The Melbourne Writers Festival had long been positioned as Australia’s boldest literary festival. However after one of the world’s longest lockdowns, attendance and excitement for the festival had significantly dropped. The challenge was to generate excitement for the written word, which was perceived as a dated medium, and affirm their position as a home for forward thinkers. The Melbourne Writers Festival runs on donations, so anywork created had to be done so at no production cost. This became a further creative challenge, to inspire Melbournians, without a media buy or production resources.

While AI generated imagery sparked a worldwide debate on the future of art, no one was talking about the words needed to create them. For the Melbourne Writers Festival, we used AI art to prove the enduring power of the written word. We created a collection of AI artwork by entering passages from literary icons Mary Shelley, Herman Melville, H.G. Wells, Bram Stoker and George Orwell, word for word, into the AI - Mid Journey. Showing that no matter how far technology advances, great writing will always be relevant. Through use of posters at the many locations of the festival throughout Melbourne, Both ticket holders and the public viewed these pieces of work in foyers of historic buildings, theaters, street fronts and even the state library. The city was transformed into a gallery for these newly generated pieces of art.

The Melbourne Writers Festival successfully created debate and discourse in the lead up to the event.
The earned coverage reached 33 million people, which is six times the population of Melbourne.
This boosted ticket sales dramatically, contributing to the most successful writers festival ever. The perception of the writers festival being dated was directly challenged. By inserting the writers festival into a conversation about the future of creativity, a generation of creatively minded Melbournians were inspired to take an interest in the power of writing.