Gary Jubelin, Diego Bonetto join new northern Illawarra festival

The two-day event, titled I Am Not Making This Up, will share one woman's account of suffering amnesia, to punters learning about the local Dharawal language, stories from a Darkes Forest farm and a dinner with food foraging expert Diego Bonetto.

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Running across November 26 and 27 in Coledale, organisers wanted to celebrate the power of fact in storytelling and bring together some stellar voices of true stories.

There will be interviews, panels, workshops, a cider tasting with Darkes Glenbernie Orchard and a dinner at Earthwalker where Bonetto will discuss why we should eat weeds.

Award-winning author of The Winter Road, Kate Holden, will deliver the keynote speech at Coledale Community Hall.

Bestselling memoirist Patti Miller will appear in conversation with Caroline Baum to discuss difficult relationships in True Friends.

On Sunday, Dr Jodi Edwards introduces us to the local language of our First Nations people, Phillipa McGuinness goes beneath the surface to examine our largest organ in Skin Deep, and Anne Howell speaks about her experience with severe amnesia as captured in her memoir All That I Forgot.

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Former detective Gary Jubelin investigates criminal Badness, and Professor Rob "Dr Rip" Brander will appears in conversation with journalist, author and surfer Malcolm Knox.

Tasmanian novelist Heather Rose unveils her memoir Nothing Bad Ever Happens Here, before singer Lo Carmen ends the day talking about memory and her sources of inspiration with acclaimed biographer and journalist Mark Mordue.

Workshops will be run separately in how to write truthfully and foraging for wild weeds.

For more information and tickets, visit: https://southcoastwriters.org/truestorytelling.

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