Running from May 24-June 3, Melbourne's Emerging Writers Festival (EWF) is an 11-day celebration of the hows, whats, whys and you've-got-to-be-goddamn-kidding-mes of working with the written word in the modern age.

This year the Festival brings together 80 of the brightest young minds from Melbourne's literary scene to share their experiences and insights across a range of formats, styles and events as diverse as the writers themselves.

The centrepiece is the two day Writers' Conference, held in the Melbourne Town Hall. For a shade under $50, you get a full weekend of panels, readings, discussions, debates and impromptu mentoring with Australia's finest young writerly types. But, if you're just looking to dip in to the Festival, we can also recommend the Page Parlour zine/journal fare; The Pitch, a massive how-to on pitching story ideas with a who's-who of Australian magazine and book publishers, and, naturally, the infamous Closing Night Spelling Bee.