Writers Festival is proud to bring our libraries into the heart of this year's program. As part of Stories by the Sea, on Saturday 13 September from 3pm to 4.30pm, Whitsunday Regional Council Libraries will join local authors, a community book swap, artists displaying their work, and a sausage sizzle for an afternoon that is, in miniature, exactly what a library should be: stories, conversation, and community, side by side.
There will be no lecture on the importance of reading. There doesn't need to be. Just bring the kids, browse the swap table, meet a local author, grab a sausage in bread, and let the afternoon make the case for itself.
Libraries have always done two jobs at once. Holding our stories and bringing us together to share them. On 13th September, we're simply making that second job a little more visible.
Visit your local library branch during, Library and Information Week (27th July–2nd August), and you may discover more than you expect.
For details on Stories by the Sea and the full Whitsundays Writers Festival program visit www.whitsundayswriters.com
Great Barrier Reef Festival Art Exhibition
When: Exhibition Friday 31st July to Sunday 2nd August
Where: Whitsunday Sailing Club, Airlie Beach
Discover 85 artworks by 66 artists exploring the theme Beyond Beauty. Now in its third year, this popular exhibition has become a Festival highlight, celebrating the region's creative talent.
Community Gallery
Where: 192 Main Street, Proserpine
When: Monday to Friday: 9.00am – 4.00pm | Saturday: 9.00am – 1.00pm
Featuring a rotating collection of local artwork, the gallery is refreshed monthly, ensuring every visit offers something new to discover.
Community Creative Space
Where: Bendigo Community Bank branch, Whitsunday Plaza, Cannonvale
When: Monday to Friday, 9:30am–4:00pm (closed 1pm–2pm for lunch)
The Whitsundays Writers Festival’s Heart Awards Poetry Prize has closed its 2026 entry period with over 70 submissions from poets across Australia, a result that reflects the competition’s rapidly growing standing on the national literary calendar.
Entries arrived from every state and territory, spanning a remarkable breadth of styles and subject matter. From tightly crafted lyric poems to narrative ballads, comic verse, and formally experimental work.
Poets wrote on themes ranging from family and memory to landscape, migration, ageing, and the natural world, with several entrants drawing directly on the Whitsundays for inspiration.
“What’s struck us most this year is the sheer range,” said Richard Evans, Festival Program Director. “We’ve had entries that would sit comfortably in any major national anthology alongside deeply personal, place-rooted work that could only have been written by someone who knows the Whitsundays. That diversity, arriving from right across the country, tells us something important: poets around Australia are now watching what happens here.”
The judging process now underway has been designed to ensure every entry, regardless of style or form, is assessed fairly on its own merits. Rather than pitting a gentle bush ballad against an experimental free-verse piece, judges are applying a consistent, criteria-based framework across all 74 entries: purpose and coherence, technical craft, originality of voice, and emotional or intellectual impact. Each poem is scored independently against these standards before any comparison between entries takes place, a deliberate step to guard against the kind of style bias that can creep into literary judging.
“We wanted a process that was rigorous enough to stand up to scrutiny, but flexible enough to honour what each poet was actually trying to do,” Richard said. “A poem that sets out to tell a story shouldn’t be marked down for not being a tight lyric, and vice versa. Fairness means judging each work by its own ambitions.”
The competition will now proceed through two further stages before a winner is announced. A longlist will be released in coming weeks, followed by a shortlist as judging moves into its final round, with the eventual winners announced at the Whitsundays Writers Festival.
Celebrating local creativity, connection, and community
Whitsundays Writers Festival Richard Evans Festival Director and President hello@whitsundayswriters.com
Tickets are selling fast for the 2026 Whitsundays Writers Festival, 13 September! Secure your spot now at whitsundayswriters.com/2026-programme-speakers
Creative Connections Whitsunday Glenda Brown President info@creativeconnectionwhitsunday.com
Creative Connections Whitsundays supports and celebrates the region's arts community by creating opportunities for artists to connect, exhibit, learn, and thrive through partnerships, cultural events, and creative programs.
Get in touch! If you would like to submit a poem, creative writing piece, profile suggestion, event information, or share your creative story, please contact hello@whitsundayswriters.com
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