Feminist author/journalist Clementine Ford has had to cancel her previously announced appearances at the upcoming 2019 Bellingen Readers & Writers Festival on 7-9 June.
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"I offer my sincere apologies, but have had to withdraw because of family reasons," she told festival organisers.
The 'In Conversation' session on Saturday afternoon at Cedar Bar will now feature author/politician Fiona Patten, founder and leader of the Reason Party (formerly The Australian Sex Party).
She holds a key upper house seat in the Victorian Legislative Council and will be discussing her 2018 book Sex,Drugs and the Electoral Roll with Leonie Henschke, and her unlikely journey from sex worker to Member of Parliament.
Fiona will also be participating in Sunday's morning's Biography, Memoir & Blog:'Life Stories' panel.
Replacing Clementine Ford on Saturday night's Media & Journalism discussion panel '21st Century News & Information' will be two local writers with strong journalism pedigrees - Belinda Scott, who worked for many years on the Coffs Coast Advocate, and Eve Jaremka, who worked on UK newspapers The Times and The Sunday Times, and now runs her own PR and communications consultancy.
Joining Sunday afternoon's '51%: Engendering Equality' discussion panel will be author Michelle Scott Tucker, who is executive director of the Stella Prize, Australia's pre-eminent literary prize for women writers. Michelle will also be participating in both the History and Biography/Memoir discussion panels during the festival weekend.
