Delegates from as far as Iceland, Norway and South Korea will stay in the town for at least four days to attend the conference and Clunes Booktown Festival. 

The International Organisation of Booktowns Conference is held once every two years at small towns across the globe. The last conference was held in Switzerland in 2016. 

Creative Clunes administrator Lily Mason said there was a sense of pride in showing Clunes to the world.

“I think the international delegates will be impressed,” Ms Mason said. 

“One of the things that make us a bit different is that the number of volunteers always amazes people – the fact that the whole town really gets together and supports the festival. It will put Clunes on the world map.” 

The first Clunes Booktown Festival was held in 2007. Clunes as a town was in a state of change. Residents, including Clunes Booktown founder Tess Brady, hoped to see the town thrive with a unique character. 

Dr Brady said it was ‘tremendous’ community support that made the event a success. 

“We had this extraordinary clean up of the town before this first festival. We all got together two weeks before and went into these buildings that hadn’t been opened for 30 years,” she said. 

Clunes Booktown Festival has grown in size and reputation since its inception in 2007. 

“What we had was a very disciplined story: ‘small town makes good using books’,” Dr Brady said. 

“This conference is a really special event.” 

It will be the first time the International Organisation of Booktowns Conference is held in the Southern Hemisphere. 

Clunes Booktown Festival organisers are busy preparing the conference program; organisers said they were hoping to host conversations on other booktowns’ experiences, presentations from organisations like the Wheeler Centre, and discussions about the creative economy in small regional towns. 

The conference will be held on Thursday, May 3 before the Booktown Festival on May 4 to May 6.