Literary festival courts controversy

What do the sex lives of Australian couples, orphaned orang-utans and French love affairs have in common?

They’re just a few of the stories that will be shared by Australia’s top writers on the Coast from July 4 to 5 for the third weekend of the Reality Bites literary festival.

Sex therapist and researcher Bettina Arndt will be at the Butter Factory in Cooroy to discuss her latest research on how Australian couples negotiate sex, and anthropologist Annette Henderson will share her story on being lost in the African jungle and adopting a juvenile orang-utan in Borneo.

Also in Cooroy is China expert and erotic fiction writer Linda Jaivin who will discuss ways to write about other people’s lives with renowned journalist Sam Trenoweth.

Conservationist Dr Nicola Markus will shine the spotlight on the environmental disasters and opportunities facing Australia at Embiggen Books in Noosaville, and former Rolling Stone editor Toby Creswell and local recording artist Geoffrey Datson will sound out the music business and the role of the critic.

A highlight of the weekend is the “Sweet Surrender” literary lunch on the Noosa River with renowned author Mary Moody. The former Gardening Australia presenter and best-selling author will tell how she has come full circle after a midlife crisis sent her on a recklessly romantic course to France – complete with renovating a French villa and indulging in an affair – before surrendering to ageing and the pull of family ties back in Australia.

For more information, or to order a free program, call 5472 0107 or visit www.realitybitesfestival.blogspot.com