Take a heart-starting morning ride on the steepest railway in the world, before a meandering 30-minute walk through the ferns and eucalypts to the Scenic World Rainforest Room. As the birds serenade you in this open-air space, writers Viki Cramer, Dave Witty and David Lindemayer will share their stories and knowledge of the trees that tower above. Combining rigorous scientific inquiry with an artist’s capacity for awe and wonder, don’t miss this unique opportunity to look anew at the trees and environments that sustain us, and consider how we might work together to preserve their futures.
Viki Cramer is a PhD-trained ecologist. Her science writing has appeared in Ensia and Scientific American, and she contributed to the anthology Ourselves: 100 Micro Memoirs. Her first book, The Memory of Trees: The Future of Eucalypts and Our Home Among Them was shortlisted for Book of the Year in the Western Australian Premier's Book Awards 2024.
Professor David Lindenmayer is a world-leading expert in forest and woodland ecology, resource management, conservation science, and biodiversity conservation. He is among the world's most productive and most highly-cited scientists, particularly in forest ecology and conservation biology and has published more than 1460 scientific articles including 930 peer-reviewed papers in international scientific journals. He has also published 49 books. His latest is The Forest Wars: The Ugly Truth About What’s Happening in Our Tall Forests.
Dave Witty is the recipient of the 2021 Rosina Joy Buckman Award in the Nature Conservancy Nature Writing Prize, and his work appears in publications including Island, Griffith Review and Meanjin. His first book, What the Trees See, came out in November 2023.
The Scenic Railway is not wheelchair accessible.
Blue Mountains Writers’ Festival has Auslan interpreters booked for the Festival and will schedule them into sessions based on demand. Please complete the Auslan question at checkout.
Festival Ticket Information
This Special Event is included in the weekend gold pass. Subject to availability, a strictly limited number of single tickets may become available, see below.