The first‑ever Readings Romance Festival, held in Melbourne, filled its venues within two days of ticket sales, according to co‑founder and romance writer Ali Berg, who also spoke on a panel about the classic "meet‑cute" moment in storytelling.
Australian author Anita Heiss opened the Melbourne event by explaining why she writes about love, after which Berg observed that “there was barely a man in sight,” a sentiment echoed by the largely female crowd that filled the festival’s sessions.
Earlier in the year, Berg attended Brisbane’s Blussh Romance Festival and reported a similar gender imbalance: hundreds of women discussing what they want from dating partners, with “almost no men there to hear it.”
Berg argues that the absence of men does not mean they lack interest; rather, many are turning to dating podcasts, YouTube videos and corners of the “manosphere” for advice, often relying on pickup‑artist terminology such as “negging” and concepts like “sexual market value.”
She contends that romance fiction, which she says offers nuanced explorations of desire, power, vulnerability and consent, is dismissed as “fluff” while male‑centric advice is taken seriously, despite research suggesting fiction can strengthen social skills.
Highlighting the genre’s evolution, Berg notes that contemporary romance novels now prioritize enthusiastic consent and agency, moving away from outdated tropes such as the 1972 bestseller *The Flame and the Flower* where the heroine falls for her rapist, or the controlling dynamics in *Twilight*.
Berg, a co‑author of four bestselling romantic comedies and co‑founder of Books on the Rail, urges men to set aside podcasts and instead browse the romance section, sampling sub‑genres from historical to queer romance, to gain a broader, less stereotyped view of women.
She concludes that while romance novels won’t hand men a cheat‑sheet for “decoding” women, they may reduce reliance on harmful theories and foster genuine curiosity about the partners they date.