The second successful Mansfield Readers & Writers (MRW) Festival held over the weekend proved that people still want to read books, buy them, and hear from the authors who write them.

From start to finish, there were stimulating and insightful panel conversations covering a diverse range of topics, engaging both authors and audiences alike.

There was plenty of hilarity on Saturday night, with local author Sandy Mackinnon hosting the hypothetical and leading the panel members down a number of rabbit holes.

High-calibre authors including radio personality Jacinta Parsons, Jock Serong, Margaret Hickey, and many more who graced the stage at the Uniting Church Hall were generous with their time and open in sharing their journeys as writers.

Other authors completing the impressive lineup included Jayne Tuttle, YA Reeves, Mark Smith, Robert Skinner, Kate Mildenhall, Maggie MacKellar, David Lindenmayer, Sulari Gentil, and Tony Birch.

The only session held away from the hall was a writers’ workshop with Karen Viggers at the Mansfield Library on Sunday morning.

The festival concluded with the launch of Scrub, a collection of longlisted poetry and short stories from the 2025 High Country Words Competition.

For the small MRW committee — Belinda Crawford, Andrea Barton, and Dani Netherclift, all published writers — and Ink Bookshop owner Charlotte Lindsay, it was a euphoric ending after months of planning and a testament to their combined skills in putting Mansfield on the literary map.