Bad Diaries Salon was established mid-2017 with a call out from Melbourne writer Jenny Ackland on Twitter – were there any writers who still had their old, bad teenage diaries, and would they be prepared to read them live, in front of an audience?
The response was overwhelming, and Bad Diaries Salon was born.
Since then, more than 20 salons have been held in Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand, co-curated and managed by Jenny Ackland and Tracy Farr. Some have been stand-alone events, others in partnership with writers festivals. Salons have featured many of Australia and New Zealand’s finest and most exciting writers, both established and emerging, as well as international guests.
Bad Diaries Salons feature writers reading, to a theme, from their diaries and other unpublished juvenilia. Each salon is a unique combination of theme and readers, a performance that is raw, unedited, original and candid: the written word, rediscovered and shared.
The first rule of Bad Diaries Salon is what happens in-salon stays in-salon, so in mid-2023 Jenny and Tracy launched Bad Diaries Podcast, bringing the bad to listeners everywhere.
Head to the Bad Diaries Salon website for news, podcast episodes, upcoming salons, and an archive of past salons – or find Bad Diaries Podcast wherever you get your podcasts.
Follow Bad Diaries Salon on Instagram and Facebook – we’re @baddiariessalon everywhere – for news, tag us #baddiariessalon in social media.
