Sydney Writers' Festival

[Content warning: Child sexual abuse]

The Curiosity Lecture series returns to the Festival with a line-up of our most thought-provoking speakers delivering one-time talks on topics of intrigue, interest and importance. In this entertaining talk, author Tabitha Carvan shares the story of how falling for Benedict Cumberbatch while stuck at home with two young children became an unlikely catalyst for self-discovery. She casts light on what becomes of women’s passions in a...

[Content warning: Sexual assault and paedophilia]

Celebrated Ukrainian novelist Andrey Kurkov has been one of the most important voices throughout the Russian invasion of his adopted homeland, releasing frequent dispatches from Kyiv and the remote countryside. See him in conversation about Diary of an Invasion, his searing on-the-ground account of the human toll of the war, the interrelated history between the nations, and how language itself has become a battleground in the confl...

When Ghassan Hage’s seminal study on racism in Australia, White Nation, was published 25 years ago, the Cronulla riots, Christchurch massacre and Black Lives Matter movement all lay ahead. Hear from a lively panel of writers and thinkers as they consider how racism and white privilege have changed here since then and what lies ahead. Anthropologist and social critic Ghassan Hage, Palestinian-Egyptian author and academic Randa Abdel...

Australian author Holly Ringland became a publishing sensation with the release of The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart, a gripping coming-of-age novel that has been adapted for TV, starring Sigourney Weaver and Leah Purcell. Her latest novel, The Seven Skins of Esther Wilding, is an equally enthralling tale, tracing the far reaches of grief, courage and sisterly love in a story spanning Tasmania, Copenhagen and the Faroe Islands. Holly ...

Richard Osman, bestselling novelist of The Thursday Murder Club series and king of British television trivia, talks with Sydney Writers' Festival's Artistic Director Ann Mossop in his first Australian appearance.  

Did podcasts kill the radio star – or completely revitalise storytelling for the 21st century? Join a special line-up of crime podcasters for a discussion about the rise of the medium and how it is changing journalism. They consider how the format fosters creativity and intimacy, and why it may yet rank among the most exciting cultural innovations of our times. Featuring Patrick Abboud, Kate McClymont, and Hedley Thomas, on stage w...

In a special series of events, Your Favourites’ Favourites sees our most beloved writers speak with a breakout Australian author from the past year. Join globally bestselling crime novelist Jane Harper as she chats with fellow crime writer and stand-up comedian Benjamin Stevenson about the secrets to crafting a suspenseful story. They talk about the worldwide success of Benjamin’s third novel, the darkly funny meta-murder mystery E...

[Content warning: Explicit language]

In skilled hands, historical fiction brings the past to life in surprising ways. It also helps us make sense of our present, and even offers foreknowledge of the future. Hear from some of the country’s finest writers of historical novels – Geraldine Brooks (Horse), Pip Williams (The Bookbinder of Jericho) and emerging talent Sally Colin-James (One Illumined Thread) – as they discuss the past as prologue and how they convincingly in...

Before Markus Zusak became an international bestseller with The Book Thief, he wrote and published the award-winning novel The Messenger. The story of a Sydney taxi driver’s extraordinary adventures, it has now been brought to television by the ABC. In this conversation about the joys and challenges of taking a beloved work of fiction to the screen, Markus is joined by award-winning executive producer and writer Sarah Lambert (Lamb...

A dazzling love letter to gaming and friendship, Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by American novelist Gabrielle Zevin has become a word-of-mouth bestseller across the globe. It follows two university friends who become creative partners in a brilliantly imagined world of video game design, where success brings fame, joy and tragedy. Gabrielle chats with Melanie Kembrey about her lifelong love of gaming, what her novel reveals ...

Weary of nonstop climate doom? Listen to a trio of environmental experts examine promising developments, signs of hope and viable solutions for a greener, more sustainable future. Climate scientist Joëlle Gergis (Humanity’s Moment: A Climate Scientist’s Case for Hope), inventor and scientist Saul Griffith (The Big Switch), and environmental advocate Claire O’Rourke (Together We Can: Everyday Australian’s doing amazing things to giv...

Much-loved Conversations host and bestselling author Richard Fidler delves into The Book of Roads & Kingdoms, an account of medieval wanderers who travelled to the edges of the known world during Islam’s fabled Golden Age. He joins Nicole Abadee to discuss the work hailed by The Sydney Morning Herald as “a bewitching tale consisting of stories within stories that radically tilts the Western reader’s perspective, revealing a wor...

Hear from Miles Franklin Award–winning Carpentaria novelist and Waanyi nation woman Alexis Wright as she talks about her latest novel, Praiseworthy. Set in a small Australian town beset by a haze cloud that heralds both an ecological catastrophe and a gathering of ancestors, the story is rendered with the richness of language and scale of imagery for which Alexis is renowned. Alexis speaks with Ivor Indyk about a timely fable for t...

[Content warning: Domestic violence]

Hear from acclaimed storytellers Robbie Arnott, Fiona McFarlane and James McKenzie Watson about their beautiful novels, which chart very different lives set against unmistakably Australian backdrops. Robbie’s Limberlost tells the story of a man’s journey through life, while evoking Tasmania’s diverse natural habitat. Fiona’s The Sun Walks Down unfurls the narrative of a missing child in 1883 South Australia, depicting the distinct ...

[Content warning: discussions of mental health and suicide]