The Brisbane Writers Festival program was released today and I have already compiled my event wish list.

• The Art of the Essay: Writer and essayist Anne Manne guides you through the craft of shaping and writing a literary essay, understanding how it differs from feature articles and opinion pieces, and identifying publication opportunities.

• Histories of Melancholia: In association with the exhibition Five Centuries of Melancholia, this panel of scholars will discuss recent critical approaches to the role of melancholy in art and literature. Chaired by Professor Peter Holbrook, participants include Dr Andrea Bubenik, A/Prof Rex Butler, and Dr Lisa O’Connell. Find out more artmuseum.uq.edu.au/coming-soon

• Scum & Villainy: Across fiction, cinema and television, “bad guys” are often our favourite guys. Crime writers Lenny Bartulin, Yrsa Sigurðardóttir and Michael Robothamdiscuss why we’re so drawn to villains and the dark side of story.

• Writing Feature Articles: Caroline Overington is a bestselling novelist, Walkley Award winning journalist and Associate Editor of The Australian Women’s Weekly. Join her to learn the essentials of writing feature articles for print and online media and strategies for getting them published.

• Short Story Critique: Sometimes writers learn as much from giving critique as receiving it. Join prolific short fiction author and novelist Rjurik Davidson in an intensive round of short story critiques. Submit your own work for editorial feedback and learn how to breakdown the components of a story to deliver feedback to others.

• The Bond of Women: Authors Kimberley Freeman, Josephine Moon and Frances Whiting discuss the unique bonds of female relationships in life and in literature, from the fierce loyalty of soul sisters to the precarious balance of ‘frenemies’.

• Broken Monsters:  A conversation with South African science fiction author Lauren Beukes exploring dystopias, globalism and writing the post-capitalist future.

• Meet McSweeney’s: McSweeney’s is responsible for publishing some of the world’s best writing as beautifully designed artefacts. Meet Jordan Bass and Clara Sankey, the team behind the strange and awesome world of McSweeney’s.

• Betwixt and Between: Is it fantasy or science fiction, is it romance or literary fiction? Rjurik Davidson,Kimberley Freeman and Kylie Scottdiscuss the thorny problem of genre categories and what happens when authors straddle the fence.

There’s even more seminars and workshops I’d love to take part in but these are the top hitters. I’ll need to narrow it down even further if my wishes are to come true. But for now I will dream of opening night.