Live music was also featured in the program of the sixth annual event which launched on Friday night. This year’s aim is to draw a more diverse crowd and quash the perception the event is dry and boring.

“We’re definitely doing things that are not just panel kind of events,” festival director Hayley Scrivenor said.

“We’ve got a lot more workshops this year as well for people who want to put pen to paper.”

Interestingly a bibliotherapist isn’t a person trying to spruik about God. They are a creative arts practitioner who use poetry or storytelling as a form of healing.

Jenn Martin will sit down and talk about the problems in your life, then write out prescriptions for specific texts to read to help you through.

“This festival is all about this idea that we need to engage with art and community to feel nourished,” Ms Scrivenor said.

There will also be poets taking “orders” for personalised verse, so you can have your own sonnet if you wish.

Meantime, emerging poet Emily Crocker has been chosen as the artist in residence and will spend time in sensory deprivation – a calming float tank supplied by Cocoon Flotation Centre in Wollongong.

This year’s theme is “What Feeds You” and will include discussions around sustainability, mental health and equality. 

The festival will run in and around Wollongong Art Gallery from November 23 until November 25.

The children’s program will run separately with storytime, crafts and games at Viva La Gong on November 10.

www.wollongongwritersfestival.com