Creative Producer Vince Ruston

What lead you to want to be a Creative Producer for EWF?
I fell madly in love with the festival when I first moved to Melbourne in 2014, and it’s been a highlight of my year ever since. I wanted to be closer to and more involved with the festival. It’s a great learning and skills-development opportunity too, but mostly the drive was my love of the festival and the people around it.

As an emerging writer and editor yourself, how do you think writers’ festivals benefit artists?
Festivals are invaluable. There are so many opportunities to develop your work, to learn and think, explore new ideas, network and discover new opportunities. But I think the most important thing that festivals have shown me is that writing doesn’t have to be as solitary and lonely as people often say; the festival is populated by this incredible community of vibrant, intelligent and loving people.

What interests you as a writer? Where do you write and why?
I tend to write more about feminism and feminist-related topics more than anything else. I’m intrigued by feminine sexuality and psychology, literary theory and criticism. I’m also fascinated by language and the role this plays in structural oppression.

I write mostly at my desk in my bedroom, where I have all my reference books and inspiration close by. Usually with a plunger-full of coffee within reach. If I need a change of scenery I love to work in coffee shops too.

What are you working on right now?
Too many things; I like to keep busy. A few essays for uni on rape-revenge narratives, motherhood as an institution, and the role narrative plays in the healing of trauma. I have a handful of personal projects too, poetry and fiction. One of my newer ideas is a memoir-based critique on the sex industry.

What have you read recently?
Mostly I’ve been reading a lot of research material on my projects for uni, but otherwise I’ve been reading a fair bit of Chris Kraus. I spent the summer trying to track down I Love Dick, and when I finally did I consumed it in a few days. It’s a brilliant blend of memoir and fiction with literary and art theory. I picked up Kraus’ Aliens and Anorexia yesterday, so I started reading that last night.

Can you tell us about the events you’re working on for this year’s EWF?
I’ve been working on event in the Late Night Lit series, I Want to Know What Love Is, on love poetry. The connotations of love poetry tend to be a little bit cheesy, but the only thing cheesy about this night will be the decorations. I’m interested in ways these expectations can be challenged, and how broadly ‘love poetry’ can be defined.

Vince Ruston (21) is a writer, Voiceworks and Buzzcuts editor based in Melbourne. When away from the desk they can be found in a library or crying over lingerie in David Jones. They have been published in Voiceworks, Scum-Mag, Writer’s Bloc, Rabbit Poetry Journal, Zo Universal and Feminartsy. You can find them on Twitter (@VinceRuston) and Instagram (poetxtrees).