Ailsa Piper will deliver the 2019 Kerferd Oration on July 28 at The George Kerferd Hotel, Mayday Hills, from 11am.

Piper, a guest at last year's Write Around The Murray literary festival in Albury, said being open to beauty in its many forms could be lifesaving for people traumatised or struggling.

"In the aftermath of the sudden death of my husband, I was like a pumice stone, nothing could permeate me," she said.

"I became dry and tough, but my hard edges felt like the only protection I had.

"Eventually, though, I had to allow beauty to enter my days again. I had to let life in.

"We have the capacity as communities and as individuals to create sanctuaries where beauty can light the darkness of our despair.

"I'd like to explore some of those possibilities in Beechworth."

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Piper uses her writing - plays, books, newspaper articles, poetry and letters - to celebrate creativity, walking, landscapes, connection and friendship.

She has navigated solitary trails in Australia, Spain and France, sometimes walking alone for weeks at a time.

The George Briscoe Kerferd Oration is a free community event first held in 2003 to commemorate the 150^th anniversary of the naming of Beechworth.

Priority entry tickets are available at 2019oration.eventbrite.com.au.

For more details, go to kerferdoration.org or the event's Facebook page.

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