Writers' Week was held as part of the Adelaide Festival program, 8-15 March 1980.
Always an integral part of the Festival, events at the first Writers' Week were mostly held at the YMCA Hall, Flinders Street. Subsequent festivals used other venues such as the State Library's lecture theatre. Writers' Week continued to grow and, in 1976, it was decided to move to the Pioneer Women's Memorial Garden where it remains and continues to flourish.
While the first three events were very much focussed on Australian literature, and its place in national and international life, from 1966, when Russian poet Yevgeny Yevtushenko and British novelist Angus Wilson were invited, the door was opened to international guests.
Visiting authors in 1980 included Iain Crichton Smith, Robert Bly, Chinua Achebe and Pulitzer Prize winner Paul Zindel.
The local program had an emphasis on poetry, and included appearances by Peter Goldsworthy, Kate Llewllyn, Les Murray, Vincent Buckley and Barbara Hanrahan.
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