I congratulate the Addison Road Community Organisation on the 2022 Addi Road Writers' Festival.

The theme of the yearly festival for 2022 was 'New Lines', a timely reminder of the need to look forward and start something new. The artistic directors of the festival, Sheila Ngoc Pham and Mark Mordue, said their aim was to "reboot the whole idea of what a literary festival can be".

While some writers festivals might include sit down panels and Q&As across a number of weeks, instead, the Addi Road Writers' Fest was an action packed day featuring more than 30 writers, artists, poets and journalists appearing on over 10 panels across two venues, both at the Addison Road Community Centre.

Guests included incredibly inspiring names; people like Safdar Ahmed, Michael West, Felicity Plunkett and Ethan Bell inspired the crowds who were lucky enough to hear their insights into the literary world.

Arts and culture make up so much of the identity of the Inner West, and it's largely due to community events like these. Without the dedicated organisers and all attendees, we wouldn't have such a terrific and accessible arts, literature and culture community.