Festival Program
Celebrate the best Australian writing and meet your favourite authors at free and ticketed events.
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Workshop: Developing writer’s voice with Lee Kofman – SOLD OUT
What makes a literary work truly original is not the degree of its polishing, but the writer’s voice: their particular joy, angst, humour, credo, the word choices and the world...
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Stockton Monuments and Memoryscapes – SOLD OUT
Join writers Vanessa Berry, Bastian Fox Phelan, Keri Glastonbury, Duncan McDuie-Ra, and Kate Senior as they share historical and poetic insights about Stockton’s community monuments. This event is weather dependent....
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Poetry Workshop: Using lyric encounter to write grief with Willo Drummond
In this poetry workshop you will ‘dialogue’ with a range of poems to give voice to aspects of grief and/or identity that are often structurally barred from social and political...
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Sister Girl: Jackie Huggins in Conversation
First Nations writer Jackie Huggins’ anthology Sister Girl represents decades of writing by the historian and activist, offering insight into the history, values and struggles of Indigenous peoples. Jackie will...
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The Mourning After: Holly Throsby in Conversation
Holly Throsby’s third novel Clarke centres on the stories of those on the periphery of a violent crime: the neighbours, the innocents, the collateral damage. She speaks to Anna Downes...
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The Space Between the Stars: Indira Naidoo in Conversation
After her younger sister died suddenly, broadcaster Indira Naidoo’s world was shattered. Turning to her urban landscape, she found solace for her broken heart. Indira speaks to Cassie McCullagh about...
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Australia’s Underworld
Nancy Cushing (A History of Crime in Australia) and Rachel Franks (An Uncommon Hangman) discuss the differing approaches to Australian crime and punishment in their recent books, one focusing on...
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Not Just Personal
Bertie Blackman, Sian Prior, and Anna Spargo-Ryan explore the importance of memoir as a platform from which stories are told, reclaimed, and witnessed. They will also discuss the power of...
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Patting the Shark: Tim Baker in Conversation
In 2015, well-known surf writer Tim Baker was diagnosed with stage 4 metastatic prostate cancer. This was the beginning of a fight to do more than simply survive; a process...
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I’d Like You to Meet: Fiona Kelly McGregor chats to George Haddad
In this new series of conversations, we invite established writers to shine the spotlight on an emerging writer whose work they admire. Fiona Kelly McGregor introduces George Haddad whose critically...
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The Power of Art to Heal
This discussion is being held in conjunction with The Loud Sky exhibition at The Lock-Up. It brings together three writers whose work reflects the ongoing engagement with struggles for justice...
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The Writer Laid Bare: Lee Kofman in Conversation
Lee Kofman’s emotionally honest guide The Writer Laid Bare is for everyone who relishes the craft of good writing. She will share her wisdom and insight, providing guidance for those...
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How to be Stoic in Chaotic Times: Brigid Delaney in conversation
Greek and Roman philosophers from the Stoic tradition believed the key to a good life was to stop chasing happiness and start cultivating contentment. In her bestselling book Reasons Not...
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Book Launch: Flying Islands Poetry
Celebrate the launch of six new poetry collections published by Flying Islands. With Richard James Allen (Text Messages from the Universe), Angie Contini (fierCe), DG Lloyd (Alive in Dubbo), Kevin...
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Fugitive: Simon Tedeschi in Conversation
Musician Simon Tedeschi will speak about his unique debut book Fugitive, which explores memories of childhood and the ambiguous gift of musical precocity, the traumatic history of a family partly...
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Written on the Body: Jessie Cole in Conversation
When Jessie Cole found herself falling for an older man, she came face to face with her fear of intimacy in all its complexity. The experience inspired her compelling memoir...
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Who Gets to Tell Australian Stories?
Increased reader interest in culturally diverse stories and a greater awareness among publishers of the need to support diverse writers is changing the Australian literary landscape. But is it too...
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The Son Also Rises: Paddy Manning on Lachlan Murdoch
Lachlan Murdoch is one of the world’s most influential – and enigmatic – people. In his compelling biography The Successor, journalist Paddy Manning explores Murdoch’s upbringing and political beliefs. He’ll...
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Nine Lives for Our Planet
Hunter Valley environmental activist John Watts will discuss his new book, Nine Lives for Our Planet, which focuses on the critical role women play in protecting the environment. He will...
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Bedtime Story: Chloe Hooper in Conversation
When Chloe Hooper’s partner was diagnosed with a rare and aggressive illness, she had to find a way to tell their two young sons. Instinctively, she turned to books. Can...
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Where The Light Gets In
Leonard Cohen famously said it is in the ‘brokenness of things’ that we’ll find ‘resurrection’. Poets Robbie Coburn, Rico Craig, and Sarah Holland-Batt discuss the darkness, loss, love, and light...
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Paul McCartney and His Creative Practice: The Beatles and Beyond
University of Newcastle researcher Phillip McIntyre’s most recent book provides fresh insight into the creative practice developed by Paul McCartney over his extended career as a songwriter, record producer and...
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Nimblefoot: Robert Drewe in Conversation – Cancelled
Robert Drewe became intrigued by the story of Australia’s first international sports hero, 10-year-old Johnny Day from Ballarat, when he stumbled upon it in a National Library exhibition. Robert will...
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A Search for the Soul of the Nation
Julianne Schultz challenges our notions of what it means to be Australian. Are we an egalitarian, generous, outward-looking country, or a nation that has retreated into silence and denial about...
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Haunted Places and Spaces
In their recent books, Robbie Arnott, Bronwyn Birdsall, and Holly Ringland create vivid settings that transport readers to locations in Australia and across the globe – to a bygone era...
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The Life of Iris
Fiona Kelly McGregor discusses her critically acclaimed novel Iris, which explores the underbelly of 1930s sly-grog Sydney, and the life of petty criminal and gunslinger Iris Webber. Fiona will share...
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Story Hunter: Big Ideas by Young Writers
Last year, Newcastle Writers Festival launched Story Hunter, a creative writing program for Hunter region primary students with the aim of supporting children to express themselves creatively and confidently share...
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What Poems Teach Us
A poem should delight and instruct, thought Horace. Dimitra Harvey, Peter Ramm, and Mark Tredinnick discuss how and what poems teach, and the value of delight in catastrophic times. Hosted...
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The Lowdown on Longevity: Norman Swan in Conversation
In the pursuit of health, happiness and youth, does anyone hold the secret? Join Norman Swan in conversation about the ultimate dream – to stay as young as possible, for...
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Girls, Interrupted
Meg Vertigan’s The Strong Dress and Kate Ryan’s The Golden Book navigate coming-of-age trauma for girls in Australia. Meg’s protagonist Kate is a fictional teenage patient of a discredited Australian...
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Literary Lunch: A Year with Wendy Whiteley – Booked out
Wendy Whiteley is a legendary figure in the art world, the keeper of the Brett Whiteley legacy, best known for creating the Secret Garden on the land below her house...
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Free lunchtime performance by Nerds & Music
Clark Gormley and Wayne Thompson from Nerds & Music will perform their most ‘literate’ songs.
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Book Launch: Out of the Shadows anthology
Celebrate the launch of Out of the Shadows anthology, featuring entrants in the 2022 Alice Sinclair Memorial Writing Competition, which is hosted by the Lake Macquarie Branch, Fellowship of Australian...
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Growing Pains
In their recent books, Cadance Bell, Mawunyo Gbogbo, and Shannon Molloy paint a detailed, colourful, and at times confronting, picture of growing up. They discuss their search for belonging and acceptance...
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Onward: Celebrating Robert Adamson
‘…a peace I’ve never known before – a luminous absence of time, pain, sex, thought of everything but the light.’ Join us for a commemoration of the late poet’s life...
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Tell Me Again: Amy Thunig in Conversation – SOLD OUT
Amy Thunig’s remarkable memoir explores the importance of culture and community networks in the face of poverty, disadvantage and discrimination and the power of stories to shape and sustain us,...
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World Traveller: Richard Fidler in Conversation
Writer and broadcaster Richard Fidler discusses The Book of Roads & Kingdoms, which is inspired by the tales of medieval Arab and Persian travellers who ventured to the edges of...
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Should I Quit My Day Job?
Three debut authors share their experiences of navigating the balance between making money and writing, and how their lives changed – or didn’t – once their books were published. With...
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Playfulness in Writing
Inspired by the theme of this year’s joanne burns Microlit Award, Dave Drayton, Chris Flynn and Beth Spencer explore the role of playfulness in writing – from ideas and the...
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Do the Honours
A reading by four University of Newcastle Creative Writing honours graduates. Hear fiction, memoir and spoken word, and support the next generation of local emerging writers. With Denni Martin, Andrew...
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Tyranny Up Close: Andrew Quilty in Conversation
When the Taliban arrived at the gates of Kabul in August 2021, Andrew Quilty had been living and working there for eight years. He was one of only a handful...
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Psychogeography: The Poetics of Place
How do poems inhabit, interact with, and conjure ‘place’ – internal and external, virtual, imaginary and real? Join our panellists for an intimate exploration of the unique landscape of their...
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The Case for Hope
When confronted with challenges on a personal and global scale, how can we balance our sense of despair and disillusionment with hope and joy? Tim Baker and Chloe Hooper share...
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Limberlost: Robbie Arnott in Conversation
The award-winning author is making his first appearance at the festival to speak about his third novel, Limberlost, a stunning chronicle of life and land: of carnage and kindness, blood...
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Book Launch: Magdalena Ball and Willo Drummond
Celebrate the launch of new books by poets Magdalena Ball and Willo Drummond. Maggie’s Bobish is a poignant poetry memoir of her great-grandmother and her escape from the pogroms of Eastern...
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I’d Like You to Meet: Lee Kofman chats to James McKenzie Watson
In this new series of conversations, we invite established writers to shine the spotlight on an emerging writer whose work they admire. Lee Kofman introduces James McKenzie Watson whose debut...
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Launch Event: Chapter 10 at Blackstone Gallery
Chapter 10 is a festival launch event featuring 20 local artists responding to the writing of authors featured in the Newcastle Writers Festival in the past decade. Artists include Chris...
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A Room in Which to Feel Things
‘Writing about life … offers companionship to the world beyond our own lives. It’s a room in which to feel things.’ Writing in Guardian Australia after her debut novel Sunbathing...
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Book Launch: Women of Words anthology
Celebrate the launch of the poetry anthology Women of Words 2019-2021. The Women of Words Project began in 2016 and aims to raise awareness and funds for women and children...
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The Beauty and Brokenness: Holly Ringland in Conversation
Holly Ringland returns to the festival after the international success of her best-selling debut novel The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart. She will discuss her haunting new book, The Seven...
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Agatha Christie: Clever endings are just the beginning
Join crime fiction experts Rachel Franks and Alistair Rolls for a lively conversation about new ways of reading Agatha Christie. They will explore Christie’s status as a Queen of Crime,...
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I’d Like You to Meet: Craig Silvey chats to Cadance Bell
In this new series of conversations, we invite established writers to shine the spotlight on an emerging writer whose work they admire. Craig Silvey introduces you to Cadance Bell, whose...
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You Made Me This Way: Shannon Molloy in Conversation.
Shannon Molloy will discuss his groundbreaking new book about one of society’s deepest shames – child sexual abuse. You Made Me This Way is a powerful personal investigation into trauma,...
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Giyi Para – Booked out
For thousands of generations First People in our country have gathered in a continuing practice of coming together to share knowledge, celebrate country, and strengthen ongoing relationships. In the spirit...
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Poetry Salon
Join us for an evening of spirited poetry performance. With Cassandra Atherton, Mohammad Awad, Robbie Coburn, Rico Craig, Willo Drummond, Yvette Henry Holt, Sarah Holland-Batt, and Mark Mordue. Hosted by...
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Free lunchtime performance: Nerds & Music
Free lunchtime performance by Nerds & Music. Clark Gormley and Wayne Thompson will perform their most ‘literate’ songs.
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Raging Grace
Join acclaimed poets Andy Jackson, Kerri Shying and Gaele Sobott for a thought-provoking conversation about Raging Grace, a profound and timely anthology of collaboratively-written poems and essays on disability, the...
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Book Launch & Poetry Retrospective
Celebrate the launch of poet Jean Kent’s new anthology The Shadow Box, a book-length sequence of poems inspired by the experiences of her grandparents, in Egypt and Australia, during and...
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Shards of the Suburbs
Bronwyn Rennex’s Life With Birds and Beth Spencer’s The Age of Fibs disrupt linear narration in favour of the fleeting and fragmentary. The child of a Vietnam veteran, Bronwyn pieces...
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Women and Words: Pip Williams in Conversation
Pip Williams’ debut novel The Dictionary of Lost Words captivated Australian readers during lockdown and has also attracted a legion of international fans. We are thrilled Pip’s visit coincides with...
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New Blood: Crime Writers to Watch
Anna Downes talks to three writers about their critically acclaimed debut books. Matthew Spencer’s Black River sees a serial killer preying on victims along the banks of the Parramatta River....
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Short and Sweet
“A novella is something that took a form that suited it and kept its tensile power from having not one word more.” – Anna Funder. Shorter than most novels, but...
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Admissions: Voices Within Mental Health
Admissions is a new anthology documenting mental health issues in Australia via poetry and prose. Join co-editor Mohammad Awad and contributors Claire Albrecht and Kristen Dunphy as they discuss writing...
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Book Launch: Meg Vertigan, ‘The Strong Dress’
Celebrate the launch of Meg Vertigan’s debut novel, The Strong Dress, exploring the tragic dance of power, gender and scientific over-confidence in 1970s suburban Australia. Hosted by Keri Glastonbury.
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Writing Indigenous Lives
In the not-too-distant past, non-Indigenous authors gave little consideration to the sensitivity of writing about Aboriginal people and places in fiction. Times have changed and there is now an expectation...
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Special Event: Celebrate The Suburban Review
It is The Suburban Review‘s 10th publishing year and they’re kicking off celebrations at NWF. Past contributors will share prose and poetry from the archives, the new issue #29: ITCH...
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Here’s One I Made Earlier
Ever wonder how artists, writers and musicians create their work? Join well-known artists at an informal afternoon soiree at Newcastle’s home of street art, Playstate Curate. Artists will share work...
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Here Be Leviathans: Chris Flynn in Conversation
Literary critic Declan Fry has described Chris Flynn as ‘a restless experimenter, a fabulist’. In his compelling new collection of short stories, Here Be Leviathans, Chris gives a voice to...
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Russia, If You’re Listening
The ABC’s Matt Bevan returns to the festival with a special presentation based on his hugely popular podcast. As Europe emerges from a bleak winter, the war in Ukraine is...
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Reckoning with Childlessness
In a culture that expects women to become mothers, what does it mean to be childless – either by choice or circumstance? Through fiction and nonfiction, Lucy Nelson and Sian...
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On Vibrational Poetics and Art: Fayen d’Evie in Conversation
Through her independent imprint 3-ply, artist, writer, and publisher Fayen d’Evie investigates artist-led publishing as an experimental, critical, and poetic site for the creation, mutation, dispersal, and archiving of texts....
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Matters of the Heart: Craig Silvey in Conversation
Craig Silvey was just 21 when his first novel was published. His second, Jasper Jones, sold 400,000 copies and earned him a place in the Australian literary canon. Next came...
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Literary Trivia Night: Festival Fundraiser – SOLD OUT
Our audience has spoken. Due to popular demand, our literary fundraiser is back. Do you know your Capote from your Corris? Can you name all three Moriarty sisters? Who is...
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In Her Own Words: An Evening with Grace Tame
Celebrate 10 years of the Newcastle Writers Festival at our opening night gala. Ten years ago, at the inaugural festival, actor and activist Miriam Margolyes spoke about ‘why words matter’...
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Murder, She Wrote: Jane Harper in Conversation
Making her first appearance at Newcastle Writers Festival, award-winning author Jane Harper will speak about her journey from winning an unpublished manuscript prize for The Dry to concluding detective Aaron...
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The Lowdown on Longevity: Norman Swan at Performance Arts Culture Cessnock
In the pursuit of health, happiness and youth, does anyone hold the secret? Join Norman Swan in conversation about the ultimate dream – to stay as young as possible, for...
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Voyage: A New Kind of Storytelling
Voyage is an exciting new live music, theatre and literary event that pushes the boundaries of storytelling. Voyage features a new play by Fiona Leonard of Germany’s Blue Goat Theatre....
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10th Anniversary Celebration: Words and Music
‘Music is the shorthand of emotion.’ – Leo Tolstoy This special event celebrates music, literature and the nature of inspiration. Drawing on the work of Hunter writers and those who...
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Kristen Dunphy
Kristen Dunphy has over 30 years’ experience writing and story producing drama for Australian television.
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Ailsa Piper
Ailsa has worked for over 35 years as a writer, director, actor, teacher, speaker and broadcaster.
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