Stephen Whiteside has written to tell me about the Toolangi Festival to be held over the weekend of 18th and 19th of October 2008. Toolangi was the major residence of C.J. Dennis for about the last twenty or so years of his life. As Stephen puts it: "CJD is not the whole focus of the festival, but he is a large part of it. The plan is for the festival to now be held every year. "There is also a written poetry comp attached to the festival. Winners will be announced at a ceremony on the Saturday, at The Singing Gardens. Also at the Gardens on the Sunday will be a poetry show featuring the work of CJD. Entry will be by gold coin."
For those not in the know, Toolangi is about 15 kilometres north of Healesville in the Yarra Valley in Victoria. It's also about 90 minutes from the Melbourne CBD. I'll be making every effort I can to get there.
