Newcastle Writers Festival 2026

The Newcastle Writers Festival weekend is my favourite time of the year. The Festival is always so warm (a good antidote from what has been going on elsewhere), pleasurable and accessible – with well-known names but also lots of locals, plenty of poetry, and a lot of incredible writers that I look forward to catching up with in person. I also tend to say yes to everything I’m asked to do because I love it all so much (the more the better!). This year I’ve got a lot of sessions and I couldn’t be happier (or busier!).  On Saturday I’ll be talking with Jane Messer about her new (not even out yet!) book Raven Mother, launching the new Flying Island books in a big group session, and leading a conversation with Kit Kelen about his new book In Early Light after a multimedia launch (Kit’s launching two books this weekend and yes, we will talk about that!). On Sunday, I’ll be speaking with Susan Wyndham and Jacqueline Kent about the lost women of Australian literature with a focus on Wyndham’s recent biography of Elizabeth Harrower, The Woman in the Watchtower, and the many fascinating women referenced in Kent’s Inconvenient Women.  Then I’m talking fathers with Adam Courtenay (author of a new biography about his dad Bryce called, as you might guess, My Father Bryce), Mandy Sayer, who has just published her fourth memoir No Dancing in the Lift, and S. Shakthidharan (“Shakthi“) who has just published a memoir called Gather Up Your World in One Long Breath.  Finally, I’ll be “Speaking Truth to Power” (delving into abusive sexual relationships – an all-too-topical subject) with Madison Griffiths (Sweet Nothings) and Sonia Orchard (Groomed). I’m excited to have so many rich and meaty conversations and I hope you can join us!  To download the full program or book visit: https://www.newcastlewritersfestival.org.au/events/ All sessions need to be booked in advance (even free ones), so don’t delay as I suspect they will fill up quickly.