let`s talk writing - Sydney Writers` Festival

Transcription

Bibliotherapy
LET’S TALK
WRITING
16-22 May
2
swf.org.au
SYDNEY WRITERS’ FESTIVAL GRATEFULLY ACKNOWLEDGES
THE FOLLOWING PARTNERS AND SUPPORTERS
CORE FUNDERS
MAJOR PARTNERS
SUPPORTERS
Adelaide Writers’ Week
Affirm Press
Auckland Writers & Readers Festival
Australian Poetry Ltd
The Australian Taxpayers’ Alliance
Black Inc.
Bloomsbury Publishing
Brisbane Powerhouse
Brisbane Writers Festival
Byron Bay Writers’ Festival
Casula Powerhouse Arts Centre
Créative France
Griffith REVIEW
Harcourts International Conference
Hardie Grant Books
Hardie Grant Egmont
HarperCollins Publishers
Hachette Australia
History Council of New South Wales
Kinderling Kids Radio
Melbourne University Press
Musica Viva
NSW Writers’ Centre
Pan Macmillan Australia
Penguin Random House Australia
Perth Writers Festival
Riverside Theatres
Scribe Publications
Shanghai Writers’ Association
Simmer on the Bay
Simon & Schuster
State Library of NSW
The Stella Prize
Sydney Dance Lounge
Text Publishing
University of Queensland Press
Varuna, the National Writers’ House
Walker Books
The Walkley Foundation
Wheeler Centre
Woollahra Library and
Information Service
Word Travels
PLATINUM PATRON
Susan Abrahams
Rowena Danziger AM & Ken Coles AM
Dr Kathryn Lovric & Dr Roger Allan
Danita Lowes & David Fite
The Russell Mills Foundation
Margie Seale & David Hardy
Kathy & Greg Shand
WeirAnderson Foundation
GOLD PATRON
Alan & Sue Cameron
Sally Cousens & John Stuckey
Marion Dixon
Catherine & Whitney Drayton
Lisa & Danny Goldberg
Andrea Govaert & Wik Farwerck
Mrs Megan Grace & Brighton Grace
The Key Foundation
PARTNERS
Adam & Vicki Liberman
Robyn Martin-Weber
Stephen, Margie & Xavier Morris
Ruth Ritchie
Emile & Caroline Sherman
Deena Shiff & James Gillespie
Thea Whitnall
SILVER PATRON
RESEARCH & ENGAGEMENT
Alexa Haslingden
Susan & Jeffrey Hauser
Tony & Louise Leibowitz
David Marr & Sebastian Tesoriero
Lawrence & Sylvia Myers
Nina Walton & Zeb Rice
PATRON
CULTURAL PARTNERS & FOUNDATIONS
Lucinda Aboud
Annabelle Bennett
James Bennett Pty Ltd
Lucy & Stephen Chipkin
The Dunkel Family
Carole Ferguson
Michelle Filler
Lauren Fink
Andrew Freeman
Ariane & David Fuchs
Lena Nahlous
Nicola Sepel
Eva Shand
Dr Evan R. Soicher. In eternal memory.
Pamela Souvlis
H.K. Tey Pty Ltd
Jody Yesner
SWF BOARD
Deena Shiff – Chair
Peter Collins AM QC
Guy Hedley
Elizabeth Johnstone
David Marr
Lena Nahlous
Kathy Shand
Emile Sherman
SWF STAFF
Jemma Birrell
Artistic Director
Jo Dyer
Executive Director
Kate Steinweg
Program Manager
Jeanmarie Morosin
Head of Children’s & YA Programs
Tamara Press
Head of Development
Hannah Dickson
HOSPITALITY PARTNERS
MEDIA PARTNERS
Partnerships Manager
Liz Astey
Head of Operations & Production
Natasha Younger
Finance & Administration Manager
Rani Haywood
Head of Marketing & Digital
Luke de Zilva
Travis Green
Ticketing & CRM Manager
Richard Cox
Ticketing Coordinator
Walter Mansfield
Ticketing Coordinator
Andy Lysle
Head of Festival Production
Liam Nesbitt
Ground Transport Coordinator
Mel Colvin
Live & Local Project Coordinator
Benython Oldfield
Festival Publicist
Kate Mayor
Associate Publicist
Tessa Feggans
Program & Administration Assistant
Digital Marketing Manager
With thanks to:
Aimee Huxley
Dana Holder & Elizabeth Bentley
Marketing Coordinator
Misty McPhail
Volunteer Coordinator
Copywriters
Welcome
SWF 2016
A Message from the Artistic Director
E
arly one morning, I happened upon an
article by Ceridwen Dovey in The New
Yorker, ‘Can Reading Make You Happier?’
Ceridwen’s piece explored the ancient
concept of bibliotherapy, and spoke about
literature’s meditative and restorative
effects in terms of mental health,
improved relationships and the ability to empathise
with others. I liked where this was going. Books
are indeed places we can lose ourselves and at the
same time find the answers to whatever we might
be searching for, even if we don’t quite know what
that is. A good festival, like a good book, should
bring real-life benefits – joy, solace and a new
understanding of the world.
Sydney Writers’ Festival is a week-long
extravaganza of ideas and literature. In 2016 we
have an exhilarating array of authors bringing
their wisdom, knowledge and imaginative whimsy
to Sydney.
Opening this year’s Festival is wunderkind Kate
Tempest, dubbed a young Patti Smith, and one of the
most spectacular performers I’ve seen. After awardwinning books of poetry and a critically acclaimed
album, Kate has a new novel that’s defined by the
searing truth she’s known for. Her work is electric.
Jonathan Franzen speaks with Anna Funder
about Purity, his compelling, amusing and sharply
satirical portrait of relationships and family
dysfunction. We also have a whole session devoted
to Jonathan’s rich, varied and often unexpected
reading life.
Feminist icon, writer and activist Gloria
Steinem returns to Australia for the first time since
the 1980s to share stories about life, travel and
adventure. In another session at the Wharf she’ll
convince you why women should rule the world.
An epic novel about the attempted assassination
of Bob Marley was a brilliant choice for last year’s
Man Booker Prize, and we welcome its Jamaicanborn author Marlon James.
The great Julian Barnes, who also won the Man
Booker Prize for The Sense of an Ending, speaks
about The Noise of Time, an immersive parable
about power, art and control, which fictionalises
the life of Russian composer Dmitri Shostakovich.
Beloved British novelist William Boyd discusses
his new book Sweet Caress, and shares his insights
into screenwriting in an exclusive masterclass.
Jeanette Winterson brings The Gap of Time,
a modern take on The Winter’s Tale with all the
grandeur of Shakespeare and her own particular
lyricism. Jeanette is a wildly imaginative storyteller
who has no peer. Her talks are extraordinary. She’s
not to be missed.
Elena Ferrante’s novels have been some of the
most loved and obsessively read books of the past
year. While the author herself remains anonymous,
we are fortunate to hear directly from her gifted
translator, Ann Goldstein. Join us for a forensic
discussion of Ferrante’s novels at Sydney Town Hall.
The Girl on the Train has also transfixed millions
of readers around the world, and we welcome its
author Paula Hawkins.
There is a rare chance to hear from Elizabeth
Harrower, the Australian writer whose work has
been praised by Christina Stead and Patrick White.
This will be only her second public interview.
Another one of Australia’s most celebrated
writers, David Malouf, interviews Pulitzer Prizewinning poet and poetry editor at The New Yorker,
Paul Muldoon. This will be an incredible meeting
of minds.
Hear inspiring personal stories across the
Festival week. Zelda la Grange, Nelson Mandela’s
private secretary, remembers her life by his side.
Richard Glover, Magda Szubanski and New York
Times columnist Roger Cohen share stories of their
lives and upbringing that are brave and surprising.
Drusilla Modjeska talks books, friends and lovers
in Second Half First. Julia Leigh opens up about her
memoir, which speaks of her gruelling experience
with IVF and the dreams we have for our lives.
In today’s cultural and political landscape,
Stan Grant is an essential voice. His new book
is a powerful meditation on race, culture and
Australian identity.
At Parramatta’s Riverside Theatres Kerry
O’Brien gives the lowdown on Paul Keating, Bob
Brown shares his optimism, and Suad Amiry
revisits home through Palestinian stories.
James Rebanks, the Herdwick Shepherd, hails
from the Lake District in England, where his family
has lived for over 600 years. His bestselling book
about the rituals of life on the land will make you
dream of returning to a more simple life.
In contrast, Vivian Gornick lives and breathes
the streets of New York, with all of their chance
encounters. Her book, The Odd Woman and the City,
is a paean to literature and friendship. Both James
and Vivian are utterly charming and insightful.
This year for the first time we have three guest
curators: Susie Orbach, George Megalogenis and
Anna Funder, who bring vision and flair to the
program. Look for their events in the following pages.
Our favourite writers tell us about the book
that saved them in a gala event at Sydney Town
Hall. There’s also a series of live psychoanalytic
interviews with Susie Orbach, revealing a side to
writers you don’t usually see. And book in to see
our bibliotherapist-in-residence, Susan Elderkin,
who shares a lifetime of literary remedies.
Take a fresh look at some of the most pressing
issues we’re facing today in a thought-provoking
series called Thinking Globally. Are we witnessing
the end of Europe? Should there be a universal
right to migration? Just how big is Big Brother? In
another fascinating series, Writers Talk Politics, we
focus on France, America, China, Ireland and India,
and unearth each country’s cultural and political
preoccupations through writers who know the
terrain intimately.
Hear from Yeonmi Park, who escaped the
brutality of the North Korean regime; Xu Zhiyuan,
the man described by Ai Weiwei as ‘the most
important Chinese intellectual of his generation’,
and Emma Sky, who exposes what went wrong in
Iraq in her acclaimed book, The Unravelling.
The charismatic Yanis Varoufakis, former
finance minister of Greece, opens up about his
new book and his recently launched pan-European
political movement. Oxford scholar Peter
Frankopan gives a dazzling alternate view of
world history as seen through the Silk Roads, and
Jean-Christophe Rufin, co-founder of Médecins
Sans Frontières, walks another route, the Camino
de Santiago.
Nights at the Wharf are irresistible this
year. Don’t miss Adam Spencer speaking with
gravitational wave expert, astrophysicist Janna
Levin. See People of Letters, Night of the Nerds
and Rebecca Vaughan who gives a dramatic
interpretation of Austen’s Women, performed most
evenings. Catch the Festival’s most uninhibited
conversations with an intriguing range of writers
at the Late Night Salon. One guest is podcast
sensation, Starlee Kine, previously of This
American Life, now the host of Mystery Show.
In the Children's and Young Adult program we
launch Best of the Fest, our new venture with the
Board of Studies, with events for students featuring
some of the Festival’s most dynamic thinkers.
There’s also our School Days Program, with
luminaries such as Michael Grant, Claire Zorn,
Judith Rossell and Liz Pichon. Jon Klassen,
author of I Want My Hat Back, and John Boyne,
who wrote The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas, also
feature in both the children and adult programs. On
Sunday May 22, kids and teens take over Pier 4/5
for the first time ever, as we run four free venues,
all with their own brand of mischief and mayhem.
Our closing address goes directly to the heart
of the relationship between a writer and her
reader. Hanya Yanagihara is one of this year’s
most anticipated guests, with her Man Bookershortlisted novel A Little Life both inspiring
adulation and polarising critics across the world.
This is a book that gets under everyone’s skin. In an
address called ‘The Conversations Between Words’,
Hanya asks if a writer owes her reader anything
more than a compelling story.
Sydney will transform in May with authors and
ideas flooding the city. Bringing fresh perspectives
from all corners of the world, these writers
enhance our community with their stories, humour,
creativity and vision. This is something to celebrate,
and celebrate we will.
Have a great Festival!
Jemma Birrell
Artistic Director
swf.org.au
Contents
City &
Walsh Bay
4-16
Guest Curators
5
City and Walsh Bay
Event Liftout
12-13
Thinking Globally 14
Nights at the Wharf 15
The Curiosity
Lecture Series
Workshops
17
18
Children's &
Young Adult
19
Suburban &
Regional
20-21
Business Bites
21
Live and Local
21
Participants
22
Venues &
Bookings
23
WEBSITE VISIT SWF.ORG.AU
TO CATCH UP ON ALL THE
FESTIVAL NEWS.
TWITTER GET THE LATEST
UPDATES AND JOIN THE
CONVERSATION USING
#SYDNEYWRITERSFESTIVAL
FACEBOOK VISIT US AT
FACEBOOK.COM/SYDWRITERSFEST
INSTAGRAM SEE THE BEST
PICS FROM THE FESTIVAL
AND SHARE YOURS USING
#SYDNEYWRITERSFESTIVAL
PODCASTS SUBSCRIBE
ON iTUNES TO STREAM
SYDNEY WRITERS' FESTIVAL
PODCASTS
PRODUCED BY THE SMH,
FAIRFAX MEDIA
ADVERTISING 9282 1783
READERLINK 9282 1569
READERLINK@ SMH.COM.AU
only one place to see
YOUR ADVENTURE STARTS HERE There’s
a line-up like this.
N
LIA
RA
ST
AU
IVE
US
CL
EX
KING CHARLES III
BY MIKE BARTLETT | 31 MAR-30 APR
“Bold, brilliant and unstoppably entertaining.
Theatre doesn’t get much better than this.”
THE TIMES,UK
Rarely-staged epics, transcendent
master works, invigorating new
writing and exclusive international
hits. All brought to life by the very
best Australian theatre-makers.
ALL MY SONS
THE HANGING
John Howard and Robyn Nevin join forces in this
powerful classic.
A haunting new crime thriller by an
award-winning playwright.
BY ARTHUR MILLER | 4 JUN- 9 JUL
BY ANGELA BETZIEN | 28 JUL – 10 SEP
3
SYDNEYTHEATRE.COM.AU
9250 1777 @SYDNEYTHEATRECO
4
swf.org.au
City & Walsh Bay
MONDAY MAY 16 – THURSDAY MAY 19
MONDAY, MAY 16
as they champion the importance of being
informed about scientific research and
climate change policy in light of today’s
critical environmental situation. With
Bianca Nogrady.
$20/$15 Bookings 9250 1988
roslynpackertheatre.com.au/swf
1 NSW PREMIER’S LITERARY
AWARDS PRESENTATION AND
COCKTAIL RECEPTION
May 16, 6–9.30pm
State Library of NSW, The Galleries
A glittering celebration of excellence in
Australian writing held on the Festival’s first
night. With prizes totalling $305,000, the
awards are among the nation’s richest and
most prestigious.
$60/$55 Bookings 9273 1770
sl.nsw.gov.au
2 PHILIP PARSONS LECTURE
BY KATE MULVANY: ACT WELL
YOUR PART
May 16, 6.30–7.30pm
Belvoir, Upstairs Theatre
Welcome to the Australian theatrical house. In
this lecture by Kate Mulvany, the house will be
exorcised. Prepare for some tough love from
a resident artist who thinks the Australian
theatre house needs a radical renovation.
$10 Bookings 9699 3444
belvoir.com.au
3 AUSTEN’S WOMEN
May 16, 7–8.10pm, Wharf 2 Theatre
SEE EVENT HIGHLIGHT, Page 6
4 LITTLE FICTIONS
May 16, 7–8.30pm, Knox St Bar
These short tales, read to you by actors,
reveal the many faces of Sydney. Set in one
of Chippendale’s grooviest venues, Little
Fictions reinvigorates the simple pleasure
of being read to.
$15, tickets at the door
TUESDAY, MAY 17
5 CRAIG MUNRO: UNDER COVER
May 17, 12.30–1.30pm
State Library of NSW, Metcalfe
Auditorium
Craig Munro speaks about his 30 years of
audacious and inspiring adventures in the
publishing industry, editing a lively cast of
Australia’s most influential authors, from
Peter Carey to Patrick White.
Free, no bookings
6 2016 OPENING ADDRESS:
KATE TEMPEST
May 17, 6.30–7.30pm
Roslyn Packer Theatre
7 AUSTEN’S WOMEN
WEDNESDAY, MAY 18
8 A LOVE AFFAIR WITH
SHAKESPEARE
May 18, 6–7pm, State Library of NSW,
Metcalfe Auditorium
The Library commemorates 400 years
since Shakespeare’s death. Join this
Shakespeare-loving panel as they discuss
what keeps them coming back to the Bard.
$20/$15 Bookings 9273 1770
sl.nsw.gov.au/whats-on
9 AUSTEN’S WOMEN
10 CHASING ASYLUM: NSW
PREMIERE
May 18, 7–9pm, Dendy Opera Quays
Join us for the NSW premiere of Chasing
Asylum. This powerful and moving
documentary tells the story of Australia’s
offshore detention policies as told by
asylum seekers and whistleblowers.
$20 Bookings chasingasylum.com.au
11 INSIDERS LIVE AT SYDNEY
WRITERS’ FESTIVAL
May 18, 7.30–9pm
SEE GUEST CURATORS, Page 5
THURSDAY, MAY 19
12 WINGS ON THE WHARF
#WHATLIFTSYOU
May 19–22, Pier 2/3
Famed for blending street art and social
media, Kelsey Montague creates a
whimsical large-scale mural outside Pier 2/3,
Walsh Bay throughout the day. Help Kelsey
6 Kate
Tempest
33 ACROSS GENERATIONS:
SOFIE LAGUNA AND ALICE PUNG
May 19, 11.30am–12.30pm
Richard Wherrett Studio
Sofie Laguna and Alice Pung have written
for readers of varying ages. Does writing
from a young person’s perspective require
a stronger imagination? The authors
discuss with James Tierney what it means
to create an authentic voice.
$15 Bookings 9250 1988
Festival Highlight
6 2016 OPENING ADDRESS: KATE TEMPEST
May 17, 6.30–7.30pm
The stories we tell, tell us who we are. Kate Tempest, dubbed
a young Patti Smith, is one of the most spectacular performers today.
Kate recites her poems and talks about how the stories we choose define us.
Includes opening formalities.
Premium $45, A Reserve $35/$25
Bookings 9250 1988, roslynpackertheatre.com.au/swf
colour it in and share with: #whatliftsyou
#sydneywritersfestival
Free, no bookings
13 COFFEE AND PAPERS WITH THE
SMH, ALEKSANDAR HEMON AND
MADELINE GLEESON
May 19, 9–10am, The Theatre Bar at
the End of the Wharf
Join Sydney Morning Herald editorJudith
Whelan, SMH journalists and special guests
Aleksandar Hemon and Madeline Gleeson to
hear their take on what’s making headlines
today, and the changing nature of journalism.
Supported by The Sydney Morning Herald.
Free, no bookings
CUR 14 TIM GRIFFITHS: FRANK
HURLEY, SHACKLETON AND THE
END OF THE HEROIC AGE
May 19, 10–10.40am
Pier 2/3 Curiosity Stage
SEE CURIOSITY LECTURE SERIES, Page 17
15 SOUND AND SILENCE
May 19, 10–11am
Philharmonia Studio
Award-winning novelists Mireille Juchau
and Anna Smaill explore the power of
sound, the threat of silence and the way
both silence and noise can be revealed with
words. They talk to Felicity Plunkett.
$15 Bookings 9250 1988
16 SUSAN ELDERKIN:
THE NOVEL CURE
May 19, 10–11am, Pier 2/3 Club Stage
Is reading really the best medicine? Find
out when bibliotherapist Susan Elderkin
takes the stage to reveal the secrets of a
good literary remedy. With Ceridwen Dovey.
$20/$15 Bookings 9250 1988
17 ANNABEL CRABB:
FOOD AND FRIENDS
May 19, 10–11am, Pier 2/3 Main Stage
Annabel Crabb has cleverly segued the
recipes she showcased on Kitchen Cabinet
into the delightful, delectable and eminently
practical cookbook, Special Delivery. She
dishes up her recipes and the stories
behind them. With Michael Williams.
$20/$15 Bookings 9250 1988
18 KEN DONE: A LIFE COLOURED IN
May 19, 10–11am, Pier 2/3 The Loft
Ken Done’s flamboyant artworks have
become synonymous with Australia. His
new memoir, A Life Coloured In, is a portrait
of his largely unknown personal life – and it
has certainly been a colourful journey. He
speaks with Rachel Kent.
$20/$15 Bookings 9250 1988
19 SPORT: THE GREAT DISTRACTOR?
May 19, 10–11am
Pier 4/5 The Waterfront
Is sport more powerful than governments
in bringing about social change? Or is it the
opiate of the people? Martin Flanagan, Erin
Riley and Stan Grant discuss the systemic
racial and cultural tensions plaguing
Australian sport today. With Sam Mostyn.
$15 Bookings 9250 1988
20 GHOSTWRITING: THE
UNTOLD STORY
May 19, 10–11am
Bryce Corbett, Felicity McLean and Michael
Visontay are among the best ghostwriters
in the business. They open up about the
joys (and pitfalls) of being someone else’s
voice, with John M. Green.
$15 Bookings 9250 1988
21 ZELDA LA GRANGE: GOOD
MORNING, MR MANDELA
May 19, 10–11am
For 16 years Zelda la Grange was Nelson
Mandela’s closest confidant. This is a rare
opportunity to hear the intimate stories of
life with a man who left an indelible mark
on the world. Zelda speaks to David Leser.
$30/$25 Bookings 9250 1988
22 THE SECRET WEAPONS OF
INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALISTS
May 19, 10–11am, Sydney Dance 1
Threats, intimidation and risk taking are
all in a day’s work for investigative
journalists and Walkley Award winners
Caro Meldrum-Hanna, Steve Pennells and
Suzanne Smith. They share their stories
with Quentin Dempster.
Free, no bookings
23 HISTORICAL OBSESSIONS
Winners of NSW Premier’s History Awards,
Alan Atkinson, Carolyn Holbrook and
Babette Smith reveal to Caroline ButlerBowdon how and why they fell in love with
their subjects. Presented by the History
Council of NSW.
Free, no bookings
24 JANE CARO: A PERFECTLY
IMPERFECT LIFE
May 19, 10–11am, Wharf 2 Theatre
In her new memoir Plain-Speaking Jane,
Jane Caro talks about her life in advertising,
her role as a mother and her battles with
anxiety. With Tracey Spicer.
$20/$15 Bookings 9250 1988
32 MODERN LOVE: JOHN AND
SUNDAY REED
May 19, 11.30am–12.30pm
Revisit Australia’s mid-century art scene
as Kendrah Morgan and Lesley Harding
share revelatory stories about the
unconventional lives of legendary art
patrons, bohemians and bon vivants John
and Sunday Reed. With ABC RN’s Cassie
McCullagh.
$15 Bookings 9250 1988
25 NEW AUSTRALIAN VOICES
May 19, 10.30–11.30am, The Theatre
Bar at the End of the Wharf
Discover three of Australia’s best emerging
writers as they read from and discuss their
work. Featuring Josephine Rowe (A Loving,
Faithful Animal), Miles Allinson (Fever of
Animals) and Antonia Hayes (Relativity) in
conversation with Meredith Jaffé.
Free, no bookings
CUR 26 JEAN-FRANÇOIS VERNAY:
A FRENCH VIEW ON AUSTRALIAN
NOVELS
May 19, 11–11.40am
27 THE BOOK CLUB
May 19, 11.15am–1pm
ABC Studios
Join Jennifer Byrne with regular panellists
Marieke Hardy and Jason Steger, plus
exciting Festival guests, for a taping of a
special Sydney Writers’ Festival edition of
ABC TV’s The Book Club.
Free, bookings essential. Phone 8333
3644 or email bookclub@abc.net.au
28 GOING HOME: BELONGING,
FAMILY AND FOOD
May 19, 11.30am–12.30pm
Philharmonia Studio
Debut novelist Debra Jopson and
memoirists Beth Yahp and Adam Aitken
speak with Joy Lawn about existing
between two worlds, and the complicated
relationship between heritage, family
and home.
$15 Bookings 9250 1988
29 WRITERS IN DANGER
May 19, 11.30am–12.30pm
Pier 2/3 Club Stage
30 PETER GARRETT: BIG BLUE SKY
May 19, 11.30am–12.30pm
Pier 2/3 Main Stage
From life in Sydney’s suburbia to
environmental activism, and from
frontman of iconic Aussie band
Midnight Oil to Labor cabinet minister,
Peter Garrett has fascinating tales to tell.
He speaks to ABC RN’s Ellen Fanning
about his new memoir.
Supported by Editor Group.
$20/$15 Bookings 9250 1988
31 CLIMATE: KNOWLEDGE
AND HOPE
May 19, 11.30am–12.30pm
Pier 2/3 The Loft
Join Nobel Prize winner Peter Doherty
and leading environmentalist Tim Flannery
34 JULIAN BARNES: SOME OF MY
BEST FRIENDS ARE BIOGRAPHERS
May 19, 11.30am–12.30pm
35 CHRIS BOWEN: THE
MONEY MEN
May 19, 11.30am–12.30pm
Sydney Dance 1
Join former treasurer and current
Shadow Treasurer Chris Bowen for a
revealing discussion with Margot Saville
about his book, The Money Men, an
insider’s perspective on the 12 most
notable men to have held the office of
Australian treasurer.
Free, no bookings
36 THE UNDERBELLY OF SYDNEY
May 19, 11.30am–12.30pm
Sydney Dance 2
Local authors Peter Doyle, Eleanor
Limprecht and Anna Westbrook join
Tom Wright to share true tales of the
colourful characters who shaped
Sydney’s sordid past.
Free, no bookings
37 SESSIONS WITH SUSIE:
FIONA WRIGHT
May 19, 11.30am–12.30pm
Wharf 2 Theatre
CUR 38 CATRIONA MENZIES-PIKE:
WHY I’VE LOST EVERY MARATHON
I’VE EVER RUN
May 19, 12–12.40pm
39 DAMON YOUNG: THE ART
OF READING
May 19, 12.30–1.30pm, State Library
of NSW, Metcalfe Auditorium
Damon Young’s new book, The Art of
Reading, celebrates the power of reading to
transform words into worlds. Join Damon
as he reveals the pleasures and adventures
that come with living a bookish life.
Free, no bookings
CUR 40 ANTHONY BOND: THE
AWFUL TRUTH ABOUT CURATING
May 19, 1.30–2.10pm
41 THE POLITICS OF PAPERBACKS
May 19, 1.30–2.30pm
Philharmonia Studio
Craig Munro edited David Malouf’s first
novel and championed Peter Carey. Stuart
Kells unearthed the story of the Lane
brothers, who founded Penguin. Peek
between the covers of the book industry as
Craig and Stuart speak with Catherine Milne.
$15 Bookings 9250 1988
swf.org.au
Guest Curators
This year’s program is enriched by three writers who have brought
their unique creative vision to the Festival. Susie Orbach hosts a series
of psychoanalytic sessions with three intrepid authors. Anna Funder
interviews Jonathan Franzen and, in another session, invites writers to
share their tales of survival and resilience. George Megalogenis brings
some of the most incisive Australian and international minds together in
fresh and unexpected ways. Let this eclectic trio guide you through some
of the delights the program has to offer.
George Megalogenis
George
Megalogenis is
an author and
journalist with
three decades'
experience in
the media.
11 INSIDERS LIVE AT SYDNEY
WRITERS’ FESTIVAL
May 18, 7.30–9pm
Barrie Cassidy leads Niki Savva, David
Marr, George Megalogenis and Annabel
Crabb through the political highs and
lows of 2016. Mike Bowers conducts
Talking Pictures with David Rowe.
Premium $45, A Reserve
$35/25, Bookings 9250 1988
roslynpackertheatre.com.au
55 GEORGE MEGALOGENIS:
AUSTRALIA’S SECOND CHANCE
May 19, 3–4pm
Pier 2/3 Main Stage
George Megalogenis offers fresh insight
into the Australian mindset, diving deep
into history with Jamila Rizvi to find out
whether Australia has what it takes to
maintain our winning streak.
$20/$15 Bookings 9250 1988
131 LEADERSHIP:
THEN AND NOW
May 20, 3–4pm, Wharf 2 Theatre
From Whitlam to Howard, Abbott to
Turnbull, what’s changed in Australian
politics? Paul Kelly, Peter van Onselen
and Niki Savva share their insights
with Margot Saville on how the top job
ihas changed over time.
$20/$15 Bookings 9250 1988
149 MAGDA SZUBANSKI AND
GEORGE MEGALOGENIS: RATED
PG (POLISH AND GREEK)
May 20, 7.30–8.30pm
Following the success of her recently
released memoir, Reckoning, Magda
Szubanski swaps notes with George
Megalogenis on how the dorky
children of European migrants
redefined Australian culture. Supported
by the City of Sydney.
$35/$25 Bookings 9250 1988
Festival
Highlight
Anna Funder
Anna Funder is one
of Australia’s most
acclaimed and
awarded writers.
29 WRITERS IN DANGER
May 19, 11.30am–12.30pm
Pier 2/3 Club Stage
Julian Burnside QC speaks to Chinese
intellectual Xu Zhiyuan, Indian authors
Deepti Kapoor and Samanth Subramanian,
and North Korean escapee Yeonmi Park
about the perils of writing in repressive
regimes. Introduced by ICORN ambassador
Anna Funder.
$20/$15 Bookings 9250 1988
270 ANNA FUNDER:
COMING HOME
May 22, 4.30–5.30pm
Pier 2/3 Main Stage
Catch award–winning author Anna Funder
162 WHY WOMEN SHOULD
RULE THE WORLD
May 21, 10–11am
How many female CEOs will
it take to change the world?
Feminist icon Gloria Steinem,
Indian activist Ira Trivedi and
journalist Laura Tingle talk
candidly to George Megalogenis
about women at the top.
Supported by the City of Sydney
$30/$25 Bookings 9250 1988
217 YANIS VAROUFAKIS: AND
THE WEAK SUFFER WHAT
THEY MUST?
May 21, 5–6pm
City Recital Hall Angel Place
Yanis Varoufakis, economist and former
finance minister of Greece, talks about
his new book, And the Weak Suffer What
They Must?, and outlines his plans for
his pan-European political party. With
George Megalogenis. Supported by The
Russell Mills Foundation.
Bookings 9250 1988 or 8256
2222, roslynpackertheatre.com.
au/swf or cityrecitalhall.com
254 SARAH FERGUSON:
THE KILLING SEASON UNCUT
May 22, 1.30–2.30pm
Sarah Ferguson’s ABC TV series The
Killing Season captivated Australia with
its account of Labor’s implosion during
the Rudd–Gillard–Rudd years. Sarah
shares trade secrets of interviewing
prime ministers with fellow journalist
George Megalogenis.
$30/$25 Bookings 9250 1988
Festival Highlight
224 JONATHAN FRANZEN:
PURITY
May 21, 8.30–9.30pm
Sydney Town Hall
Dazzling in its scope and stunning in its
satire, Purity firmly positions Jonathan
Franzen as one of the greatest writers
of fiction working today. Jonathan joins
Anna Funder for a conversation as witty
and wide–ranging as the novel itself.
Premium $45, A Reserve 35/$25
Bookings 9250 1988, swf.org.au or
as she chats with Jason Steger about her
years in the US, coming home to Australia
and her poignant recent novella, The Girl
with the Dogs.
$20/$15 Bookings 9250 1988
Festival Highlight
218 FERRANTE FEVER: A CELEBRATION OF
ELENA FERRANTE’S NOVELS
May 21, 5.30–6.30pm
Sydney Town Hall
Elena Ferrante inspires evangelical fervour. Join
this forensic discussion about the lure of Ferrante’s
feisty Neapolitan novels with her translator Ann
Goldstein, Benjamin Law, Emma Alberici and
Drusilla Modjeska, speaking with Susan Wyndham.
Premium $45, A Reserve $35/$25 Bookings
9250 1988, swf.org.au or roslynpackertheatre.
com.au/swf
Susie Orbach
Susie Orbach is a
psychotherapist,
writer and
co-founder of The
Women's Therapy
Centres in London
and New York.
68 THE DANGER OF IDEAS
May 19, 4.30–5.30pm
Pier 2/3 The Loft
Marie Darrieussecq, writer for Charlie
Hebdo, author Tara Moss (Speaking Out)
and Tim Soutphommasane speak with
Susie Orbach about censorship and trigger
warnings. Has political correctness gone too
far or not far enough?
$20/$15 Bookings 9250 1988
199 SUSIE ORBACH: FAT IS STILL
A FEMINIST ISSUE
May 21, 3–4pm
Susie Orbach discusses her work as a
psychotherapist and author. She examines
5
body image in today’s society, where
selfies are king and the idea of perfection
is as narrow as ever. With Caroline Baum.
Supported by Bupa Health Foundation.
$15 Bookings 9250 1988
SESSIONS WITH SUSIE
In a fascinating series of public
therapy forums, Susie puts three of
the Festival’s bravest writers on the
couch to explore what’s on their minds.
These unique sessions live outside
the traditional book interview, as the
authors bring a particular personal or
creative dilemma to their session. This
is a rare chance to witness what makes
an author tick.
FIONA WRIGHT
May 19, 11.30am–12.30pm
Wharf 2 Theatre
Fiona Wright is a poet and critic
whose book of essays, Small Acts of
Disappearance, describes her 10-year battle
with anorexia. Her journey is fraught,
ANNA'S HIGHLIGHTS
34 JULIAN BARNES: SOME OF MY
BEST FRIENDS ARE BIOGRAPHERS
May 19, 11.30am–12.30pm
Julian Barnes casts a sceptical eye on
some biographical principles and practices
as inflicted upon Gustave Flaubert, Clara
Schumann, Evelyn Waugh, Ian McEwan
and, some time in the future, the author
himself. With Susan Wyndham.
$30/$25 Bookings 9250 1988
128 INSIDE THE NEW YORKER
May 20, 3–4pm
Discover the perks and challenges of
working for one of the world’s greatest
publications, The New Yorker, from three
of its most influential insiders. Editors Ann
Goldstein and Paul Muldoon speak to
former managing editor Amelia Lester.
$30/$25 Bookings 9250 1988
yet she examines her life with honesty
and wry humour.
$20/$15 Bookings 9250 1988
ROGER COHEN
May 20, 11.30am–12.30pm
Pier 2/3 The Loft
New York Times columnist and author
Roger Cohen has a backstory you couldn’t
make up. His memoir recounts his Jewish
family’s exile and displacement and his
mother’s lifelong struggle with inner demons.
$20/$15 Bookings 9250 1988
RICHARD GLOVER
May 21, 11.30am–12.30pm
Pier 2/3 The Loft
Richard Glover’s mum ran off with his
Tolkien–obsessed English teacher and his
dad was a distant alcoholic. Little wonder
then that Richard reckons he can win any
game of ‘Who’s got the weirdest family?’
$20/$15 Bookings 9250 1988
roslynpackertheatre.com.au
6
swf.org.au
City & Walsh Bay
THURSDAY MAY 19
42 LEISEL JONES: OUT OF
THE POOL
May 19, 1.30–2.30pm
Pier 2/3 Club Stage
For Olympian Leisel Jones, life outside the
pool didn’t always go swimmingly. Leisel
and ghostwriter Felicity McLean sit down
for a frank chat with Meredith Jaffé about
recreating Leisel’s experiences on paper.
$20/$15 Bookings 9250 1988
43 HUGH MACKAY: CAN WE FIND
MEANING WITHOUT RELIGION?
May 19, 1.30–2.30pm
Pier 2/3 Main Stage
Social researcher Hugh Mackay explores
the ways we find meaning and purpose
in a society where traditional religious faith
and practice are in sharp decline. With
Eleanor Hall.
$20/$15 Bookings 9250 1988
44 GREG SHERIDAN: POLITICAL
SHENANIGANS
May 19, 1.30–2.30pm
Pier 2/3 The Loft
With a distinguished journalistic career and
a circle of friends that includes Tony Abbott,
Malcolm Turnbull and Bob Carr, Greg
Sheridan’s memoir is brimming with
fascinating insights. Catch him in
conversation with Margot Saville.
$20/$15 Bookings 9250 1988
45 MARIE DARRIEUSSECQ:
FICTION, FEMMES AND
CHARLIE HEBDO
May 19, 1.30–2.30pm
Internationally celebrated French author
Marie Darrieussecq talks to Suzanne Leal
about passion, otherness and love in
her latest book, Men, and describes
her work with Charlie Hebdo after the
tragedy of 2015.
$15 Bookings 9250 1988
46 THE WRITER WHO CHANGED
ME: TEGAN BENNETT DAYLIGHT
ON S.J. PERELMAN
May 19, 1.30–2.30pm
Tegan Bennett Daylight talks about S.J.
Perelman, the Marx Brothers’ scriptwriter
and New Yorker essayist whose meticulous
wit and erudition have been a lifelong
influence on her work. With Ailsa Piper.
$15 Bookings 9250 1988
47 EMMA SKY: HIGH HOPES AND
MISSED OPPORTUNITIES IN IRAQ
May 19, 1.30–2.30pm
The Unravelling is the memoir of Emma
Sky, a civilian, pacifist and liberal Brit who
became chief adviser to the US military in
the combat zones of Iraq. Emma speaks to
James Brown.
$30/$25 Bookings 9250 1988
3 Austen’s
Women
3 AUSTEN’S WOMEN
May 16, 7–8.10pm
Wharf 2 Theatre
Thirteen of Jane Austen’s heroines come to life in this bold portrayal of characters
from some of literature’s most celebrated works. Rebecca Vaughan returns with
another celebrated one–woman show following her 2015 sell–out performances
of Dalloway. Plays Monday May 16 – Sunday May 22 (excluding Friday).
$36/$25 Bookings 9250 1988, roslynpackertheatre.com.au/swf
49 NSW PREMIER’S AWARDS:
MEET THE WRITERS
May 19, 1.30–2.30pm
Sydney Dance 2
Be the first to hear from the winners of
the 2016 NSW Premier’s Literary Awards,
representing the best in new Australian
literature across a variety of genres.
Free, no bookings
50 ADAM FORD: MY LIFE IN RUINS
May 19, 1.30–2.30pm
Wharf 2 Theatre
From burials in Barbados to Bronze Age
cities on the Euphrates, Adam Ford has
dug, dived, abseiled and trekked his way
into history. He gives a talk then speaks
to Richard Miles about his memoir,
My Life in Ruins.
$20/$15 Bookings 9250 1988
51 THE BOOK CLUB
May 19, 2–3.45pm. ABC Studios
Join Jennifer Byrne with regular panellists
Marieke Hardy and Jason Steger, plus
exciting Festival guests, for a taping of a
special Sydney Writers’ Festival edition of
ABC TV’s The Book Club.
Free, bookings essential. Phone 8333
3644 or email bookc|ub@abc.net.au
CUR 52 MICHAEL SEXTON SC: ON
THE EDGES OF HISTORY
May 19, 2.30–3.10pm
53 FIONA McFARLANE SPEAKS
WITH MICHELLE DE KRETSER
May 19, 3–4pm, Philharmonia Studio
Fiona McFarlane’s new story collection, The
High Places, explores those moments when
we confront the strangeness and mystery of
our lives. Fiona speaks with Michelle de Kretser.
$15 Bookings 9250 1988
54 WENDY WHITELEY: SAVING
A SECRET GARDEN
May 19, 3–4pm, Pier 2/3 Club Stage
Wendy Whiteley spent 20 years
transforming a huge dump of railway land
into a glorious guerrilla garden. Wendy
and Janet Hawley speak about their book
Wendy Whiteley and the Secret Garden.
With Wayne Tunnicliffe.
$20/$15 Bookings 9250 1988
55 GEORGE MEGALOGENIS:
AUSTRALIA’S SECOND CHANCE
May 19, 3–4pm, Pier 2/3 Main Stage
56 PAUL MULDOON: ONE
THOUSAND THINGS WORTH
KNOWING
May 19, 3–4pm, Pier 2/3 The Loft
David Malouf joins Pulitzer Prize–winning Irish
60 INDIA: WRITERS TALK POLITICS
May 19, 3–4pm, Sydney Dance 1
Join a lively discussion on the pressing
social and political issues facing India today.
Christopher Kremmer speaks with
novelist Deepti Kapoor, journalist
Samanth Subramanian and author and
commentator Ira Trivedi.
Free, no bookings
61 NEW AMERICAN POETRY
Jamila Woods and Nate Marshall are gifted
poets, keen educators, activists and leaders in
their communities. They perform their work
and speak with Poetry editor Don Share.
Supported by the Poetry Foundation.
Free, no bookings
Festival Highlight
48 PHILANTHROPY: THE ART
OF GIVING
May 19, 1.30–2.30pm, Sydney Dance 1
Join two of Australia’s most remarkable
philanthropists, Penelope Seidler AM and
Phillip Keir, as they tell David Leser about
the motivation behind their acts of giving,
and ask whether intention really matters.
Presented with Philanthropy Australia and
Sydney Community Foundation.
Free, no bookings
collected a lifetime of stories and they
share a few of them with with ABC RN’s
Natasha Mitchell.
$30/$25 Bookings 9250 1988
poet Paul Muldoon for an unforgettable
hour of poetry, rumination and
conversation. Paul’s most recent collection
is a masterful and multifarious volume, filled
with linguistic hijinks.
Supported by Culture Ireland by
arrangement with Poetry Ireland.
$20/$15 Bookings 9250 1988
57 ANIMATING HISTORY
May 19, 3–4pm
Jami Attenberg, David Dyer and Sulari
Gentill share the joys of bringing the past
to life through fiction with Michael Williams.
Their new novels range in subject from the
Titanic to the Jazz Age.
$15 Bookings 9250 1988
58 ART AND LIFE
May 19, 3–4pm
Kendrah Morgan, Lesley Harding, Mark
O’Flynn and Suzanne Falkiner speak to
Rachel Kent about the Australian literary
and artistic lives that have captured their
attention, from Randolph Stow to Eve
Langley and John and Sunday Reed.
$15 Bookings 9250 1988
59 ON THE ROAD
May 19, 3–4pm
Feminist icon Gloria Steinem, Indigenous
poet Ali Cobby Eckermann and French
author Jean-Christophe Rufin, who
walked the Camino de Santiago, all
have travel in their blood. This trio has
62 FORENSICS IN ART AND
LITERATURE
Luc Sante explores off-beat crime scene
photos from 1930s New York and Peter
Doyle delves into archival photos of Sydney
suburbia. They discuss the dark allure of the
forensic photograph with Kate Rossmanith.
Supported by Macquarie University.
$20/$15 Bookings 9250 1988
CUR 63 BETH YAHP: ON
EATING DIM SUM
May 19, 3.30–4.10pm
CUR 64 FRANK BONGIORNO: WHY
WE CAN’T GET OVER THE EIGHTIES
May 19, 4.30–5.10pm
65 FINANCE AND FICTION
May 19, 4.30–5.30pm
Philharmonia Studio
Why do we have an enduring fascination
with financial folly and gr eed? Novelists
Richard McHugh, Paul Murray and Jane
Messer talk to John M. Green about why
they revel in the drama of high finance.
$15 Bookings 9250 1988
66 GAIL AND JULIETTE O’BRIEN:
AFTER CATASTROPHE
May 19, 4.30–5.30pm
Pier 2/3 Club Stage
How do you carry on after devastating
tragedies? Gail O’Brien, wife of the late
surgeon Chris O’Brien, and their daughter
Juliette, talk to Caroline Overington about
their new book, This is Gail.
$20/$15 Bookings 9250 1988
67 FOR THE LOVE OF ANIMALS
May 19, 4.30–5.30pm
Pier 2/3 Main Stage
A playful and thoughtful chat with writers
whose creative work reflects their abiding
City & Walsh Bay
connection with animals. Shepherd James
Rebanks, cartoonist First Dog on the Moon
and writer Ceridwen Dovey join ABC RN’s
Ellen Fanning.
$20/$15 Bookings 9250 1988
68 THE DANGER OF IDEAS
May 19, 4.30–5.30pm
Pier 2/3 The Loft
69 CARMEN AGUIRRE: MEMOIRS
OF A REVOLUTIONARY DAUGHTER
May 19, 4.30–5.30pm
Carmen Aguirre is a Chilean refugee,
revolutionary dissident, actress and now
a bestselling writer. She speaks to Linda
Jaivin about her life, as told in her memoir.
Supported by the Consulate General of
Canada, Sydney.
$15 Bookings 9250 1988
70 THINGS FALL APART
May 19, 4.30–5.30pm
What do you do when your world
implodes? Novelists Suzanne Leal,
Josephine Rowe and Susan Johnson show
that no matter what the catastrophe, how
we cope is what makes us human. They
speak with Meredith Jaffé.
$15 Bookings 9250 1988
71 PETER FRANKOPAN: THE
SILK ROADS
May 19, 4.30–5.30pm
In his breathtaking book, The Silk Roads, Peter
Frankopan has rewritten the history of the
world from the ancient Eastern perspective
of the Silk Roads, where civilisation began,
religions were born, and goods, disease and
ideas flowed. With Richard Miles.
$30/$25 Bookings 9250 1988
THURS MAY 19 - FRI MAY 20
72 ONE LIFE, MANY WORLDS
May 19, 4.30–5.30pm
Sydney Dance 1
Nelson Mandela’s private secretary Zelda la
Grange, Bosnian refugee turned American
literary star Aleksandar Hemon and the
winner of the 2016 Finch Memoir Prize
speak with Louise Adler about the turning
points that have shaped their lives.
Free, no bookings
75 MICK TURNER AND PEGGY
FREW: LIVING, DREAMING,
MAKING
SEE NIGHTS AT THE WHARF, Page 15
76 JANNA LEVIN: BLACK HOLE
BLUES AND OTHER SONGS
FROM OUTER SPACE (AKA
THE RECENT DISCOVERY OF
GRAVITATIONAL WAVES)
May 19, 6–7pm
77 Jeanette
Winterson
82 HANYA YANAGIHARA:
A LITTLE LIFE
May 19, 8.15–9.15pm
83 LATE NIGHT SALON
May 19, 9.30–11pm
Pier 2/3 Hemingway Bar
FRIDAY, MAY 20
Festival Highlight
77 JEANETTE WINTERSON: THE GAP OF TIME
May 19, 6.15–7.15pm
Multi–award–winning writer Jeanette Winterson gives a special talk on her
recent novel, The Gap of Time. A contemporary take on The Winter’s Tale, this
is a story of love, jealousy and estrangement. Supported by the British Council.
Premium $45, A Reserve $35/$25 Bookings 9250 1988 or 8256 2222
roslynpackertheatre.com.au/swf or cityrecitalhall.com
77 JEANETTE WINTERSON: THE
GAP OF TIME
May 19, 6.15–7.15pm
278 NIKI SAVVA: THE ROAD
TO RUIN
May 19, 6.30–7.30pm
Pier 2/3 Main Stage
Political commentator Niki Savva speaks to
David Marr about her explosive new book,
which unpicks Tony Abbott and Peta
Credlin’s political downfall.
$20/$15 Bookings 9250 1988
79 AUSTEN’S WOMEN
80 SARAH KAY AND PHIL KAYE
May 19, 7.30–9pm, Pier 2/3 Club Stage
84 COFFEE AND PAPERS WITH
THE SMH, XU ZHIYUAN AND
SATYAJIT DAS
Join Sydney Morning Herald editor Judith
Xu Zhiyuan and Satyajit Das to hear their
take on what’s making headlines today
and the changing nature of journalism.
Free, no bookings
CUR 85 SUSAN JOHNSON: NANCY
SINATRA’S BOOTS
May 20, 10–10.40am
86 ALEKSANDAR HEMON:
THE BOOK OF MY LIVES
May 20, 10–11am
Philharmonia Studio
Aleksandar Hemon’s latest novel is The
Making of Zombie Wars, a story that tackles
love, violence, unhinged landlords and
cinematic zombies. He speaks to ABC
RN’s Sarah Kanowski about his fiction and
acclaimed memoir, The Book of My Lives.
$15 Bookings 9250 1988
EATING OUT?
IF ANIMAL WELFARE
IS IMPORTANT TO YOU...
Visit choosewisely.org.au to find a café or restaurant
that’s putting humane food on the menu.
choosewisely.org.au |
7
81 NIGHT OF THE NERDS
May 19, 8–9.30pm
73 CREATING WORLDS
May 19, 4.30–5.30pm
Sydney Dance 2
Anna Smaill, James Bradley and Lynette
Noni speak to David Henley about finding
the right balance between grounded reality
and glorious imagination when it comes to
creating new universes in fiction.
Free, no bookings
74 TAMMY AND LESLEY WILLIAMS:
NOT JUST BLACK AND WHITE
May 19, 4.30–5.30pm
Wharf 2 Theatre
Lesley Williams’s fight to reclaim stolen
wages led to the Queensland government’s
historic $55.4 million reparations package.
Hear Lesley and daughter Tammy talk to
Eileen Baldry about growing up Indigenous
and finding justice.
$20/$15 Bookings 9250 1988
swf.org.au
@RSPCAchoosewisely | #RSPCAchoosewisely
8
swf.org.au
City & Walsh Bay
87 IRELAND: WRITERS TALK
POLITICS
issues facing Ireland today. John Boyne,
Paul Muldoon and Paul Murray share
ideas on their homeland’s turbulent and
surprising social and political landscape.
Hosted by Marian Wilkinson. Supported by
the Consulate General of Ireland, Sydney.
$20/$15 Bookings 9250 1988
88 NAPOLEON: THE INTRIGUES OF
AN EMPEROR
Get set for eye-opening revelations on
the secret machinations of Napoleon, one
of history’s greatest public figures, with
authors and historians Anne Whitehead,
Philip Dwyer and Tom Keneally, who speak
with ABC RN’s Phillip Adams.
$20/$15 Bookings 9250 1988
89 ‘DIFFICULT’ WOMEN
May 20, 10–11am
Why are women so often labelled
troublemakers for being unconventional or
challenging the status quo? Paula Hawkins,
Charlotte Wood and Petina Gappah explore
the role of ‘difficult’ women in fiction and in
life, with Ashley Hay.
$15 Bookings 9250 1988
90 DAMON YOUNG: THE ART
OF READING
May 20, 10–11am
Join Damon Young alongside Jane
Gleeson-White as he reveals the pleasures
and adventures that come with living a
bookish life.
$15 Bookings 9250 1988
91 WILLIAM BOYD AND JULIAN
BARNES: HISTORY AND FICTION
May 20, 10–11am
Join two of Britain’s greatest novelists
and masters of their craft, Julian Barnes
(The Noise of Time) and William Boyd
(Sweet Caress), as they ask whether fiction
goes where history fears to tread. With
Amelia Lester.
$30/$25 Bookings 9250 1988
92 FIXING THE SYSTEM
Peter van Onselen, Anne Tiernan, Andrew
Fowler and Griffith Review editor Julianne
Schultz discuss how our institutions both
support and fail us, and what we can do
about it.
Free, no bookings
93 SRI LANKA: THIS DIVIDED
ISLAND
Indian author Samanth Subramanian’s
new book This Divided Island traverses
war-ravaged Sri Lanka, using personal
stories to reveal a country exhausted
FRIDAY MAY 20
CUR 98 MARTIN FLANAGAN: ON
LISTENING
May 20, 11–11.40am
99 STORIES BUILDINGS TELL
May 20, 11.30am–12.30pm
Philharmonia Studio
Join archaeologist and writer Adam Ford,
Palestinian architect Suad Amiry and
urban policy expert Jane Jose as they
delve into the human stories behind the
architecture and buildings that surround us.
With Sophie Lieberman.
$15 Bookings 9250 1988
82 Hanya
Yanagihara
Festival Highlight
82 HANYA YANAGIHARA: A LITTLE LIFE
May 19, 8.15–9.15pm
Hanya Yanagihara’s Man Booker-shortlisted A Little Life is one of the most
talked-about books of recent times. Hanya speaks with Benjamin Law about her
dark, beautiful depiction of heartbreak and friendship in New York City. Supported
by the U.S. Consulate General, Sydney.
and disturbed by war. Samanth speaks to
Michael Williams.
Free, no bookings
94 DAVID ASTLE: CROSSWORDS IN
THE MORNING
May 20, 10–11am
Sydney Dance Lounge
Do you love the smell of anagrams in the
morning? Professional wordsmith David
Astle takes you through insider tips that
will put you on the path towards linguistic
enlightenment.
Free, no bookings
95 JOHN CANTWELL: LEADERSHIP
IN ACTION
Major-General John Cantwell commanded
forces in Iraq and Afghanistan and was
deputy chief of the Australian Army. His
new book explains how the leadership skills
he learned on the frontline also apply to
everyday life. With Ross Coulthart.
$20/$15 Bookings 9250 1988
96 ABC MORNING: ABC RN’S
BOOKS AND ARTS DAILY AND
ABC RADIO’S CONVERSATIONS
LIVE BROADCAST
May 20, 10am–12pm
Pier 2/3 Club Stage
Michael Cathcart, presenter of ABC RN’s
Books and Arts, hosts a live broadcast from
10am featuring conversations with top
Festival guests. At 11am Richard Fidler draws
you into a fascinating real-life story for ABC
Radio’s Conversations.
Free, no bookings
WHERE
ARE YOU
Discover Australia’s best emerging
writers as they read from and discuss
their work. Featuring novelist Peggy Frew,
Indigenous poet Maggie Walsh and shortstory writer Abigail Ulman in conversation
with Jill Eddington.
Free, no bookings
100 YEONMI PARK:
ESCAPING NORTH KOREA
May 20, 11.30am–12.30pm
Pier 2/3 Main Stage
Human rights activist and North Korean
defector Yeonmi Park talks to Suzanne Leal
about her memoir In Order to Live, which
recounts her extraordinary escape from the
world’s most secretive regime.
Supported by UNSW Arts & Social Sciences.
$20/$15 Bookings 9250 1988
ROGER COHEN
May 20, 11.30am–12.30pm
Pier 2/3 The Loft
102 DRUSILLA MODJESKA: THE
FRIENDS, THE LOVERS, THE BOOKS
May 20, 11.30am–12.30pm
Drusilla Modjeska speaks about her fearless
memoir, which explores love, friendship
and home. It’s also a portrait of literary
SydneyDrusilla speaks to Felicity Plunkett.
147 William
Boyd
103 JAMI ATTENBERG: SAINT
MAZIE AND THE JAZZ AGE
May 20, 11.30am–12.30pm
Join Leah Kaminsky and Jami Attenberg to
discuss Jami’s latest novel, Saint Mazie, set
in Jazz Age New York and featuring a feisty
heroine with a heart as big as the city.
$15 Bookings 9250 1988
104 JONATHAN FRANZEN: MY
READING LIFE
May 20, 11.30am–12.30pm
From David Foster Wallace and Alice
Munro to Don DeLillo and Franz Kafka,
Jonathan Franzen’s reading life is rich,
varied and often unexpected. Jonathan
chats to Tegan Bennett Daylight about
his favourite books. Supported by the
U.S. Consulate General, Sydney.
$30/$25 Bookings 9250 1988
105 HAVE WE REACHED
PEAK INTERNET?
May 20, 11.30am–12.30pm
Sydney Dance 1
One futurist, one Google creative director
and one podcast host explore the infinite
possibilities of technology in the future.
Richard Watson, T.L. Uglow and PJ Vogt
speak to Jamila Rizvi.
Free, no bookings
106 IT’S THE STORY THAT
BINDS US
May 20, 11.30am–12.30pm
Sydney Dance 2
Indigenous performance artists and writers
Celestine Rowe and Alexis West, and poet
Dorothea Smartt of Barbadian heritage
come together with Rhoda Roberts for
an hour of readings and stories about the
genesis of their work.
Free, no bookings
107 THE SHADOW OF 1975
May 20, 11.30am–12.30pm
Wharf 2 Theatre
Paul Kelly and Troy Bramston (The
Dismissal), and Whitlam’s biographer Jenny
Hocking join David Marr to talk about one
of the most dramatic years in Australian
political history.
$20/$15 Bookings 9250 1988
CUR 108 JOHN BIRMINGHAM:
DEATH SPIRAL – THE FUTURE OF
MEDIA AND PUBLISHING
May 20, 12–12.40pm
Festival Highlight
147 WILLIAM BOYD: THE MANY LIVES OF AMORY CLAY
May 20, 6.30–7.30pm
One of Britain’s best-loved storytellers, William Boyd, speaks to Catherine Keenan
about history, love and artistic expression. William’s new novel, Sweet Caress, is a
vivid tale of the life of a female war photographer. Supported by Editor Group.
Poppy,
age 9
$15 Bookings 9250 1988
109 MADNESS AND
MALEVOLENCE: HISTORY
THROUGH FICTION
Is truth really stranger than fiction?
Novelists Marlon James, Nir Baram and
Álvaro Enrigue each have decidedly
idiosyncratic takes on history. They
Poppy’s battled life-threatening illness
since she was born. Her Starlight Wish
is to meet her hero Scooby-Doo.
There are 132 seriously ill children waiting
for their Starlight Wish this Christmas.
Donate today
32697
starlightwish.org.au 1300 727 827
City & Walsh Bay
FRIDAY MAY 20
speak to ABC RN’s Kate Evans about
incorporating the past into stories.
$20/$15 Bookings 9250 1988
110 THE LITERARY HEALING ROOM
May 20, 1–5pm, Pier 2/3 Foyer
Bibliotherapist Susan Elderkin (The Novel
Cure: An A-Z of Literary Remedies) will be
offering 10-minute consultations – come
and be cured with a novel.
Drop in to sign up in the Pier 2/3 foyer.
151 SWF Gala
113 VIVIAN GORNICK: THE ODD
WOMAN AND NEW YORK CITY
May 20, 1.30–2.30pm
Pier 2/3 Main Stage
Vivian Gornick speaks about her memoir,
The Odd Woman and the City, a wise, witty
and expansive exploration of life, love,
friendship and literature in New York City.
With Lucinda Holdforth.
$20/$15 Bookings 9250 1988
114 HOW TO CHANGE THE WORLD
May 20, 1.30–2.30pm
Pier 2/3 The Loft
Three extraordinary Australians share their
inspiring life stories. Leaders in their deeds,
not just their words, Rosie Batty, Peter
Garrett and Bob Brown share the
experiences and the passions that drive
them. With Catherine Keenan.
$20/$15 Bookings 9250 1988
ME: DEBRA ADELAIDE ON
EMILY BRONTË
May 20, 1.30–2.30pm
Debra Adelaide’s latest novel references
Wuthering Heights and its author in
unexpected ways. Debra discusses how
Emily Brontë has shaped her reading and
writing life. With Susan Johnson.
$15 Bookings 9250 1988
116 PEACE AND DISQUIET
May 20, 1.30–2.30pm
Stephanie Bishop (The Other Side of the
World) and Kirsten Tranter (Hold) speak
to Ashley Hay about their novels and the
loneliness, desire and art they capture so
well in their books.
$15 Bookings 9250 1988
117 LET NATURE BE YOUR TEACHER
May 20, 1.30–2.30pm
Join author Jeanette Winterson, natural
heritage advocate Tim Flannery, and writer
and shepherd James Rebanks for a wideranging discussion about our complex and
contradictory relationship with nature. With
ABC RN’s Natasha Mitchell.
$30/$25 Bookings 9250 1988
118 CHINA: WRITERS TALK
POLITICS
May 20, 1.30–2.30pm
Sydney Dance 1
social and political issues facing China
today. Li Zhou speaks with writer and
intellectual Xu Zhiyuan, novelist Ye Xin and
China Studies lecturer Dr Minglu Chen.
Free, no bookings
119 RISING TENSION
May 20, 1.30–2.30pm
Sydney Dance 2
Have you ever sacrificed sleep to a good
Festival Highlight
151 SWF GALA: THE BOOK THAT SAVED ME
May 20, 8.15–9.45pm
Sydney Town Hall
Some of the world’s most celebrated writers share the books that saved and defined
them. Featuring Jeanette Winterson, Andrew Denton, Kate Tempest, Vivian Gornick,
Herman Koch and Marlon James. Hosted by 702 ABC Sydney’s Richard Glover.
Premium $55, A Reserve $45/$30 Bookings 9250 1988, swf.org.au or
roslynpacker.com.au/swf
story? Three experts in suspense, crime
writers Candice Fox, Graham Potts and
Aoife Clifford speak to Nigel Bartlett about
how they raise the stakes.
Free, no bookings
120 SUAD AMIRY: REVISITING
HOME – PALESTINIAN STORIES
May 20, 1.30–2.30pm
Wharf 2 Theatre
Deeply informed by her Palestinian
heritage, architect Suad Amiry, author of
Golda Slept Here, speaks about home, loss,
displacement and the grand houses of
West Jerusalem. With Patrick Abboud.
$20/$15 Bookings 9250 1988
CUR 121 JAMES ARVANITAKIS: ON
HOPE
May 20, 2.30–3.10pm
122 TALES OF DISASTER AND
OUTRAGEOUS FORTUNE
May 20, 2.30–3.30pm
Pier 2/3 Club Stage
Join David Marr alongside journalist
Laura Tingle, politician Andrew Leigh
and biographer Paddy Manning for an
insiders’ chat about the strengths and
foibles of our elected representatives,
and the twists of fortune that raised or
toppled them.
$20/$15 Bookings 9250 1988
123 THE NEW AUSTRALIAN
POETRY
Don’t miss the launch of an exciting
and historic Australian issue of Poetry,
edited by Robert Adamson. The session
features Don Share, Robert Adamson,
David Malouf, Lionel Fogarty, Lisa Gorton
and Ali Cobby Eckermann.
$15 Bookings 9250 1988
124 MIGRATION: A WORLD
WITHOUT BORDERS?
SEE THINKING GLOBALLY, Page 14
125 HAS ATHEISM HAD ITS DAY?
Modern notions of spirituality and
religion are shifting radically. Phillip Adams,
Julia Baird and Hugh Mackay examine
the possibility that the old labels – theist,
atheist, agnostic – have outlived
their usefulness.
$20/$15 Bookings 9250 1988
126 HEART AND SOUL: CREATING
CHARACTERS THAT MATTER
May 20, 3–4pm
Novelists Kelly Doust, Antonia Hayes and
Inga Simpson each create characters
you can’t help caring about. They discuss
emotional connection and getting the small
details right, with John Purcell.
$15 Bookings 9250 1988
127 DAVID UREN: DID THE CHIKO
ROLL CHANGE AUSTRALIAN
HISTORY?
May 20, 3–4pm
David Uren talks about his provocative new
book, Takeover, an engaging account of the
history of foreign investment in Australia –
both the economics and the politics. With
John Hewson.
$15 Bookings 9250 1988
128 INSIDE THE NEW YORKER
May 20, 3–4pm
129 THE REALITY OF WAR:
RECONCILING TWO WORLDS
What’s it actually like to be in a war and
what are the challenges of re-entering
civilian life? James Brown speaks to Jamie
Zimmerman, Major-General John Cantwell
and Mark Dapin about life on the frontline.
Free, no bookings
130 INSIDE THE WORLD OF
PUBLISHING
What goes on behind the bookshelves
of the world’s most influential publishing
houses? James Gurbutt, Jenna Johnson
and Anish Chandy join Michael Heyward
to reveal the trends and taboos of editorial
departments across the globe.
Free, no bookings
131 LEADERSHIP: THEN AND NOW
CUR 132 INDIRA NAIDOO: ON
BEING BROWN
May 20, 3.30–4.10pm
133 702 ABC SYDNEY DRIVE WITH
RICHARD GLOVER, FEATURING
THANK GOD IT’S FRIDAY
May 20, 4–6pm
Pier 2/3 Club Stage
Join 702 ABC Sydney’s Richard Glover
from 4pm to 4.30pm as he speaks to three
literary stars and again at 5pm for a special
Festival edition of Thank God It’s Friday.
Free, no bookings
CUR 134 PHILIP DWYER: A HISTORY
OF VIOLENCE
May 20, 4.30–5.10pm
9
141 CHOOSING YOUR WORDS
May 20, 4.30–5.30pm
Sydney Dance 1
Language is one of the most powerful tools
we have to influence and disempower.
Writer Don Watson and novelist Anna Smaill
speak to Linda Jaivin about why language is
our greatest gift and our greatest weapon.
Free, no bookings
142 UTS 2016 ANTHOLOGY
LAUNCH: SEEDS AND SKELETONS
May 20, 4.30–5.30pm
Sydney Dance 2
Join us at the launch of the 2016 UTS
Writers’ Anthology, Seeds and Skeletons, with
special guest speaker, Catherine Keenan.
Celebrate this exciting annual collection of
work from emerging UTS writers.
Free, no bookings
CUR 111 CHRISTOPHER NEFF: THE
SHARK ‘ATTACK’ MYTH
May 20, 1.30–2.10pm
112 DARK ENCHANTMENTS:
AN HOUR OF OLD-FASHIONED
STORYTELLING
May 20, 1.30–2.30pm
Philharmonia Studio
The best fairy tales are told only when
the children are asleep. Join seductive
storytellers Cat Weatherill and Kate Forsyth
for two dangerously delicious fairy tales
from Old Europe.
$15 Bookings 9250 1988
swf.org.au
135 CRIMES, TRUE AND
OTHERWISE
May 20, 4.30–5.30pm
Philharmonia Studio
How tough do you have to be to write
hardboiled crime and true crime? Find
out from veterans Adrian McKinty, Tony
Cavanaugh and Matt Condon as they take
a dangerous walk on the dark side with
Caroline Overington.
$15 Bookings 9250 1988
136 FRIENDSHIP, HATESHIP,
LOVESHIP
May 20, 4.30–5.30pm
Pier 2/3 Main Stage
Explore the terrible and tender power of
human relationships with three writers who
have mined their outer limits. Julia Leigh,
Nicolas Fargues and Hanya Yanagihara
speak with ABC RN’s Sarah Kanowski.
$20/$15 Bookings 9250 1988
137 ROSALIE HAM: THE
DRESSMAKER, A MODERN
CLASSIC
May 20, 4.30–5.30pm
Pier 2/3 The Loft
Rosalie Ham speaks to Toni Jordan about
the astonishing renaissance of her
bestselling novel, The Dressmaker, and why
she returns to the themes of love, betrayal
and high drama in her work.
$20/$15 Bookings 9250 1988
138 WORLD WAR II IN FICTION
May 20, 4.30–5.30pm
Nir Baram, Leah Kaminsky and John Boyne
speak to Michaela Kalowski about how they
found themselves drawn to World War II,
one of the most revisited, yet rich terrains
for fictional exploration.
$15 Bookings 9250 1988
139 SECRETS AND SURVIVAL
May 20, 4.30–5.30pm
Ailsa Piper joins Suzanne Leal, Emily
Maguire and Mireille Juchau, writers
preoccupied with what lies beneath our
social façades and collective taboos.
$15 Bookings 9250 1988
140 ANDREW DENTON: BETTER
OFF DEAD
May 20, 4.30–5.30pm
Modern medicine is prolonging our lives,
but does it consider our quality of life?
Andrew Denton speaks to David Leser
about our assisted dying laws and his
podcast series, Better Off Dead.
$30/$25 Bookings 9250 1988
143 STARLEE KINE: FROM
THIS AMERICAN LIFE TO
MYSTERY SHOW
May 20, 4.30–5.30pm
Wharf 2 Theatre
Starlee Kine is a podcast icon. She speaks
to Benjamin Law about writing and
producing stories for This American Life
and now Mystery Show, where she solves
compelling enigmas. Supported by the
U.S. Consulate General, Sydney.
$20/$15 Bookings 9250 1988
144 DAVID GONSKI: I GAVE
A GONSKI
May 20, 6–7pm
While he’s renowned for his review
of education, David Gonski is equally
passionate about other subjects such as
philanthropy and why more women should
be on boards. He talks to Margot Saville
about his life and ideas.
$35/$25 Bookings 9250 1988
145 BOOK LAUNCH: SPEAKING
OUT BY TARA MOSS
May 20, 6–8pm
The Hemingway Bar
Rosie Batty launches Tara Moss’s new
book, Speaking Out, a 21st-century
handbook for women and girls about
making your voice heard.
Free, bookings essential, email
rsvp@harpercollins.com.au
146 GLORIA STEINEM: LIFE
ON THE ROAD
May 20, 6.15–7.15pm
Sydney Town Hall
After a lifetime of campaigning for real
change, Gloria Steinem – writer, activist,
revolutionary feminist – reveals the
surprising and deeply personal encounters
that have shaped her. Gloria speaks with
Jennifer Byrne. Supported by Rowena
Danziger AM and Ken Coles AM.
Limited tickets available, A Reserve
$45/$30 Bookings 9250 1988, swf.
org.au or roslynpacker.com.au/swf
147 WILLIAM BOYD: THE MANY
LIVES OF AMORY CLAY
May 20, 6.30–7.30pm
148 PATRICK WHITE
PLAYWRIGHTS’ AWARD
AND FELLOWSHIP
Join STC’s artistic director Jonathan Church
as he announces the winners of the 2015
Patrick White Playwrights’ Award and
Fellowship. Following the announcement,
STC artists will present a rehearsed reading
of the award-winning play.
$5 Bookings 9250 1988
GEORGE MEGALOGENIS: RATED PG
(POLISH AND GREEK)
May 20, 7.30–8.30pm
150 GIANT DWARF PRESENTS THE
YARRAMADOON PUBLIC SCHOOL
DEBATE NIGHT
May 20, 7.30–9pm
Pier 2/3 Club Stage
10
swf.org.au
City & Walsh Bay
151 SWF GALA: THE BOOK THAT
SAVED ME
May 20, 8.15–9.45pm
Sydney Town Hall
FRIDAY MAY 20 - SATURDAY MAY 21
176 James
Rebanks
152 THE END OF EUROPE?
May 20, 8.30–9.45pm
153 LATE NIGHT SALON
May 20, 9.30–11pm
Pier2/3 The Hemingway Bar
SATURDAY, MAY 21
THE SMH, EMMA SKY AND PETER
DOHERTY
Peter Doherty and Emma Sky to hear their
take on what’s making headlines today and
the changing nature of journalism.
Free, no bookings
CUR 155 MATTHEW CONDON:
HOW MURDERERS AND CRIMINAL
POND SCUM CHANGED MY LIFE
May 21, 10–10.40am
156 A ROOM OF ONE’S OWN
May 21, 10–11am
Philharmonia Studio
Join Drusilla Modjeska, Debra Adelaide and
Kirsten Tranter in a thoughtful and lively
discussion with Elizabeth Johnstone
about the depiction of women, art,
creativity and autonomy in their new
works of fiction and memoir.
$15 Bookings 9250 1988
157 THE BEAUTY OF TRUTH:
WRITING SCIENCE
Public conversation around key scientific
issues is often hijacked by hype and
misinformation. Janna Levin, Wilson da
Silva and Michael Slezak speak to Bianca
Nogrady about the importance of telling
the full story.
$20/$15 Bookings 9250 1988
158 AMANDA KELLER: MY LIFE
AND OTHER PALAVER
Join broadcaster and radio star Amanda
Keller and Tracey Spicer as they chat about
Amanda’s daggy suburban childhood, her
rise to fame and her unrepentant passion
for the great Barry Manilow.
$20/$15 Bookings 9250 1988
159 SOFIE LAGUNA: THE EYE OF
THE SHEEP
May 21, 10–11am
Pier 2/3 The Loft
Winner of the 2015 Miles Franklin Award
Sofie Laguna talks to Ashley Hay about
her novel The Eye of the Sheep and
its extraordinary protagonist, young
Jimmy Flick, who is caught in a domestic
maelstrom.
$20/$15 Bookings 9250 1988
160 VALERIA LUISELLI: THE STORY
OF MY TEETH
May 21, 10–11am
Mexican essayist and novelist Valeria
Luiselli is one of the most talked-about
new voices on the New York literary
scene, with her sharp, richly imaginative
style. Valeria speaks with Kate Fagan.
$15 Bookings 9250 1988
161 PETINA GAPPAH: THE BOOK
OF MEMORY
May 21, 10–11am
Zimbabwean writer Petina Gappah talks
to ABC RN’s Kate Evans about her novel,
which traverses Zimbabwe’s dirt-poor
townships and well-heeled suburbs in a
gripping tale of love, obsession and the
Festival Highlight
176 JAMES REBANKS: A SHEPHERD’S LIFE
May 21, 11.30am–12.30pm
James Rebanks describes his unshakeable love for the UK’s Lake District, where
his family has farmed for more than 600 years. He talks to ABC Radio’s Richard
Fidler about his life and the joys of being a Herdwick shepherd.
treachery of recollection.
$15 Bookings 9250 1988
162 WHY WOMEN SHOULD RULE
THE WORLD
May 21, 10–11am
163 WRITING LIVE SUBJECTS: THE
PLEASURES AND PITFALLS OF
BIOGRAPHY
Is it possible to write a full and impartial
account of a public figure who is still alive?
Martin Flanagan, Catharine Lumby and
Kerry O’Brien discuss the challenges, perks
and pitfalls of writing about the living, with
Margot Saville.
Free, no bookings
164 THE RISKY BUSINESS OF
BREAKING NEWS
In the social media age, stories unfold in
real time. Chris Reason, Michael Reid and
Claire Phipps chat to Walkley Award-winning
journalist Kate McClymont about the beauty
and frustrations of our 24-hour news cycle.
Free, no bookings
165 DAVID ASTLE: CROSSWORDS
IN THE MORNING
May 21, 10–11am
Sydney Dance Lounge
Do you love the smell of anagrams in the
morning? Professional wordsmith David Astle
takes you through insider tips that will put you
on the path towards linguistic enlightenment.
Free, no bookings
166 RUSSEL HOWCROFT: WHEN
IT’S RIGHT TO BE WRONG
Adman Russel Howcroft has made a
career out of getting results by doing the
unexpected. Grab a seat for a rollicking,
no–holds–barred trip around the Howcroft
universe. With Rowan Dean. Supported by
Macleay College.
$20/$15 Bookings 9250 1988
Discover Australia’s best emerging writers
as they read from and discuss their work.
John Purcell speaks to poet and essayist
Fiona Wright and debut novelists Stephanie
Bishop and Lucy Treloar.
Free, no bookings
CUR 168 PAUL MULDOON: ON
SEAMUS HEANEY
May 21, 11–11.40am
169 NEW SHOOTS: POEMS
INSPIRED BY PLANTS
May 21, 11am–12.30pm and 2–3.30pm
Royal Botanic Gardens
Commencing at Lion’s Gate Lodge, join
poets Eileen Chong and Mark Tredinnick
as they share new works on a walking tour
of the Royal Botanic Gardens, followed
by drinks and conversation with The
Planthunter and Tamryn Bennett.
$18, Bookings new-shoots.event
brite.com.au
170 TEGAN BENNETT DAYLIGHT:
SIX BEDROOMS
May 21, 11.30am–12.30pm
Philharmonia Studio
Tegan Bennett Daylight is one of Australia’s
most astute chroniclers of the intensity of
youth. Tegan talks with Charlotte Wood
about her new collection of short stories,
Six Bedrooms.
$15 Bookings 9250 1988
171 SURVEILLANCE: HOW BIG IS
BIG BROTHER?
May 21, 11.30am–12.30pm
Pier 2/3 Club Stage
172 BEING ROSIE WATERLAND
May 21, 11.30am–12.30pm
Pier 2/3 Main Stage
A sad, funny and completely oversharing
conversation with Rosie Waterland about
her laugh-till-you-cry memoir, The Anti-Cool
Girl. With her trademark humour and
red-raw honesty, Rosie talks to Zoe Norton
Lodge about coming to terms with her
past.
$20/$15 Bookings 9250 1988
RICHARD GLOVER
May 21, 11.30am–12.30pm
Pier 2/3 The Loft
174 NIR BARAM: GOOD PEOPLE
May 21, 11.30am–12.30pm
Nir Baram is a distinctive voice in
contemporary literature. Dubbed Israel’s
Dostoevsky, Nir speaks with Louise Adler
about his latest novel, which brings
together a young German Nazi and a
Russian Stalinist to paint a sober view
of humanity.
$15 Bookings 9250 1988
175 MARK TEDESCHI: KIDNAPPED
May 21, 11.30am–12.30pm
Katherine Biber speaks to Mark Tedeschi
AM QC about Australia’s most shocking
kidnapping, the 1960 abduction of Graeme
Thorne. In his astounding account of this
true story, Mark tells of a country gripped
by fear.
$15 Bookings 9250 1988
176 JAMES REBANKS:
A SHEPHERD’S LIFE
May 21, 11.30am–12.30pm
177 PAUL MURRAY: A POST-CRASH
COMEDY
May 21, 11.30am–12.30pm
Sydney Dance 1
Paul Murray’s latest book intertwines
the lives of an Irish banker and a dodgy
employer, a down-on-his-luck writer and
a beautiful waitress, to create a funny and
profound story of institutional folly. Paul
speaks with Rónán McDonald.
Supported by Culture Ireland by
Free, no bookings
178 MEET THE SMH BEST YOUNG
NOVELISTS
May 21, 11.30am–12.30pm
Sydney Dance 2
Each year The Sydney Morning Herald
names the authors it considers to be the
best young fiction writers in the country.
Susan Wyndham leads a discussion with
the 2016 winners, including short readings.
Free, no bookings
179 FIRST DOG ON THE MOON LIVE
May 21, 11.30am–12.30pm
Wharf 2 Theatre
Do you want to be a national treasure
and save the Earth? Find out how from
The Guardian’s much-loved cartoonist,
First Dog on the Moon, as he scampers
about in this fascinating theatre show,
complete with Q&A session. Hosted by
Chris Endrey.
$20/$15 Bookings 9250 1988
CUR 180 MEGAN MACKENZIE:
DO WOMEN BELONG ON THE
FRONTLINE?
May 21, 12–12.40pm
181 THE LITERARY HEALING ROOM
May 21, 1–5pm, Pier 2/3 Foyer
Bibliotherapist Susan Elderkin (The Novel
Cure: An A-Z of Literary Remedies) will
be offering 10-minute consultations
– come and be cured with a novel!
Drop in to sign up in the Pier 2/3 foyer.
CUR 182 MARC FENNELL: WHY
PINOCCHIO WAS A SOCIOPATH
AND ADVENTURES IN
WALT DISNEY
May 21, 1.30–2.10pm
183 THE TRANSFORMATIVE
POWER OF ART
May 21, 1.30–2.30pm
Philharmonia Studio
Kelsey Montague and Josh Yeldham
talk about art’s power to heal and
renew with ABC RN’s Cassie McCullagh.
Kelsey is known for her interactive
angel-wing murals and Joshua is an
award-winning artist who works
intimately with nature.
$15 Bookings 9250 1988
184 THE MAKING OF THE
DRESSMAKER
May 21, 1.30–2.30pm
Pier 2/3 Club Stage
Join Rosalie Ham, Jocelyn Moorhouse
and Sacha Horler in a discussion with
Michaela Kalowski about collaboration, the
creative process and the transition of The
Dressmaker from book to acclaimed film.
$20/$15 Bookings 9250 1988
185 EXTRAORDINARY LIVES
May 21, 1.30–2.30pm
Pier 2/3 Main Stage
Three extraordinary women, three
extraordinary lives. Live vicariously
through Magda Szubanski, Carmen
Aguirre and Jane Caro as they let you in
on the triumphs, challenges and defining
moments of their lives. With 702 ABC
Sydney’s James Valentine.
$20/$15 Bookings 9250 1988
186 KATE TEMPEST: THE BRICKS
THAT BUILT THE HOUSES
May 21, 1.30–2.30pm
Pier 2/3 The Loft
Londoner Kate Tempest, an award-winning
poet and rapper, has turned her prodigious
talents for song, spoken word and theatre
into a dynamic debut novel. She takes to
the stage with Michael Williams.
$20/$15 Bookings 9250 1988
ME: DON WATSON ON GABRIEL
GARCÍA MARQUÉZ
May 21, 1.30–2.30pm
Don Watson first read Gabriel García
Marquéz around 1980, and although he has
never written anything that resembles the
Colombian writer’s tales, his influence left
its mark on many of Don’s big life decisions.
With Delia Falconer.
$15 Bookings 9250 1988
188 FILM TO FICTION: WHAT I
LEARNED FROM SCREENWRITING
May 21, 1.30–2.30pm
Some of the most useful disciplines of novel
writing apply to the craft of screenwriting.
Ross Grayson Bell finds out how it’s done,
with screenwriters turned novelists Shirley
Barrett, J.D. Barrett and Tony Cavanaugh.
$15 Bookings 9250 1988
Festival Highlight
189 MARLON JAMES: A BRIEF
HISTORY OF SEVEN KILLINGS
May 21, 1.30–2.30pm
The winner of the 2015 Man Booker Prize,
A Brief History of Seven Killings, is a wild,
imaginative feat, circling around the
attempted assassination of Bob Marley.
ABC RN’s Michael Cathcart speaks to
author Marlon James,.
$30/$25 Bookings 9250 1988
194 PAULA HAWKINS: THE GIRL ON THE TRAIN
May 21, 3–4pm
The Girl on the Train is a taut psychological thriller where nothing is as it seems.
Author Paula Hawkins talks to ABC RN’s Kate Evans about writing a worldwide
bestseller and the ingredients for a compulsive read.
190 THE MODERN FLANEUR
May 21, 1.30–2.30pm
Sydney Dance 1
Contemporary urban wanderers Luc Sante,
Valeria Luiselli and Gail Jones discuss the
art of being a flâneur, and the places that
inspire them and infuse their writing, from
Paris to Mexico City. With Louise Adler.
Free, no bookings
194 Paula
Hawkins
City & Walsh Bay
191 LOVE, SEX AND LITERATURE:
WHO’S BEEN SLEEPING IN MY BED?
May 21, 1.30–2.30pm
Sydney Dance 2
Deepti Kapoor, Toni Jordan and John
Purcell expose their least wholesome
thoughts about love and desire in literature.
Do we live in a world where sexuality is
accepted as fluid, or are we still restricted
by taboos? With Kate Forsyth.
Free, no bookings
192 CHILDREN’S BOOKS BY DESIGN
WITH JON KLASSEN
May 21, 1.30–2.30pm, Wharf 2 Theatre
Jon Klassen is one of the world’s most
exciting and awarded voices in children’s
picture books. Jon lifts the veil on his creative
process and demonstrates how his design
background informs his work. With Jeremy
Wortsman. Perfect for budding picture-book
writers, illustrators and designers.
$20/$15 Bookings 9250 1988
CUR 193 ROBERT MANNE: WHO
CREATED ISIS? THE ROLES OF
GEORGE W. BUSH AND
AL ZARQAWI
May 21, 2.30–3.10pm
194 PAULA HAWKINS: THE GIRL
ON THE TRAIN
May 21, 3–4pm
195 A LIFE IN WORDS
Award-winning poets Geoffrey Lehmann
and Kate Lilley discuss the evolution of their
work, their eclectic range of muses and
what it feels like to see the world through
the prism of verse. With Luke Fischer.
$15 Bookings 9250 1988
196 THE LISTENING HOUR:
PODCASTS YOU CAN’T LIVE
WITHOUT
Superstar podcasters Starlee Kine (Mystery
Show) and PJ Vogt (Reply All) join ABC RN’s
Jesse Cox for an hour of anecdotes and
behind–the–scenes insights into the ever
popular world of podcasts.
$20/$15 Bookings 9250 1988
197 ELIZABETH HARROWER:
A CELEBRATION
This is a rare chance to hear Elizabeth
Harrower discuss her remarkable and
recently resurrected novels and short
fiction, praised by the likes of Christina
Stead and Patrick White, Elizabeth speaks
with Michael Heyward.
$20/$15 Bookings 9250 1988
198 HOW TO DIE WELL
Should we have the right to choose
when we die? Join Andrew Denton,
SATURDAY MAY 21
Father Frank Brennan, doctor and author
Leah Kaminsky and novelist Cory Taylor
via video link, to discuss the troubling
issues around legalising euthanasia.
With Rebecca Huntley.
$20/$15 Bookings 9250 1988
201 Stan
Grant
199 SUSIE ORBACH: FAT IS STILL
A FEMINIST ISSUE
May 21, 3–4pm
200 XU ZHIYUAN: INSIDE THE
REAL CHINA
May 21, 3–4pm
Get an insider’s view of contemporary
Chinese society with intellectual, writer
and editor Xu Zhiyuan, who speaks with
Shuangyuan Shi. Paper Tiger: Inside the
Real China is a series of nostalgic, critical
and intriguing personal essays about
Zhiyuan’s home. Supported by Sherman
Contemporary Art Foundation.
$15 Bookings 9250 1988
201 STAN GRANT: TALKING TO
MY COUNTRY
May 21, 3–4pm
202 PEN FREE VOICES LECTURE:
GILLIAN TRIGGS
Professor Gillian Triggs, celebrated
human rights lawyer and President of the
Australian Human Rights Commission, will
deliver the Sydney PEN Free Voices lecture.
Free, no bookings
203 A MESSAGE AND A MIC:
THE BEST OF BANKSTOWN
POETRY SLAM
Join the largest poetry event in the country,
Festival Highlight
201 STAN GRANT: TALKING TO MY COUNTRY
May 21, 3–4pm
Following his speech that stopped the nation, Stan Grant urges all Australians to
think deeply about identity. In this special talk he offers a powerful meditation on
race and how we choose to go forward. With Rhoda Roberts.
Bankstown Poetry Slam, down at the Wharf.
Enjoy a combination of group and
individual poetry performances, including a
showcase from the BPS Olympics.
Free, no bookings
CUR 205 JANNA LEVIN: WHAT’S
NEW IN COSMOLOGY
May 21, 3.30–4.10pm
204 THE EMPTY PRAM: STORIES
OF THE STOLEN GENERATION
Hear the voices of three adopted Aboriginal
women, Ali Cobby Eckermann, Celestine
Rowe and Alexis West, as they unravel the
ongoing personal costs of removal and
the journey to recovery through poetry
and performance.
$20/$15 Bookings 9250 1988
CUR 206 T.L. UGLOW: ON DOUBT –
FROM MONTAIGNE TO MINCHIN
May 21, 4.30–5.10pm
217 Yanis
Varoufakis
Festival Highlight
217 YANIS VAROUFAKIS:
AND THE WEAK SUFFER WHAT THEY MUST?
May 21, 5–6pm
Yanis Varoufakis, economist and former finance minister of Greece, gives a special
talk about his new book, And the Weak Suffer What They Must?, and plans for his
pan-European political party. With George Megalogenis.
Supported by The Russell Mills Foundation.
Step out for World Autism
Awareness Day
2 - 9 April 2016
Register at walkforautism.org.au
207 A MURDER IN THE MAKING
May 21, 4.30–5.30pm
Philharmonia Studio
Anna Westbrook, Emily Maguire and Alecia
Simmonds speak to Alyce McGovern about
why murder is so ripe for creative exploration.
$15 Bookings 9250 1988
208 THE BEST OF THE FESTIVAL:
POETRY AND PERFORMANCE
May 21, 4.30–5.30pm
Pier 2/3 Club Stage
A poetry extravaganza starring prolific
Pulitzer Prize winner Paul Muldoon,
American poets Nate Marshall and Jamila
Woods, political poet Dorothea Smartt, and
spoken word duet Sarah Kay and Phil Kaye.
Hosted by Miles Merrill.
$20/$15 Bookings 9250 1988
209 JEAN-CHRISTOPHE RUFIN:
THE SANTIAGO PILGRIMAGE
May 21, 4.30–5.30pm
Pier 2/3 Main Stage
A French bestseller, Jean-Christophe Rufin’s
account of walking the Camino de Santiago
is filled with anecdotes, etiquette and
landscapes. He tells Ailsa Piper about the
book, his travels and life as co-founder of
Médecins Sans Frontières.
$20/$15 Bookings 9250 1988
swf.org.au
11
210 THE BIG READ
May 21, 4.30–5.30pm
Pier 2/3 The Loft
This year, The Big Read features
an extraordinary line-up of literary
luminaries including William Boyd,
Petina Gappah, Paul Murray, Marlon
James and Carmen Aguirre. Hosted by
Annette Shun Wah.
$20/$15 Bookings 9250 1988
211 NICOLAS FARGUES: LOVE,
BETRAYAL AND LIFE IN FRANCE
May 21, 4.30–5.30pm
Nicolas Fargues’s fiction is lucid and bitterly
funny. His autobiographical novel I Was
Behind You explores his stormy separation
from his wife. In a tête-a-tête with Linda
Jaivin, Nicolas discusses writing and being
a modern man in France.
$15 Bookings 9250 1988
212 ADRIAN MCKINTY: RAIN DOGS
May 21, 4.30–5.30pm
Join Adrian McKinty to discuss his latest
Sean Duffy instalment, Rain Dogs, a classic
locked-room murder mystery, which
stretches the roguish detective to new and
dangerous limits. With Candice Fox.
$15 Bookings 9250 1988
213 AMERICA: WRITERS TALK
POLITICS
May 21, 4.30–5.30pm
social and political issues facing America
today, with critic Vivian Gornick, columnist
Roger Cohen, writer Aleksandar Hemon
and academic Dr David Smith. Hosted by
Amelia Lester. Supported by the United
States Studies Centre at the University of
Sydney.
$30/$25 Bookings 9250 1988
214 TIM FLANNERY: ATMOSPHERE
OF HOPE
May 21, 4.30–5.30pm
Sydney Dance 1
Tim Flannery speaks to ABC RN’s Bernie
Hobbs about Atmosphere of Hope, his
new book about the climate change crisis
and the innovative technologies that could
make a positive difference.
Free, no bookings
215 THE LAST LAUGH
May 21, 4.30–5.30pm
Sydney Dance 2
Love a literary laugh? Jane Caro rounds up
a gaggle of authors who can’t repress their
comic instincts – Álvaro Enrigue, Shirley
Barrett and Toni Jordan.
Free, no bookings
216 JULIA LEIGH: AN INTIMATE
ACCOUNT OF AN IVF JOURNEY
May 21, 4.30–5.30pm
Wharf 2 Theatre
Julia Leigh sits down with Annabel Crabb
to discuss the challenge of writing about
12
City & Walsh Bay Event Liftout
swf.org.au
THURSDAY MAY 19
ROSLYN PACKER
THEATRE
RICHARD
WHERRETT
STUDIO
WHARF
THEATRE 2
9am
10.30am
PIER 4/5
THE
WATERFRONT
PHILHARMONIA
STUDIO
12pm
PIER 2/3
CLUB STAGE
PIER 2/3
THE LOFT
SYDNEY
DANCE 1
SYDNEY
DANCE 2
PIER 2/3
CURIOSITY STAGE
9am
21 Zelda la Grange:
Good Morning, Mr
Mandela
20 Ghostwriting:
The Untold Story
24 Jane Caro:
A Perfectly
Imperfect Life
9.30am
19 Sport: The Great
Distractor?
15 Sound
and Silence
34 Julian Barnes:
Some of My
Best Friends Are
Biographers
33 Across
Generations: Sofie
Laguna and Alice
Pung
17 Annabel Crabb: 16 Susan Elderkin: The 18 Ken Done: A Life
Food and Friends
Novel Cure
Coloured In
25 New
Australian Voices
11am
11.30am
PIER 2/3
MAIN STAGE
13 Coffee and Papers
with The SMH,
Aleksandar Hemon &
Madeline Gleeson
9.30am
10am
THE THEATRE
BAR AT THE END
OF THE WHARF
37 Sessions with
Susie: Fiona Wright
32 Modern Love: John
and Sunday Reed
28 Going Home:
Belonging,
Family and Food
12.30pm
22 Secret Weapons
of Investigative
Journalists
23 Historical
Obsessions
CUR14 Tim Griffiths: Frank 10am
Hurley, Shackleton and
the End of the Heroic Age 10.30am
CUR26 Jean-François 11am
Vernay: A French View On
Australian Novels
11.30am
30 Peter Garrett: Big 29 Writers in Danger
31 Climate:
35 Chris Bowen: The 36 The Underbelly of
Blue Sky
Knowledge and Hope
Money Men
Sydney
CUR38 Catriona Menzies- 12pm
Pike: Why I've Lost Every
Marathon I've Ever Run 12.30pm
1pm
1pm
1.30pm 47 Emma Sky: High 46 The Writer Who
Hopes and Missed Changed Me: Tegan
2pm Opportunities In Iraq Bennett Daylight
on S.J. Perelman
2.30pm
3pm
59 On The Road
58 Art and Life
50 Adam Ford: My
Life in Ruins
45 Marie
Darrieussecq: Fiction,
Femmes and Charlie
Hebdo
62 Forensics In Art
and Literature
41 The Politics of
Paperbacks
57 Animating History 53 Fiona McFarlane
speaks
with Michelle de
Kretser
3.30pm
43 Hugh Mackay: Can 42 Leisel Jones: Out 44 Greg Sheridan: 48 Philanthropy: The
We Find Meaning
of the Pool
Political Shenanigans
Art of Giving
Without Religion?
69 Carmen
Aguirre: Memoirs
of a Revolutionary
Daughter
65 Finance and
Fiction
CUR40 Anthony Bond:
The Awful Truth About
Curating
1.30pm
2pm
55 George
Megalogenis:
Australia's Second
Chance
54 Wendy Whiteley: 56 Paul Muldoon: One
60 India:
Saving a Secret
Thousand Things Writers Talk Politics
Garden
Worth Knowing
CUR52 Michael Sexton SC: 2.30pm
On the Edges of History
3pm
61 New American
Poetry
CUR63 Beth Yahp: On 3.30pm
Eating Dim Sum
4pm
67 For the Love of
Animals
66 Gail and Juliette
O'Brien: After
Catastrophe
73 Creating Worlds CUR64 Frank Bongiorno: 4.30pm
Why We Can't Get Over
the Eighties
5pm
4pm
4.30pm 71 Peter Frankopan: 70 Things Fall Apart 74 Tammy and Lesley
The Silk Roads
Williams: Not Just
Black and White
5pm
49 NSW Premier's
Awards: Meet the
Writers
68 The Danger of
Ideas
72 One Life, Many
Worlds
5.30pm
5.30pm
6pm 76 Janna Levin: Black
Hole Blues and Other
6.30pm Songs from Outer
Space
7pm
ALSO TONIGHT AT
PIER 2/3
THE HEMINGWAY
BAR
79 Austen's Women
7.30pm
278 Niki Savva:
The Road To Ruin
8.30pm
6.30pm
7pm
80 Sarah Kay and
Phil Kaye
9.30–11pm
Late Night Salon
83
8pm 81 Night of the Nerds
6pm
75 Mick Turner and
Peggy Frew: Living,
Dreaming, Making
7.30pm
ALSO SHOWING
8pm
CITY RECITAL HALL
6.15pm: 77 Jeanette Winterson: The Gap of Time
8.15pm: 82 Hanya Yanagihara: A Little Life
9pm
8.30pm
9pm
FRIDAY MAY 20
ROSLYN PACKER
THEATRE
RICHARD
WHERRETT
STUDIO
WHARF
THEATRE 2
9am
THE THEATRE
BAR AT THE END
OF THE WHARF
PIER 4/5
THE
WATERFRONT
PHILHARMONIA
STUDIO
PIER 2/3
MAIN STAGE
PIER 2/3
CLUB STAGE
PIER 2/3
THE LOFT
SYDNEY
DANCE 1
SYDNEY
DANCE 2
9am
84 Coffee and Papers
with The SMH,
Xu Zhiyuan and
Satyajit Das
9.30am
10am
91 William Boyd &
90 Damon Young:
Julian Barnes: History The Art of Reading
and Fiction
10.30am
95 John Cantwell:
Leadership in Action
9.30am
89 'Difficult' Women
97 New
Australian Voices
87 Ireland:
Writers
Talk Politics
86 Aleksandar
Hemon:
The Book of
My Lives
11am
11.30am
104 Jonathan
103 Jami Attenberg:
Franzen: My Reading Saint Mazie and the
Life
Jazz Age
12pm
107 The Shadow
of 1975
96 ABC Morning:
ABC RN's Books
and Arts Daily and
702 ABC Radio's
Conversations Live
Broadcast
102 Drusilla Modjeska: 99 Stories Buildings 100 Yeonmi Park:
The Friends, The
Tell
Escaping North Korea
Lovers, The Books
12.30pm
1pm
1.30pm 117 Let Nature Be Your
Teacher
2pm
116 Peace
and Disquiet
120 Suad Amiry:
Revisiting Home Palestinian Stories
115 The Writer Who
112 Dark
Changed Me: Debra
Enchantments:
Adelaide on Emily
An Hour of OldBrontë
Fashioned Storytelling
3pm 128 Inside The New 127 David Uren: Did 131 Leadership: Then
Yorker
the Chiko Roll Change
and Now
Australian History
3.30pm
126 Heart and Soul:
Creating Characters
that Matter
123 The New
Australian Poetry
88 Napoleon:
The Intrigues of
an Emperor
92 Fixing the System
124 Migration:
A World Without
Borders?
122 Tales of Disaster
and Outrageous
Fortune
93 Sri Lanka: The
Divided Island
139 Secrets and
Survival
143 Starlee Kine: From
This American Life to
Mystery Show
138 World War II in
Fiction
135 Crimes, True and
136 Friendship,
Otherwise
Hateship, Loveship
5.30pm
6.30pm
144 David Gonski:
I Gave A Gonski
125 Has Atheism
Had its Day?
7pm
7.30pm 149 Magda Szubanski
and George
8pm Megalogenis: Rated
PG (Polish and Greek)
8.30pm
9pm
133
137 Rosalie Ham:
702 ABC Sydney
The Dressmaker, A
Drive with Richard
Modern Classic
Glover, featuring
Thank God It’s Friday
PIER 2/3
THE HEMINGWAY BAR
148 Patrick White
Playwrights' Award
and Fellowship
6 – 8pm
Book Launch:
Speaking Out
by Tara Moss
145
119 Rising Tension
129 The Reality
130 Inside the World
of War: Reconciling
of Publishing
Two Worlds
141 Choosing Your
Words
142 UTS 2016
Anthology Launch:
Seeds and Skeletons
CUR121
James Arvanitakis: On
Hope
9.30–11pm
Late Night Salon
153
2.30pm
3pm
3.30pm
CUR132
Indira Naidoo: On Being
Brown
4pm
CUR134 Philip Dwyer: A 4.30pm
History of Violence
5pm
5.30pm
CITY RECITAL HALL
150 Giant Dwarf
Presents the
Yarramadoon Public
School Debate Night
10.30am
CUR111 Christopher Neff: 1.30pm
The Shark 'Attack' Myth
2pm
ALSO SHOWING
ALSO TONIGHT AT
PIER 2/3
THE HEMINGWAY
BAR
10am
1pm
4pm
4.30pm 140 Andrew Denton:
Better Off Dead
5pm
CUR85 Susan Johnson:
Nancy Sinatra's Boots
CUR98 Martin Flanagan: 11am
On Listening
11.30am
101 Sessions with 105 Have We Reached 106 It's the Story That
Susie: Roger Cohen
Peak Internet?
Binds Us
CUR108 John Birmingham: 12pm
The Future of Media
and Publishing
12.30pm
109 Madness and
Malevolence: History
Through Fiction
113 Vivian Gornick:
114 How to Change
118 China:
The Odd Woman and
the World
Writers Talk Politics
New York City
2.30pm
6pm
PIER 2/3
CURIOSITY STAGE
6.30pm: 147 William Boyd: The Many
Lives of Amory Clay
8.30pm: 152 The End Of Europe?
TOWN HALL
6.15pm: 146 Gloria Steinem: Life On The Road
8.15pm: 151 SWF GALA: The Book That Saved Me
6pm
6.30pm
7pm
7.30pm
8pm
8.30pm
9pm
Coffee and Papers New Australian Voices The Writer Who Changed Me Writers Talk Politics Thinking Globally Late Night Salon Sessions With Susie Curiosity Series Children’s & YA
THURSDAY MAY 19 – SUNDAY MAY 22
swf.org.au
13
SATURDAY MAY 21
ROSLYN PACKER
THEATRE
RICHARD
WHERRETT
STUDIO
WHARF
THEATRE 2
9am
THE THEATRE
BAR AT THE END
OF THE WHARF
PIER 4/5
THE
WATERFRONT
PHILHARMONIA
STUDIO
PIER 2/3
MAIN STAGE
PIER 2/3
CLUB STAGE
PIER 2/3
THE LOFT
SYDNEY
DANCE 1
SYDNEY
DANCE 2
PIER 2/3
CURIOSITY STAGE
9am
154 Coffee and
Papers with The SMH,
Emma Sky and Peter
Doherty
9.30am
10am
162 Why Women
161 Petina Gappah: 166 Russel Howcroft:
Should Rule the World The Book of Memory
When it's Right
to be Wrong
10.30am
167 New
Australian Voices
9.30am
160 Valeria Luiselli:
The Story of
My Teeth
156 A Room of
One's Own
158 Amanda Keller:
My Life and Other
Palaver
157 The Beauty
of Truth:
Writing Science
159 Sofie Laguna:
The Eye of the Sheep
163 Writing Live
Subjects: The
Pleasures and Pitfalls
of Biography
164 The Risky
Business of
Breaking News
CUR155 Matthew Condon: 10am
How Criminal Pond Scum
Changed My Life
10.30am
11am
11.30am 176 James Rebanks:
A Shepherd's Life
12pm
175 Mark Tedeschi: 179 First Dog On The
Kidnapped
Moon Live
174 Nir Baram:
Good People
170 Tegan Bennett
Daylight:
Six Bedrooms
172 Being Rosie
Waterland
171 Surveillance:
How Big is Big
Brother?
CUR168
Paul Muldoon:
On Seamus Heaney
173 Sessions with
177 Paul Murray:
178 Meet the SMH
Susie: Richard Glover A Post-Crash Comedy Best Young Novelists
1pm
1pm
1.30pm 189 Marlon James: A 188 Film to Fiction: 192 Children's Books
Brief History of Seven What I Learned From by Design with Jon
Killings
Screenwriting
Klassen
2pm
187 The Writer Who 183 The Tranformative 185 Extraordinary
Changed Me: Don
Powers of Art
Lives
Watson on Gabriel
García Márquez
184 The Making of
The Dressmaker
186 Kate Tempest:
The Bricks that Built
the Houses
191 Who's Been
CUR182 Marc Fennell:
Sleeping in My Bed?: Adventures in Walt Disney
Love, Sex
and Literature
CUR193 Robert Manne:
Who Created ISIS?
203 A Message and a
Mic: The Best
of Bankstown
CUR205 Janna Levin:
Poetry Slam
What’s New in Cosmology
190 The Modern
Flaneur
2.30pm
3pm
201 Stan Grant:
200 Xu Zhiyuan: 204 The Empty Pram:
Talking To My Country Inside the Real China Stories the Stolen
Generation
3.30pm
199 Susie Orbach:
Fat is Still a
Feminist Issue
195 A Life in Words
197 Elizabeth
Harrower: A
Celebration
196 The Listening 198 How To Die Well
Hour: Podcasts You
Can't Live Without
202 PEN Free
Voices Lecture:
Gillian Triggs
4pm
5pm
11.30am
12pm
CUR180 Megan
Mackenzie: Do Women
Belong on the Frontline? 12.30pm
12.30pm
4.30pm
11am
213 America:
212 Adrian McKinty:
Rain Dogs
216 Julia Leigh: An
Intimate Account of
an IVF Journey
211 Nicolas Fargues: 207 A Murder in the 209 Jean-Christophe 208 The Best of the
Love, Betrayal and
Making
Rufin: The Santiago Festival: Poetry and
Life in France
Pilgrimage
Performance
210 The Big Read
214 Tim Flannery: 215 The Last Laugh
Atmosphere of Hope
1.30pm
2pm
2.30pm
3pm
3.30pm
4pm
CUR206 T.L. Uglow: On 4.30pm
Doubt – from Montaigne
to Minchin
5pm
5.30pm
5.30pm
6pm
ALSO SHOWING
220 My Family and
Other Obstacles
6.30pm
7pm
7.30pm
223 People of Letters
9.30–11pm
Late Night Salon
225
8pm
8.30pm
9pm
6.30pm
CITY RECITAL HALL
ALSO TONIGHT AT
PIER 2/3
THE HEMINGWAY
BAR
222 Austen's Women
6pm
3pm: 194 Paula Hawkins: The Girl on the Train
5pm: 217 Yanis Varoufakis: And the Weak
Suffer What They Must?
7pm: 221 Julian Barnes: The Noise of Time
TOWN HALL
7pm
7.30pm
8pm
8.30pm
5.30pm: 218 Ferrante Fever: A Celebration of
Elena Ferrante's Novels
8.30pm: 224 Jonathan Franzen: Purity
9pm
SUNDAY MAY 22
ROSLYN PACKER
THEATRE
RICHARD
WHERRETT
STUDIO
WHARF
THEATRE 2
9am
10.30am
PIER 4/5
THE
WATERFRONT
PHILHARMONIA
STUDIO
PIER 2/3
MAIN STAGE
PIER 2/3
CLUB STAGE
PIER 2/3
THE LOFT
SYDNEY
DANCE 1
SYDNEY
DANCE 2
231 Our Darkest
Selves
DEPARTMENT OF
STUFF AND
NONSENSE
CYA3 Frank
Woodley's Kizmet!
ROYAL
INSTITUTE OF
ALL DAY YA
CYA9 TeenCon 1:
Cornucopia
234 Kerry O'Brien:
Living With Keating
233 The Peculiar
World of Álvaro
Enrigue
235 Charlotte Wood:
The Natural Way of
Things
232 Walking Towards
Ourselves: Indian
Women Tell Their
236 New
Stories
Australian Voices
228 The Getting
of Wisdom
230 Julian Baggini:
Free Will
229 Beyond eBooks:
Books Written for
Digital
11am
11.30am 244 Annabel Crabb
and Leigh Sales: Our
Reading Year
12pm
243 Distorted
Histories
245 The Legacy
of Family
12.30pm
1pm
1.30pm 254 Sarah Ferguson: 253 The Writer Who
The Killing Season Changed Me: Frank
Uncut
Moorhouse on
2pm
George Eliot
255 Connection
and Belonging:
Indigenous Poetry
and Performance
2.30pm
3pm
3.30pm
263 Bob Brown:
On Optimism
262 Sacred Places
264 Satyajit Das:
Generational Warfare
274 Paul Kelly:
Seven Sonnets
& A Song
273 Andrew Fowler:
Dr Dark Memorial
Lecture - Good News,
Bad News
275 John Boyne:
A History of
Loneliness
4pm
4.30pm
5pm
PIER 2/3
CURIOSITY STAGE
9am
226 Coffee and
Papers with The SMH,
Marie Darrieussecq
and Julia Leigh
9.30am
10am
THE THEATRE
BAR AT THE END
OF THE WHARF
242 Back to the
Future: Women
Writers Then and Now
238 Ye Xin:
Educated Youth
240 Extremism:
The Untold Story
239 PJ Vogt:
Reply All
241 France:
9.30am
CUR227 Antonia Hayes: 10am
A Universe of One’s Own
10.30am
CUR237 Gail Jones:
How Nabokov Enlivens Us
CYA4 Illustrator
Battle Rounds
CYA10 Is This Just a CUR246 Andrew Hunter 12pm
Fantasy?
and Hal Crawford: The
Facebook Times
12.30pm
CYA5 Aaron Blabey:
The Bad Guys and
Pig the Pug
1pm
CYA11 Tommy
Wallach Live!
252 Writers of
248 Our Food History: 250 Georgia Blain:
249 Laid Bare:
251 Ann Goldstein:
CUR247 Anna Broinowski: 1.30pm
Influence
In Black and White Between a Wolf and
Life Stories
Translating Primo Levi CYA6 The (Mostly)
Kim Jong II and the Art
a Dog
and Elena Ferrante
of Propaganda
Totally Brilliant
2pm
World of Tom Gates
2.30pm
CYA19 Ten Things
CUR256 David Dyer:
I Hate About You
Titanic and the
3pm
261 Jessica Rowe: Is 257 Mysterious Ways: 259 Herman Koch: 258 Seeking Asylum 260 The Politics of CYA7 Wordburger!
This My Beautiful Life? Poetry and Publishing Psychology and
Food, Disease and
3.30pm
Deceit
Wellness
CUR266 Lucinda
CYA13 TeenCon 2: Holdforth: On the Aaron
Sorkin Effect
Erilea
4pm
CYA8 Bajo & Hex:
Pixel Raiders
4.30pm
272 Luc Sante:
268 Eccentrics,
270 Anna Funder: 269 Why Women's
271 Ladies Online
CUR267 Michael
Outcasts, Criminals Oddballs and Misfits
Coming Home
Voices Matter to Men
Robotham: The
and Bohemian Paris
Psychology of Obsession 5pm
5.30pm
6pm
6.30pm
7pm
7.30pm
8pm
8.30pm
9pm
11.30am
5.30pm
276 2016 Closing
Address Hanya
Yanagihara: The
Conversations
Between Words
277 Austen's Women
ALSO IN THE
CHILDREN'S AND
YA PRECINCT
6pm
10am — 4pm
7pm
MINISTRY OF NOISE
Sydney Dance 1 Viewing Lounge
BUREAU OF ARTISTICS
Bangarra Studio Theatre
RUSS THE STORY BUS
6.30pm
7.30pm
8pm
8.30pm
9pm
Coffee and Papers New Australian Voices The Writer Who Changed Me Writers Talk Politics Thinking Globally Late Night Salon Sessions With Susie Curiosity Series Children’s & YA
14
swf.org.au
City & Walsh Bay
SAT MAY 21 - SUN MAY 22
our deepest desires in her courageous new
memoir, Avalanche, a revelatory look inside
the world of IVF.
$20/$15 Bookings 9250 1988
the world’s injustices, and the powerful
influence of nature as a symbol of
innocence and freedom.
$15 Bookings 9250 1988
217 YANIS VAROUFAKIS: AND
WEAK SUFFER WHAT THEY MUST?
May 21, 5–6pm
218 FERRANTE FEVER: A
CELEBRATION OF ELENA
FERRANTE’S NOVELS
May 21, 5.30–6.30pm
Sydney Town Hall
219 AVANT GAGA
May 21, 5.30–7pm
Sydney Dance Lounge
Experience the latest in avant-garde
Australian poetry, featuring joanne burns,
Peter Minter, Kate Fagan, Lionel Fogarty,
Kent MacCarter, Pam Brown, Astrid
Lorange, a.j. carruthers, Amanda Stewart,
Elena Gomez, and hosted by Toby Fitch.
Free, no bookings
220 MY FAMILY AND OTHER
OBSTACLES
221 JULIAN BARNES: THE NOISE
OF TIME
May 21, 7–8pm
222 AUSTEN’S WOMEN
223 PEOPLE OF LETTERS
May 21, 7.30–9pm
Pier 2/3 Club Stage
224 JONATHAN FRANZEN: PURITY
May 21, 8.30–9.30pm
Sydney Town Hall
May 21, 9.30–11pm
229 BEYOND eBOOKS: BOOKS
WRITTEN FOR DIGITAL
How can digital books change dynamically
on your phone yet preserve their essential
bookishness? Britt Iverson and Anna
Gerber talk to Google Creative Lab director
T.L. Uglow about Editions at Play, their
collaborative digital literary experiment.
Free, no bookings
221 Julian
Barnes
Festival Highlight
221 JULIAN BARNES: THE NOISE OF TIME
May 21, 7–8pm
A rare opportunity to hear directly from Julian Barnes about The Noise of Time, his
first novel since winning the Man Booker Prize. Julian also speaks about his recent
collection of art essays. With Caroline Baum.
CUR 227 A UNIVERSE OF ONE’S
OWN: ANTONIA HAYES
May 22, 10–10.40am
228 THE GETTING OF WISDOM
May 22, 10–11am
Philharmonia Studio
Tony Birch and Inga Simpson talk to Joy
Lawn about coming of age, waking up to
230 JULIAN BAGGINI: FREE WILL
Are we free agents or just programmed
to follow some cosmic blueprint? British
philosopher Julian Baggini gives a talk
exploring the fascinating concept of free will,
then speaks with ABC RN’s Joe Gelonesi.
Supported by the University of Sydney.
$20/$15 Bookings 9250 1988
231 OUR DARKEST SELVES
What makes us so fatally attracted to
wickedness? Herman Koch, Paula Hawkins
and Mark Tedeschi AM QC have chartered
the depths of human depravity. They reveal
their findings with Matthew Condon.
$20/$15 Bookings 9250 1988
Thinking
Globally
Festival
Highlight
Take a fresh look at some
of the most pressing issues
facing the world today in this
thought-provoking series.
We unearth our shared cultural
and political preoccupations
with writers who know the
terrain intimately.
152 THE END OF EUROPE?
May 20, 8.30–9.45pm
Is Europe buckling under the pressure?
Economist and former finance
minister of Greece Yanis Varoufakis
joins historian Peter Frankopan, NYT
columnist Roger Cohen and journalist
Emma Alberici to discuss Europe’s
troubled future, with Eleanor Hall.
Bookings 9250 1988 or 8256 2222
roslynpackertheatre.com.au/swf or
cityrecitalhall.com
Thinking Globally is supported by
UNSW Arts & Social Sciences.
SUNDAY, MAY 22
THE SMH, MARIE DARRIEUSSECQ
AND JULIA LEIGH
Marie Darrieussecq and Julia Leigh to hear
their take on what’s making headlines today
and the changing nature of journalism.
Free, no bookings
124 MIGRATION: A WORLD
WITHOUT BORDERS?
Is migration a fundamental human
right? Writer Aleksandar Hemon,
specialist in Middle Eastern politics
Emma Sky, and co-founder of Médecins
Sans Frontières, Jean-Christophe Rufin,
join Linda Bartolomei to discuss our
freedom to wander. Programmed
in partnership with Cheltenham
Literature Festival.
$20/$15 Bookings 9250 1988,
171 SURVEILLANCE: HOW BIG IS
BIG BROTHER?
May 21, 11.30am–12.30pm
Pier 2/3 Club Stage
Listen in on a deeply subversive
conversation as Frank Moorhouse, Chinese
intellectual Xu Zhiyuan and journalist
Andrew Fowler talk to philosopher Julian
Baggini about the lengths governments
will go to in the name of national security.
Programmed in partnership with
Cheltenham Literature Festival.
$20/$15 Bookings 9250 1988
240 EXTREMISM: THE UNTOLD
HISTORY
May 22, 11.30am–12.30pm
Pier 2/3 Main Stage
What makes an extremist movement take
root? Join Emma Sky, Peter Frankopan
and Samanth Subramanian, whose
collective inside knowledge ranges
from the ancient world to modern-day
Sri Lanka, Iraq and Syria. With Anthony
Billingsley. Programmed in partnership
with Cheltenham Literature Festival.
$20/$15 Bookings 9250 1988
232 WALKING TOWARDS
OURSELVES: INDIAN WOMEN TELL
THEIR STORIES
May 22, 10–11am
Ira Trivedi and Deepti Kapoor speak to
Catriona Mitchell about how they navigate
the frictions between female autonomy and
the cultural traditions that have governed
the lives of Indian women for centuries.
$15 Bookings 9250 1988
233 THE PECULIAR WORLD OF
ÁLVARO ENRIGUE
May 22, 10–11am
Colourful characters across history engage
in a battle of ideas – and tennis – in Álvaro
Enrigue’s novel Sudden Death. Join ABC
RN’s Kate Evans to talk art, history and
colonialism with this acclaimed writer.
$15 Bookings 9250 1988
234 KERRY O’BRIEN: LIVING WITH
KEATING
May 22, 10–11am
Veteran journalist Kerry O’Brien talks to
ABC RN’s Ellen Fanning about his revealing
book of conversations with Paul Keating,
which falls somewhere between biography
and autobiography, and may become the
definitive work about one of Australia’s most
formidable leaders. Supported by BDO.
$30/$25 Bookings 9250 1988
235 CHARLOTTE WOOD: THE
NATURAL WAY OF THINGS
Author Charlotte Wood talks to Lucinda
Holdforth about creativity, misogyny and
going to the darkest places of the mind for her
brilliant new novel, The Natural Way of Things.
$20/$15 Bookings 9250 1988
Discover Australia’s best emerging writers as
they read from and discuss their work.
Featuring Vogel winner Murray Middleton, true
crime author Alecia Simmonds and memoirist
Elspeth Muir. In conversation with Lex Hirst.
Free, no bookings
CUR 237 GAIL JONES: SPIRAL TIME,
BISCUIT TINS, BUTTERFLIES: HOW
NABOKOV ENLIVENS US
May 22, 11–11.40am
238 YE XIN: EDUCATED YOUTH
May 22, 11.30am–12.30pm
Philharmonia Studio
Ye Xin’s novel Educated Youth explores
the consequences of the Chinese
government’s 1960s policy of sending city
graduates to the countryside. Join Ye Xin
and translator, Jing Han, to unravel this
previously untold story, with Linda Jaivin.
$15 Bookings 9250 1988
MY NAME IS
Moira Blumenthal Productions & Encounters@Shalom present
“Macquarie took me from
Dead Man’s Island to a
New York Times best-seller.”
Image: uber photograghy
LIANE MORIARTY – MACQUARIE GRADUATE AND
INTERNATIONAL BEST-SELLING AUTHOR
ASHER LEV
A pl
pa
ay
y by
Aaron Posner
Adap
Ad
apte
ted fr
from
m tthe
h nov
he
ove
ell b
by
y
Chaim Potok
Dire
Di
rect
re
ect
c ed
ed by Mo
Moir
ira
ra Bl
Blum
men
enth
thal
th
all
Studying the Master of Creative Writing at Macquarie put Liane on track to
becoming an author of six international best-sellers including two number ones.
See where Macquarie can take you.
mq.edu.au/creative-writing
His tradition.
t.
His ar
Why must he choose?
8-29 May, Eternity Playhouse, Darlinghurst
Book: www.encounters.edu.au
By arrangement with Hal Leonard Australia Pty Ltd, Exclusive agent for Dramatists Play Service Inc
THURSDAY MAY 19 - SATURDAY MAY 21 swf.org.au 15
Nights at the Wharf
After sundown the Festival gets a little bibliofriendly. From the outrageously educational Night of the Nerds to an interview with the inimitable Magda Szubanski and hilarious performances, poetry and discussions on the Club Stage, evenings are the time to let your hair down and
get some literary healing. And be sure to join us for the adults-only Late
Night Salon in The Hemingway Bar for uninhibited conversations with
our most intrepid Festival guests.
THURSDAY MAY 19
75 MICK TURNER AND PEGGY
FREW: LIVING, DREAMING,
MAKING
Writer and musician Peggy Frew, and
Mick Turner from the Dirty Three play
songs and chat candidly to Anwen
Crawford about the intersections of
music, writing, art and intimacy in their
uniquely creative household.
$15 Bookings 9250 1988
80 SARAH KAY AND PHIL KAYE
May 19, 7.30–9pm, Pier 2/3 Club Stage
Mixing metaphor and imagery with
powerful political insight, Sarah Kay
and Phil Kaye will blow you away.
See two of spoken word’s most significant
voices in their only full-length Festival show.
Hosted by Phil Wilcox.
$15 Bookings 9250 1988
81 NIGHT OF THE NERDS
May 19, 8–9.30pm
The night of nights for nerds is back,
more outrageously educational than
ever. Host Adam Spencer juggles ideas
with Nobel-winning scientist Peter
76 Janna
Levin
SATURDAY MAY 21
220 MY FAMILY AND OTHER
OBSTACLES
Everyone’s family is crazy, but Adrian
Simon, Rosie Waterland and Tim
Elliott’s families were off the charts.
They discuss growing up with some
pretty insane experiences and learning
to laugh about them, with fellow
memoirist 702 ABC Sydney's Richard
Glover.
$15 Bookings 9250 1988
Doherty, linguistic mastermind David
Astle, YouTube star Natalie Tran and
podcaster PJ Vogt.
$35/$25 Bookings 9250 1988
83 LATE NIGHT SALON
May 19, 9.30–11pm
The Chaser’s Chris Taylor gets up close
and personal with former Greek finance
minister Yanis Varoufakis, futurist and
robot expert Richard Watson and
podcaster extraordinaire Starlee Kine.
Free, no bookings
FRIDAY MAY 20
GEORGE MEGALOGENIS: RATED PG
(POLISH AND GREEK)
May 20, 7.30–8.30pm
Following the success of her recently
released memoir, Reckoning, Magda
Szubanski swaps notes with George
Megalogenis on how the dorky children
of European migrants redefined
Australian culture.
$35/$25 Bookings 9250 1988
May 20, 9.30–11pm
and personal with iconic Sydney artist
Ken Done, Australia’s most candid gold
medallist Leisel Jones and your friendly
neighbourhood philosopher Julian
Baggini.
Free, no bookings
Festival Highlight
76 JANNA LEVIN: BLACK HOLE BLUES AND OTHER SONGS FROM OUTER
SPACE (AKA THE RECENT DISCOVERY OF GRAVITATIONAL WAVES)
May 19, 6–7pm
In 1916, Einstein predicted the existence of gravitational waves. In 2016 scientists
announced that they had recorded the sound of the cosmos for the first time.
Astrophysicist Janna Levin joins Adam Spencer to share the juicy details.
Bookings 9250 1988, roslynpackertheatre.com.au/swf
150 GIANT DWARF PRESENTS THE
YARRAMADOON PUBLIC SCHOOL
DEBATE NIGHT
May 20, 7.30–9pm
Pier 2/3 Club Stage
A class of your favourite comedians
go back to (junior) school for a night of
semi- educational presentations and,
most importantly, a fierce debate over
the age-old conflict: cats versus dogs.
$15 Bookings 9250 1988
223 PEOPLE OF LETTERS
May 21, 7.30–9pm
Pier 2/3 Club Stage
Join Women of Letters as they stage a
very rare, very co–ed People of Letters,
where well–known Australians are
paired off and invited to write ‘a letter to
my other half’.
$15 Bookings 9250 1988
May 21, 9.30–11pm
and personal with national treasure Magda
Szubanski, Indian novelist and yoga
instructor Ira Trivedi and musician turned
politician turned memoirist Peter Garrett.
Free, no bookings
UNSW Arts &
Social Sciences
and Sydney
Writers’ Festival
THINKING GLOBALLY: EXTREMISM, MIGRATION, SURVEILLANCE
THE END OF EUROPE
Never Stand
Still
Arts & Social
Sciences
ESCAPING NORTH KOREA
PARTNERING
TO EXPLORE
THESE EVENTS AND MORE AT
ARTS.UNSW.EDU.AU/SWF
16
swf.org.au
City & Walsh Bay
239 PJ VOGT: REPLY ALL
May 22, 11.30am–12.30pm
Pier 2/3 Club Stage
PJ Vogt is co–host of Reply All, a hugely
popular American podcast about the
internet. PJ speaks to Julian Morrow about
the weird and wonderful stories he’s
uncovered, and life in audio.
Free, no bookings
240 EXTREMISM: THE UNTOLD
HISTORY
May 22, 11.30am–12.30pm
Pier 2/3 Main Stage
241 FRANCE: WRITERS TALK
POLITICS
May 22, 11.30am–12.30pm
Pier 2/3 The Loft
social and political issues facing France.
Hosted by ABC RN’s Geraldine Doogue
with French writers Marie Darrieussecq,
Nicolas Fargues and former diplomat JeanChristophe Rufin. Also with special guest
French Ambassador Christophe Lecourtier.
Supported by the Embassy of France in
Australia and Institut Français.
$20/$15 Bookings 9250 1988
242 BACK TO THE FUTURE:
WOMEN WRITERS THEN AND NOW
May 22, 11.30am–12.30pm
Ceridwen Dovey, Paddy O’Reilly and the
2016 Stella Prize winner discuss how their
writing has been shaped by their gender,
and the current state of women’s writing in
Australia. With Delia Falconer.
$15 Bookings 9250 1988
243 DISTORTED HISTORIES
May 22, 11.30am–12.30pm
The winner takes all – including the history.
Join Larissa Behrendt and Anna Clark
with Michelle Arrow for a myth–exploding
conversation that reveals how forgotten
voices can change the way we understand
our past and present.
$15 Bookings 9250 1988
244 ANNABEL CRABB AND LEIGH
SALES: OUR READING YEAR
May 22, 11.30am–12.30pm
Leigh Sales and Annabel Crabb muse over
the books that have delighted, surprised,
inspired and frustrated them in the past year.
$30/$25 Bookings 9250 1988
245 THE LEGACY OF FAMILY
May 22, 11.30am–12.30pm
Wharf 2 Theatre
Debbie Whitmont talks to New York Times
columnist Roger Cohen (The Girl From
Human Street) and Tim Elliott (Farewell to
the Father) about their moving memoirs,
families, identity and mental illness.
Supported by the New Israel Fund
Australia Foundation.
$20/$15 Bookings 9250 1988
CUR 246 ANDREW HUNTER
AND HAL CRAWFORD: THE
FACEBOOK TIMES
May 22, 12–12.40pm
CUR 247 ANNA BROINOWSKI:
KIM JONG IL AND THE ART OF
PROPAGANDA
May 22, 1.30–2.10pm
248 OUR FOOD HISTORY: IN BLACK
AND WHITE
May 22, 1.30–2.30pm
Philharmonia Studio
Join John Newton and Jacqui Newling
as they kickstart a food revolution, digging
into the recipe books of colonial and
Indigenous cooks, and redefining our
understanding of Australian food and truly
local produce. With 702 ABC Sydney’s
Simon Marnie.
$15 Bookings 9250 1988
SATURDAY MAY 22
ABC RN’s Dr Norman Swan, and argue for
an open and fair food system that allows
people to make informed choices.
$20/$15 Bookings 9250 1988
254 Sarah
Ferguson
Festival Highlight
261 JESSICA ROWE: IS THIS MY
BEAUTIFUL LIFE?
May 22, 3–4pm
Beneath the shiny surface was a life that
was unravelling – Jessica Rowe talks to
Meredith Jaffé about her funny and
brutally honest memoir, which reveals her
intimate struggles with career, fertility and
post–natal depression.
$15 Bookings 9250 1988
254 SARAH FERGUSON:
THE KILLING SEASON UNCUT
May 22, 1.30–2.30pm
Sarah Ferguson’s ABC TV series The Killing Season captivated Australia
with its account of Labor’s implosion during the Rudd–Gillard–Rudd years.
She shares trade secrets about interviewing prime ministers with fellow
journalist, George Megalogenis.
262 SACRED PLACES
May 22, 3–4pm
There’s something special about certain
places. Australian authors Tony Birch (Ghost
River) and Lucy Treloar (Salt Creek) discuss
the profound influence of landscape on
their novels with Ailsa Piper.
$15 Bookings 9250 1988
249 LAID BARE: LIFE STORIES
May 22, 1.30–2.30pm
Pier 2/3 Club Stage
Discover the terror and liberation of being
honest about yourself on the page in this
conversation between writers who are
the subjects of their own work. Catriona
Menzies-Pike, Fiona Wright and Elspeth
Muir speak to Annette Shun Wah.
Free, no bookings
263 BOB BROWN: ON OPTIMISM
May 22, 3–4pm
SEE EVENT HIGHLIGHT. Page 16
250 GEORGIA BLAIN: BETWEEN
A WOLF AND A DOG
May 22, 1.30–2.30pm
Pier 2/3 Main Stage
One of Australia’s most versatile and
beloved authors, Georgia Blain explores
the big questions in her beautiful and
provocative novel Between a Wolf and a
Dog. In conversation with Charlotte Wood.
$20/$15 Bookings 9250 1988
251 ANN GOLDSTEIN:
TRANSLATING PRIMO LEVI AND
ELENA FERRANTE
May 22, 1.30–2.30pm
Pier 2/3 The Loft
Elena Ferrante’s novels are enjoying
international success. Their translator Ann
Goldstein speaks about the nuanced art
of translation and how to stay true to an
author (especially an anonymous one) and
their text. With ABC RN’s Sarah Kanowski.
$20/$15 Bookings 9250 1988
252 WRITERS OF INFLUENCE
May 22, 1.30–2.30pm
Writers Vivian Gornick, Valeria Luiselli and
Drusilla Modjeska weave literary criticism
and history through memoir and fiction,
showing that from Petrarch to Gissing to
Woolf, our forebears are with us in every
word. With Louise Adler.
$15 Bookings 9250 1988
ME: FRANK MOORHOUSE ON
GEORGE ELIOT
May 22, 1.30–2.30pm
According to Frank Moorhouse, the novel
is the most creative and infinite form we
have invented, and George Eliot is one
of its unparalleled masters. Hear why
Frank continues to be inspired by this
groundbreaking 19th-century writer. With
Elizabeth Johnstone.
$15 Bookings 9250 1988
world – you can glimpse this in their spoken
word and poetry. Presented by Elizabeth
Wymarra with Maggie Walsh, Lionel
Fogarty and more.
$20/$15 Bookings 9250 1988
CUR 256 DAVID DYER: TITANIC
AND THE SUFFRAGETTES
May 22, 2.30–3.10pm
257 MYSTERIOUS WAYS: POETRY
AND PUBLISHING
Poets work in mysterious ways. Join Kent
MacCarter, Kate Lilley and Michelle Cahill as
they read their poetry and discuss how it
works (and how they work) with Ivor Indyk.
$15 Bookings 9250 1988
258 SEEKING ASYLUM
Can Australia maintain its harsh asylumseeker policies? This robust session looks
at one of the most troubling challenges of
our time. Join David Marr, Robert Manne,
Madeline Gleeson and Eva Orner to discuss
the issues.
Free, no bookings
259 HERMAN KOCH: PSYCHOLOGY
AND DECEIT
Dutch author Herman Koch’s savage satire
The Dinner was a global sensation. Catch
Koch with ABC RN’s Kate Evans discussing
his work, including his latest novel, Summer
House with Swimming Pool. Supported by
the Dutch Foundation for Literature.
$20/$15 Bookings 9250 1988
260 THE POLITICS OF FOOD,
DISEASE AND WELLNESS
Julian Baggini, Damon Gameau and Indira
Naidoo sort food fact from fiction with
264 SATYAJIT DAS:
GENERATIONAL WARFARE
We’re living through a period of prosperity
based on a culture of excess – where will
it end? Economist Satyajit Das argues we
are running out of resources, and it’s our
children who will suffer. With John McDuling.
$20/$15 Bookings 9250 1988
265 ME, MYSELF AND ANNE
May 22, 3–4.15pm
Sydney Jewish Museum
A number of well–known Australian authors
read excerpts from The Diary of Anne
Frank, a moving and poignant reminder of
the brilliance of a young girl’s words.
$15 Bookings 9360 7999
rsvp@sjm.com.au
CUR 266 LUCINDA HOLDFORTH:
ON THE AARON SORKIN EFFECT
May 22, 3.30–4.10pm
CUR 267 MICHAEL ROBOTHAM:
THE PSYCHOLOGY OF OBSESSION
May 22, 4.30–5.10pm
268 ECCENTRICS, ODDBALLS
AND MISFITS
May 22, 4.30–5.30pm
Philharmonia Studio
Join authors Paddy O’Reilly, Mark Dapin
and Fiona McFarlane for a chat with
Sunil Badami about crafting idiosyncratic
characters who don’t quite fit, and yet seem
ready to step off the page.
$15 Bookings 9250 1988
263 Bob
Brown
254 SARAH FERGUSON: THE
KILLING SEASON UNCUT
May 22, 1.30–2.30pm
Festival Highlight
255 CONNECTION AND
BELONGING: INDIGENOUS POETRY
AND PERFORMANCE
May 22, 1.30–2.30pm
Wharf 2 Theatre
Australia’s First Nation writers connect and
belong to the oldest living culture in the
263 BOB BROWN: ON OPTIMISM
May 22, 3-4pm
Bob Brown’s memoir and new photographic book is proof that even politics can’t
jade him or diminish his passion, activism or wit. He shares his love of Australia,
nature and his belief in people power with ABC RN’s Ellen Fanning.
269 WHY WOMEN’S VOICES
MATTER TO MEN
May 22, 4.30–5.30pm
Pier 2/3 Club Stage
Moderated by screen director and
producer Samantha Lang, this panel
comprises US academic Dr Michael
Kimmel, playwright Nakkiah Lui and
screenwriter Tom Holloway, as they
discuss recent films and TV miniseries
that put female voices in the spotlight.
Supported by the Australian Film Television
and Radio School.
Free, no bookings
270 ANNA FUNDER: COMING
HOME
May 22, 4.30–5.30pm
Pier 2/3 Main Stage
271 LADIES ONLINE
May 22, 4.30–5.30pm
Pier 2/3 The Loft
Join writers and online stars Tara Moss,
Natalie Tran and Rosie Waterland for
a juicy discussion with Emma Jane about
the perils and privileges, the highs and
lows of internet fame. Supported by
Macleay College.
$20/$15 Bookings 9250 1988
272 LUC SANTE: OUTCASTS,
CRIMINALS AND BOHEMIAN PARIS
May 22, 4.30–5.30pm
Paris, the City of Light, is also the city of
the outcast, the criminal, the eccentric, the
wilfully non–conforming. Luc Sante gives
us a panoramic view of the flipside of Paris.
With Caroline Baum.
$15 Bookings 9250 1988
273 ANDREW FOWLER: DR DARK
MEMORIAL LECTURE – GOOD
NEWS, BAD NEWS
May 22, 4.30–5.30pm
Andrew Fowler (The War on Journalism)
interrogates the current state of the
press, the rise of ‘thin journalism’ and its
implications for a democratic society. With
Quentin Dempster.
$15 Bookings 9250 1988
274 PAUL KELLY: SEVEN SONNETS
& A SONG
May 22, 4.30–5.30pm
Shakespeare has had a deep influence on
Paul Kelly’s work and now finds form in his
stunning new album, Seven Sonnets & A
Song. Paul speaks with Bell Shakespeare
Intersticia Fellow Kate Mulvany. Supported
by the British Council.
$30/$25 Bookings 9250 1988
275 JOHN BOYNE: A HISTORY OF
LONELINESS
May 22, 4.30–5.30pm
Wharf 2 Theatre
John Boyne is one of Ireland’s finest
contemporary writers. He speaks with
Chris Bowen about his novel A History
of Loneliness, which takes savage aim at
the Irish Catholic Church, and his moving
collection of short stories, Beneath the
Earth. Supported by Culture Ireland by
$20/$15 Bookings 9250 1988
276 2016 CLOSING ADDRESS
HANYA YANAGIHARA:
THE CONVERSATIONS
BETWEEN WORDS
May 22, 6–6.50pm
As a writer, is there a limit to what you
can expect from your reader? The author
of one of the most–talked–about and
provocative books of the year, A Little Life,
asks whether an author owes her reader
anything more than a compelling story.
$35/$25 Bookings 9250 1988
277 AUSTEN’S WOMEN
THURSDAY MAY 19 – SUNDAY MAY 22
swf.org.au
17
The Curiosity Lecture Series
of many aphorisms, but what would life
without doubt look like?
Perfect for hungry minds and open hearts, The Curiosity Lecture Series
is back and bigger than ever in 2016, running all day from Thursday to
Sunday on the Curiosity Stage. The Curiosity Lecture Series is supported
by the University of Sydney. Hosted by Sahar Amer, Sunil Badami, Peter
Chen, Dalia Nassar, Aaron Nyerges, Juanita Ruys and Glenda Sluga.
All events are free, no bookings.
CUR 227 ANTONIA HAYES:
A UNIVERSE OF ONE’S OWN
May 22, 10–10.40am
While much has changed for women
writers over the last century, the scales
are still unbalanced. Antonia Hayes tells us
why she is full of hope that we can dare to
disturb the universe before Virginia Woolf’s
A Room of One's Own turns 100.
Free, no bookings
CUR 14 TIM GRIFFITHS: FRANK
HURLEY, SHACKLETON AND THE
END OF THE HEROIC AGE
May 19, 10–10.40am
One hundred years ago, Ernest
Shackleton’s ship Endurance was crushed
by Antarctic ice. Tim Griffiths tells the story
of Frank Hurley’s role in one of the most
dramatic rescues in history.
CUR 26 JEAN-FRANÇOIS VERNAY:
A FRENCH VIEW ON AUSTRALIAN
NOVELS
May 19, 11–11.40am
Can an outsider have a clearer view of
Australian literature than a local? French
literary critic and author Jean–François
Vernay asks whether it’s ever possible to
objectively view Australian novels from an
insider’s perspective.
CUR 38 CATRIONA MENZIES-PIKE:
WHY I’VE LOST EVERY MARATHON
I’VE EVER RUN
May 19, 12–12.40pm
Was every marathon runner born a
keen and gifted athlete? Hardly. Catriona
Menzies-Pike reflects on being a clumsy
runner, performance anxiety and the
pleasures of running slowly.
CUR 108 JOHN BIRMINGHAM:
DEATH SPIRAL – THE FUTURE OF
MEDIA AND PUBLISHING
May 20, 12–12.40pm
John Birmingham, bestselling author
of He Died With a Falafel in His Hand,
surveys the dire state of media and
publishing, projects forward to their
grim futures, and finds a ray of hope in
emerging alternatives.
CUR 111 CHRISTOPHER NEFF:
THE SHARK ‘ATTACK’ MYTH
May 20, 1.30–2.10pm
It seems we are transfixed by a perceived
threat of sharks on our shores, but we
are more likely to be struck by lightning
than taken by one. Dr Christopher Neff
sheds light on an ever–emotive aspect of
public policy.
CUR 121 JAMES ARVANITAKIS:
ON HOPE
May 20, 2.30–3.10pm
How can we respond to the sense of
despair that follows acts of terrorism or the
displacement of millions? James Arvanitakis
CUR 40 ANTHONY BOND: THE
AWFUL TRUTH ABOUT CURATING
May 19, 1.30–2.10pm
Join former Art Gallery of NSW curatorial
director Anthony Bond as he tries to make
sense of all the stuff out there loosely
described as art.
CUR 52 MICHAEL SEXTON SC:
ON THE EDGES OF HISTORY
May 19, 2.30–3.10pm
Michael Sexton SC has witnessed and
recorded some of the great post–war
dramas, from the Vietnam War to
the Dismissal. He writes about these
experiences in his memoir and explains
why it’s so important to preserve history.
CUR 63 BETH YAHP: ON EATING
DIM SUM
May 19, 3.30–4.10pm
Known as ‘dim sum’ (‘point’ and ‘heart’ in
Cantonese), the stories behind yum cha
range from a Chinese general’s gratitude
to a warning for chefs. For Beth Yahp, it’s
mouthfuls of memory in bite sizes.
CUR 64 FRANK BONGIORNO: WHY
WE CAN’T GET OVER THE EIGHTIES
May 19, 4.30–5.10pm
From TV miniseries to FM radio, the
1980s seem to be everywhere these days.
So just how did the decade of big hair
and synthesised pop become so hot
again in Australia?
CUR 85 SUSAN JOHNSON: NANCY
SINATRA’S BOOTS
May 20, 10–10.40am,
Can a pop song set a template for a lifetime
of walking away? Susan Johnson explores
how being an eight–year–old girl listening
to Nancy Sinatra might have contributed to
everything that followed.
CUR 98 MARTIN FLANAGAN:
ON LISTENING
May 20, 11–11.40am
If you’re quiet enough, quiet as a tree, people
will camp beneath your branches and tell
you stories. Martin Flanagan shares how
listening has been an essential part of his life.
CUR168 Paul
Muldoon
Festival Highlight
CUR 168 PAUL MULDOON: ON SEAMUS HEANEY
May 21, 11–11.40am
Paul Muldoon has described Seamus Heaney as a man who had a singular
ability to make us feel connected to one another. Paul reads his favourite Heaney
poems and speaks about what makes his work so special.
CUR 132 Indira
Naidoo
Festival Highlight
CUR 132 INDIRA NAIDOO: ON BEING BROWN
May 20, 3.30–4.10pm
In a country with one of the highest skin cancer rates in the world, why is having
a tan still so socially desirable? Indira Naidoo asks what our obsession with brown
skin says about us, and shares her experiences growing up in Australia.
argues that a way forward is through acts
of kindness and by embracing an active
hope that emerges through our actions.
CUR 132 INDIRA NAIDOO:
ON BEING BROWN
May 20, 3.30–4.10pm
CUR 134 PHILIP DWYER: A HISTORY
OF VIOLENCE
May 20, 4.30–5.10pm
How can an act of violence be considered
intolerable in one part of the world and
acceptable in another? Philip Dwyer
reflects on the difficulties of writing a
history of violence.
CUR 155 MATTHEW CONDON:
HOW MURDERERS AND CRIMINAL
POND SCUM CHANGED MY LIFE
May 21, 10–10.40am
True crime writer and journalist Matthew
Condon reflects on the chance meeting
with corrupt former Queensland police
commissioner Terry Lewis that led
him down the dark rabbit hole of his
state’s criminal underbelly.
CUR 168 PAUL MULDOON:
ON SEAMUS HEANEY
May 21, 11–11.40am
CUR 180 MEGAN MACKENZIE:
DO WOMEN BELONG ON THE
FRONTLINE?
May 21, 12–12.40pm
Do women belong on the frontlines of
war or do they drag male soldiers down
and distract them from their jobs? Megan
MacKenzie explores the myths about
female soldiers and the band of brothers.
CUR 182 MARC FENNELL: WHY
PINOCCHIO WAS A SOCIOPATH
AND ADVENTURES IN
WALT DISNEY
May 21, 1.30–2.10pm
Marc Fennell, Triple J and SBS’s movie guru,
takes you on a twisted journey through
the history of the House of Mouse to learn
things you never knew (and maybe never
wanted to know) about Disney.
CUR 193 ROBERT MANNE: WHO
CREATED ISIS? THE ROLES OF
GEORGE W. BUSH AND
AL ZARQAWI
May 21, 2.30-3.10pm
Robert Manne explores how the George W.
Bush–led invasion of Iraq and the ruthless
political genius of Abu Musab al Zarqawi
combined to give birth to the unimaginably
cruel and ideologically fanatical Islamic State.
CUR 205 JANNA LEVIN: WHAT’S
NEW IN COSMOLOGY
May 21, 3.30–4.10pm
What goes on in black holes? How much
do we know about the space–time
continuum? And what does the new
gravitational wave discovery mean?
Astrophysicist and writer Janna Levin seeks
to answer the big questions.
CUR 206 T.L. UGLOW: ON DOUBT –
FROM MONTAIGNE TO MINCHIN
May 21, 4.30–5.10pm
T.L. Uglow looks at how writers across
the ages have tackled indecision and
uncertainty. Doubt is the indubitable baddie
CUR 237 GAIL JONES: SPIRAL TIME,
BISCUIT TINS, BUTTERFLIES: HOW
NABAKOV ENLIVENS US
May 22, 11–11.40am
CUR 246 ANDREW HUNTER
AND HAL CRAWFORD: THE
FACEBOOK TIMES
May 22, 12–12.40pm
What makes online news shareable?
To answer this, Andrew Hunter and Hal
Crawford created software that tracked
the sharing of millions of news stories
across the globe. They reveal their
surprising findings.
CUR 247 ANNA BROINOWSKI:
KIM JONG IL AND THE ART OF
PROPAGANDA
May 22, 1.30–2.10pm
Join filmmaker Anna Broinowski for an
immersive and revealing journey inside
the North Korean film industry, one of the
most secretive and powerful propaganda
machines on the planet.
CUR 256 DAVID DYER: TITANIC
AND THE SUFFRAGETTES
May 22, 2.30–3.10pm
Novelist David Dyer explores the
implications of the Titanic for suffragettes.
Should women who wanted the vote have
gotten into lifeboats ahead of men?
CUR 266 LUCINDA HOLDFORTH:
ON THE AARON SORKIN EFFECT
May 22, 3.30–4.10pm
Lucinda Holdforth gives a funny, insightful
and original take on Aaron Sorkin’s work,
the speechwriter’s craft and the power of
writing to change the world.
CUR 267 MICHAEL ROBOTHAM:
THE PSYCHOLOGY OF OBSESSION
May 22, 4.30–5.10pm
Writers are known to be obsessive people.
Jonathan Swift didn’t talk to anyone for a
year and Voltaire got rid of boring guests
by pretending to faint. Award–winning
crime writer Michael Robotham talks about
the psychology of obsession.
CUR 237 Gail
Jones
Festival Highlight
CUR 237 GAIL JONES: SPIRAL TIME, BISCUIT TINS,
BUTTERFLIES: HOW NABOKOV ENLIVENS US
May 22, 11–11.40am
This talk examines Vladimir Nabokov’s idiosyncratic ideas: his philosophy
of time, delight in objects and obsession with butterflies. Art is for life’s
sake; it ought to enliven us.
18
SATURDAY MAY 14 - SUNDAY MAY 22
swf.org.au
Workshops
Whether you’re percolating an idea or have a manuscript in
search of a publisher, there’s an SWF workshop to help you through.
Our expert writers teach practical skills as well as the secrets to
creativity. This year, alongside our regular workshops, we have a
selection of exclusive masterclasses. Workshops run from
Saturday May 14 to Sunday May 22. With thanks to NYU, Sydney.
Bookings 9256 4200, swf.org.au, unless otherwise stated.
W1 FIONA WRIGHT:
Writing from Life
May 14, 9.30am–12.30pm
Science House
Poet, essayist and editor Fiona Wright
explores ways in which you can craft
compelling writing, in any form, from raw
experience. Find and build captivating
narrative from the anecdotes and detail of
everyday life.
$100/$80
W2 CAT WEATHERILL: How to Make
People Listen to You
May 14, 10am–4.30pm
Science House
Want to be compelling in front of any
audience? One of Europe’s leading
performance storytellers for adults reveals
the tricks of the trade, from interviews to
performing on stage.
$185/$160
W3 CLAIRE SCOBIE: Creating a
Believable Story World
May 14, 10am–4.30pm
Science House
Setting is more than just the landscape of
your story. Claire Scobie reveals everything
you need to make a world so real it exists
long after your reader has put down the
book.
$185/$160
W4 SULARI GENTILL: Genre
Blending
May 14, 10am–4.30pm
Science House
This workshop will look at the processes,
approaches and inspirations involved in
effectively blending genres to produce a
hybrid species that doesn’t read like an
experiment gone wrong.
$185/$160
W5 DAVID DYER: Researching and
Writing Historical Fiction
May 14, 1.30–4.30pm
Science House
Novelist David Dyer encourages
participants to explore the principles and
pitfalls of writing historical fiction. What
should you leave in and leave out? What
duty do novelists owe to the truth?
$100/$80
W6 CANDICE FOX: Sleuths, Science,
Serial Killers – the Craft of Crime
Writing
May 15, 1.30–4.30pm
Science House
Examine the forensic science behind crime
scenes, the psychology behind killers and
IT’S HOT,
IT’S CHRISTMAS
AND THE FAMILY’S
ARRIVED.
WHAT COULD
POSSIBLY
GO WRONG?
the secrets behind plotting fast-paced,
compelling crime fiction. Candice Fox
shares tips for the aspiring crime writer.
$100/$80
W7 JANE MESSER: Ways into
Writing Creatively
May 15, 1.30–4.30pm
Science House
This workshop is ideal for kickstarting a
new work or reviving an existing piece.
Novelist and creative writing teacher Jane
Messer unpacks the rule that you should
write what you know and shares key
writing strategies and exercises.
$100/$80
W8 BIANCA NOGRADY: How to Be
a Successful Freelancer
May 15, 1.30-4.30pm
Science House
Led by experienced journalist and
broadcaster Bianca Nogrady, this practical
workshop teaches you everything you need
to know about how to build a freelance
writing business that is flexible and fruitful.
$100/$80
W9 MASTERCLASS WITH JAMI
ATTENBERG: Setting the Stakes,
Hooking the Reader
May 18, 6–7.30pm
Science House
Setting the stakes can hook your reader (or
an agent or editor) immediately. So what does
it take to get a reader instantly invested in
your story? American novelist Jami Attenberg
reveals all in this special masterclass.
$60/$55
W10 KATHRYN HEYMAN: Diving
In – Discovering Your Story
May 19, 10am–4.30pm
Science House
This inspiring class, led by acclaimed
novelist Kathryn Heyman, will help you dive
into your novel, discover your characters
and understand the structure you need to
stop procrastinating and write on with joy.
$185/$160
W11 DOROTHEA SMARTT: Stories
of Life, Stories of Death
May 19, 10am–4.30pm
Science House
In this day-long workshop, London-born
poet Dorothea Smartt takes apart the
big themes of life and death and helps
participants craft their own stories through
poetic prose and poetry.
$185/$160
Festival
Highlight
Australia. It brings together writers,
publishers and industry representatives to
discuss prospects for authors in 2016.
Presented with the NSW Writers’ Centre.
$80/$55 Bookings 9555 9757
nswwc.org.au/whats-on
W15 SOFIE LAGUNA: Creating
Compelling Characters
May 20, 10am–4.30pm
Science House
Sofie Laguna, winner of the
Miles Franklin Award, teaches
you to consider characters in
unexpected ways and deepen your
understanding of their stories.
Learn why the answers to the
challenges of plot, tone, structure
and style often lie in character.
$185/$160
W18 DAMON YOUNG: Everyday
Philosophy
May 20, 1.30–4.30pm
Science House
What is philosophy? And how can we
exercise it in everyday life? Join noted public
intellectual and author Damon Young for a
hands-on philosophy workshop, with lively
readings, discussion and writing exercises.
$100/$80
W12 KATE FORSYTH: Diagnosing
Your Story’s Problems
May 19, 1.30–4.30pm, Science House
Sometimes we are so close to our stories
it's hard to see what’s working and what’s
not. Bestselling author Kate Forsyth
teaches you the most common writing
problems and how to fix them.
$100/$80
W13 ALECIA SIMMONDS: Creative
Non-fiction
May 19, 1.30–4.30pm
Science House
Whether you’re writing an essay, feature,
memoir or book, this course will help
animate your non-fiction through
storytelling principles such as plot, scenesetting, point of view and voice.
$100/$80
W14 INGA SIMPSON: Crafting
Beautiful Sentences
May 20, 9.30am–12.30pm
Science House
Inga Simpson’s range of practical exercises
and examples will teach you how to wield
commas and semicolons, write descriptions
that climb off the page and create more
beautiful sentences.
$100/$80
W15 SOFIE LAGUNA: Creating
Compelling Characters
May 20, 10am–4.30pm
Science House
SEE EVENT HIGHLIGHT, P18
W16 JACQUELINE HARVEY: So You
Want to Be a Children’s Author?
May 20, 10am–4.30pm
Science House
This is a workshop for adults who are keen
to write for children. Bestselling author
Jacqueline Harvey takes participants
through the writing process, sharing her
experiences and knowledge of the industry.
$185/$160
W17 FOREST FOR THE TREES:
WRITERS AND PUBLISHING IN 2016
May 20, 10am–4.30pm, State Library
of NSW, Metcalfe Auditorium
Forest for the Trees is a one-day seminar
looking at the state of publishing in
W19 MASTERCLASS WITH JOHN
BIRMINGHAM: How to Self-Publish
Without Embarrassing Yourself
May 20, 6–7.30pm
Science House
Bestselling author John Birmingham gives
a short, practical masterclass that will help
participants navigate a smooth, successful
route towards being a self-published author.
$60/$55
W20 LEAH KAMINSKY: Writing the
Body
May 21, 9.30am–12.30pm
Science House
Anatole Broyard wrote that stories are
antibodies against illness and pain. Doctor
and author Leah Kaminsky helps writers
draw on experiences of illness and health
as gateways to narrative, and as a means of
expressing both their courage and fear.
$100/$80
W21 ANTONIA PESENTI AND
HILARY BELL: Creating a Unique
Children’s Book
May 21, 9.30am–12.30pm
Science House
The creators of bestsellers Alphabetical
Sydney and Numerical Street discuss
friendship and collaboration; finding beauty
in the everyday and translating it into books
that both adults and children love.
$100/$80
W22 MASTERCLASS WITH SARAH
KAY AND PHIL KAYE: The Spoken
Word Crash Course
May 21, 10am–12pm
Science House
In this intimate and hands-on masterclass,
international spoken word stars Sarah Kay
and Phil Kaye equip you with the tools you
need to begin writing and performing your
own work.
$60/$55
W23 ALEXANDRA NAHLOUS:
The Write Edit
May 21, 10am–4.30pm
Science House
Experienced book editor Alexandra
Nahlous provides you with the tools
you need to polish a first (or second
or third) draft of your work so it can
reach its potential.
$185/$160
W24 ANNA SMAILL: Dystopian
Fiction – the Beginning of the End
May 21, 1.30–4.30pm
Science House
Explore the craft behind the first few pages
of the dystopian novel. Award-winning
author Anna Smaill unpacks how voice,
landscape and plot are established in some
classic dystopian openings, and helps you
focus on your own.
$100/$80
W25 TONY BIRCH: The Work of
Fiction
This workshop focuses on the business
of writing fiction, both long and short.
Acclaimed author Tony Birch covers a range
of skills and craft practice, including sketching
character, place, landscape and plot.
$100/$80
W26 ELEANOR LIMPRECHT:
Research and Writing – The Truth
is in the Detail
May 22, 9.30am–12.30pm
Science House
Novelist Eleanor Limprecht demonstrates
how research can help you discover the
detail to improve your fiction or non-fiction
project and reveals the best research tools
for a writer.
$100/$80
W27 TONI JORDAN: Plotting
May 22, 10am–4.30pm
Science House
A good plot interconnects with theme
and character development. If you’ve
ever struggled with what happens next
in your work-in-progress, this practical
workshop will have your characters
twisting and turning.
$185/$160
W28 TONY CAVANAUGH: Peeling
the Onion Screenwriting Workshop
May 22, 10am–4.30pm
Science House
A thorough examination of the scriptwriting
process with bestselling author and
screenwriter Tony Cavanaugh, exploring
the many interlinking layers that combine
to make a screenplay work.
$185/$160
W29 MASTERCLASS WITH
WILLIAM BOYD: Adapting Novels
for the Screen
May 22, 10.30am–12pm
Science House
Award-winning British writer William Boyd
looks at the complex processes involved in
adapting novels for the screen — the pitfalls,
pleasures, problems, parameters and the
impossibilities. Hosted by Ross Grayson Bell.
$60/$55
W30 JOSHUA YELDHAM: Creativity
and the Senses
Artist and author Joshua Yeldham explores
the value of subtle sensory awareness
and the importance of journeying to
the corners of the mind where creative
navigation hums.
$100/$80
+
BOOK NOW
NEW AUSTRALIAN
WORK AT BELVOIR
+
Image by Brett Boardman
Chidren's & YA Precinct
SUNDAY MAY 22
Glowtopia
Welcome to Glowtopia, where kids
and teens reign supreme. Situated
along the entire length of Pier 4/5,
Glowtopia’s distinctive glittering
landscape is home to more bestselling
children’s authors and illustrators
than you can count on many hands.
This star-studded population is very
friendly, although visitors to Glowtopia
are warned to beware of spontaneous
outbreaks of storytelling, live drawing
and excessive entertaining by
Glowtopia’s citizens.
There are four unique regions
within Glowtopia, all offering their own
brand of mischief and mayhem. The
Ministry of Noise caters to visitors
of all ages, who often find themselves
unable to resist toe-tapping, or
even shimmying, to the Ministry’s
continuous flow of disco beats and
musical storytelling. The Department
of Stuff and Nonsense tends to
attract the 7+ crowd, who can’t get
enough of seeing their favourite
authors doing ridiculously entertaining
things. The Bureau of Artistics, found
on the southernmost tip
of Glowtopia, is popular
o
with anyone of any age
w
who enjoys craft, bookish
w
activities, bookish film clips,
live storytelling, crafty workshops
and made-up nonsense. The Royal
Institute of All Day YA is open to all,
but most commonly draws an older
and more sophisticated crowd, many
of whom have a voracious appetite
for YA books of all genres and their
superstar authors.
Overseeing the entire glowing
metropolis is mascot and much-loved
mobile book exchange, Russ the
Story Bus.
Look out for roving kid reporters
from Crinkling News. If they stop and
ask you about your favourite authors
and Festival highlights, you might just
end up in the news!
And don’t forget to have your photo
taken with one of your favourite book
characters. Grug will be strolling the
Glowtopia boardwalk, along with Maisy,
Where’s Wally? and Geronimo Stilton.
CYA3 Frank
Woodley
PIER 4/5 ROYAL INSTITUTE OF ALL
DAY YA (SYDNEY DANCE 2)
Hosted by Will Kostakis.
Festival Highlight
CYA3 FRANK WOODLEY'S KIZMET!
May 22, 10–10.45am
An hour with Frank Woodley is never predictable! Come along for the
ride as Frank reads and performs from his hit series, Kizmet, shows off
his illustrating prowess and does a bit of comedy business.
CYA6 Liz
Pichon
CYA1 KINDERLING KIDS RADIO
DISCO
May 22, 10.30am–1.30pm
Kinderling Kids Radio brings its Regression
Session Disco to the Festival! Join hosts
Barry Divola and DJ Lorna Clarkson as they
mix up the tunes to get everyone, from
nannas to nippers, jumping to the beat.
PIER 4/5 DEPARTMENT OF STUFF
AND NONSENSE (SYDNEY DANCE 1)
Hosted by Felice Arena.
All ages welcome, but
recommended for 7+. All visitors
must have a free ticket for each
session for entry. Free tickets can
be found at the Glowtopia Tourist
Information Booth on the western
side of Pier 4/5. Tickets are limited
so get in quick!
CYA3 FRANK WOODLEY’S KIZMET!
May 22, 10–10.45am
CYA4 ILLUSTRATOR BATTLE
ROUNDS
May 22, 11.15am–12pm
It’s pencils at 10 paces when Australia’s
hottest children’s book illustrators go texta-totexta in the ultimate live drawing battle. Eight
illustrators. Seven rounds. Only one winner!
CYA5 AARON BLABEY: THE BAD
GUYS AND PIG THE PUG
May 22, 12.30–1.15pm
Bestselling author and illustrator Aaron
Blabey reveals how he makes his books,
previews some new ones and draws a few
of your favourite characters. You may even
go home with an original drawing!
CYA6 THE (MOSTLY) TOTALLY
BRILLIANT WORLD OF TOM GATES
May 22, 1.45–2.30pm
CYA7 WORDBURGER!
May 22, 3–3.45pm
In this snack-size Wordburger session, SBS’s
Mr Dictionary (David Astle) stirs up a storm
of riddles and puzzles, puns and clues,
giving new life to letters and language.
Festival Highlight
CYA6 THE (MOSTLY) TOTALLY BRILLIANT WORLD OF TOM GATES
May 22, 1.45–2.30pm
Join Liz Pichon, creator of the multi-award-winning Tom Gates books, in this
session packed with doodles, fun and mayhem! Find out how Liz comes up with
her ideas and learn how to draw like Tom himself.
CYA8 BAJO & HEX: PIXEL RAIDERS
May 22, 4.15-5pm
Before online games there were books. Bajo
& Hex from ABC TV’s The Good Game talk
about their new book series Pixel Raiders
and how games influenced their ideas and
storytelling.
BUREAU OF ARTISTICS
PIER 4/5 BUREAU OF ARTISTICS
(BANGARRA STUDIO THEATRE)
All ages welcome. All events free,
no bookings.
CYA14 STORYTIME CLUBHOUSE
May 22, 10am–4pm
Pull up a beanbag and settle in as your
favourite children’s authors and illustrators
read you their stories. With a different
author dropping into the clubhouse every
half hour, you never know who you might
meet.
Festival
Highlight
CYA23 STORY BOX LIBRARY
PRESENTS...
May 22, 2.30–4pm
Watch a selection of Australia’s most loved
children’s authors on the biggish screen.
Learn how they come up with their stories,
then watch as their characters are brought
to life by some of our best storytellers, from
Nick Cave to Claire Bowditch.
ROYAL INSTITUTE
OF ALL DAY YA
of English! Stop by the #Fictionary corner
to submit your words to the newest
dictionary in town. You might just find
your word featured in David Astle's next
Wordplay column. (*amazing)
PIER 4/5 THE MINISTRY OF NOISE
(SYDNEY DANCE 1 VIEWING
LOUNGE)
All ages are welcome and entry is free.
DEPARTMENT OF
STUFF AND NONSENSE
19
story and they need your help! Drop in to
give them your best ideas and watch the
story unfold before your eyes.
MINISTRY OF NOISE
CYA2 B’TUTTA!
May 22, 2.30–3.30pm
Music and storytelling collide in this
‘striking’ session from hit percussion
ensemble B’tutta! Conduct, perform and
improvise your own stories in time to the
exciting rhythms and beats. Presented with
Musica Viva.
swf.org.au
CYA15 CASULA POWERHOUSE
JOURNEY MAKER STATION
May 22, 10am–4pm
Want to fly to the moon or row across
an ice-cream ocean? Get yourself to the
Journey Maker Station, where you can turn
recycled materials into a dream machine to
take you to your imagined world.
CYA16 BILLIE B. BROWN’S
MYSTERY CLUB
May 22, 10am–4pm
Break the code to join Billie B. Brown’s
Secret Mystery Club! Once you’re in, help
solve the mystery of the spooky house,
meet Billie’s creator, Sally Rippin, and have
your photo taken with Billie and the gang.
CYA17 #FICTIONARY
May 22, 10am–4pm
Ever felt the itch to make up your own
word for something? #Fictionary is your
delspricious* chance to dream up new
words, creating your own original piece
CYA18 GIANT HARRY POTTER
COLOURING MURAL
May 22, 10am–4pm
Calling all muggles and wizards! We need
your help colouring in our giant Harry
Potter mural. Sign your name on the
contributor wall, pick your favourite colours
and
get busy.
CYA19 COLOUR
AND CRAFT
DEPOT
May 22, 10am–4pm
No need to stay betweenn
nd
the lines at our colour and
craft depot. Kids of all ages
ges are
encouraged to come along and let their
creativity run amok with coloured pencils,
paper, crayons, book activity sheets and
crafty bits.
CYA20 MY STORY BOOTH
May 22, 10am–4pm
We need your stories! Sydney Writers’
Festival wants to hear about the everyday
lives of children aged 5 to 18 from all
across Sydney. Spend some time at our
writing station and pop your story into the
dropbox. Selected entries will be published
on the SWF My Story website after the
Festival.
CYA21 PARROT CARROT BIG BOOK
BONANZA
May 22, 10.15–11am
Join in as Kate and Jol Temple don silly
hats and read silly rhymes from their
oversized picture books, while Jon Foye
whips up silly illustrations of the crowd.
CYA22 ON THE SPOT STORIES
May 22, 12.15–2.15pm
James O’Loghlin and Andrew Cranna have
only two hours to write and illustrate a
All ages welcome, but
recommended for 13+. Tickets
for TeenCon 2016 are available
for purchase online ahead of the
event. All visitors must have a free
ticket for the other sessions to gain
entry. Free tickets can be found at
the Glowtopia Tourist Information
Booth on the eastern side of Pier 4/5.
The Royal Institute of All Day YA is
supported by Macquarie University.
CYA9 TEENCON 1: CORNUCOPIA
May 22, 10–11.30am
TeenCon 2016 is where it's at for inside
info on new and upcoming YA books.
With swag bags, a Greatest YA Hero of
All Time battle and the chance to win
the prize for Best One Line Summary of
a YA Book, you don't want to miss this.
$10 Bookings 9256 4200, swf.org.au
CYA10 IS THIS JUST A FANTASY?
May 22, 12–12.45pm
Why is fantasy so popular in young
adult fiction? Is the line between
the real and the fantastical irrelevant
b
because
all books are magic? Michael
Grant,
Jack Heath, Jay Kristoff and Claire
G
Z separate fact from fantasy. With Dr
Zorn
Victoria
Flanagan.
V
CYA11 TOMMY WALLACH LIVE!
CYA
May 22, 1.15–2pm
Brooklyn-based YA writer and indie
musician Tommy Wallach reads from his
work and performs original songs inspired
by his books in this exclusive solo event.
CYA12 TEN THINGS I HATE ABOUT
YOU
May 22, 2.30–3.15pm
From love triangles to smouldering bad
boys, we ask why the same old YA clichés
keep cropping up. Audience participation is
strongly encouraged as Kirsty Eagar, Jordan
Idiare, Will Kostakis, Alice Pung and Adele
Walsh come up with the #Top10YAcliches.
CYA13 TEENCON 2: ERILEA
May 22, 3.45–5.15pm
TeenCon 2016 is where it's at for inside
info on new and upcoming YA books.
With swag bags, a Greatest YA Hero of
All Time battle and the chance to win
the prize for Best One Line Summary of
a YA Book, you don't want to miss this.
$10 Bookings, 9256 4200, swf.org.au
Illustrations © Charles Santoso
School Days
CYA24 Russ the
Story
Bus
CYA24 RUSS THE STORY BUS
May 22, 10am–4pm, Pier 4/5
Russ the Story Bus is no ordinary bus! His
belly is full of books and his outsides are
covered in illustrations by Gus Gordon. Bring
along a pre-loved book and swap it for a new
favourite from inside Russ’s belly. Not sure what to pick?
Children’s book expert and bibliotherapist Susan Elderkin
will be there from 10am-noon to inspire and guide you.
Supported by The Pratt Foundation, The Packer Family
Foundation, Crown Resorts Foundation and Western
Sydney University. Free, no bookings
Our School Days program is a fantastic opportunity for students to engage
with their favourite authors and discover exciting new voices. Throughout
the week, eight bestselling authors talk about their craft, perform from their
work and take questions from the audience. Primary School Days features
Jon Klassen, Liz Pichon, Tohby Riddle and Judith Rossell. Secondary School
Days includes John Boyne, Michael Grant, Vikki Wakefield and Claire Zorn.
School Days are supported by Western Sydney University, The Concourse
Chatswood, and the City of Sydney.
Best of the Fest
We partner with the Board of Studies, Teaching and Educational Standards
to present a day of events tailored to year 9-12 students. On Monday, May 16,
the biggest Festival stars speak on subjects linked to the NSW curriculum.
School Days and Best of the Fest sessions are for students only.
Schools can book tickets at swf.org.au
20
swf.org.au
Suburban & Regional
MONDAY MAY 16 - SUNDAY MAY 22
strives for perfection.
Free, bookings essential 9847 6614
trybooking.com/188485
ASHFIELD
SR1 ADRIAN McKINTY: RAIN DOGS
May 19, 6.30–7.30pm
Ashfield Town Hall
Join Adrian McKinty to discuss his latest
Sean Duffy instalment, Rain Dogs, a classic
locked-room murder mystery which
stretches the roguish detective to new and
dangerous limits.
ashfieldlibrary.eventbrite.com.au
HURSTVILLE
SR13 Magda
Szubanski
AUBURN
SR2 THE LAST BUS TO AUBURN
May 22, 2–5pm
Auburn Train Station
Auburn Poets and Writers Group presents
The Last Bus to Auburn, a performative
bus tour of their city as it is now and as
represented in the memories of local poets.
Supported by Western Sydney University.
$15 Bookings 9735 1396, https://
www.eventbrite.com.au/e/the-lastbus-to-auburntickets-21689075609
BANKSTOWN
SR3 MAY BANKSTOWN POETRY
SLAM FEATURING YASMINE LEWIS
May 18, 7–8.30pm
Bankstown Arts Centre
Bankstown Poetry Slam is the largest of
its kind in Australia. Join us in welcoming
local talent Yasmine Lewis, as well as
first-time poets, seasoned wordsmiths and
everyone in between. Supported by BYDS
and Western Sydney University.
Free, no bookings
SR4 WHERE I LIVE
May 19, 7–8.30pm
Bryan Brown Theatre
Following an introduction by Bryan Brown,
join a panel of emerging writers from
Bankstown and other Sydney suburbs
for a lively discussion on where they live
and how ideas of place and community
shape their creative expression.
Free, bookings essential
whereilivexswf.eventbrite.com.au
SR5 CONNECTION AND
BELONGING: INDIGENOUS POETRY
AND PERFORMANCE
May 20, 7–8pm
Bankstown Arts Centre
Australia’s First Nation writers connect and
belong to the world's oldest living culture –
you can glimpse this in their spoken word
and poetry. Featuring Maggie Walsh, Lionel
Fogarty, Brothablack and more. Supported
by BYDS and Western Sydney University.
Free, no bookings
BELROSE
SR6 INGA SIMPSON: WHERE THE
TREES WERE
May 19, 11.30am–12.30pm
Glen Street Theatre
Inga Simpson talks about her novel, Where
the Trees Were, a rich examination of the
innocence of youth and the childhood
scars that can stay with you for life.
$10 Bookings 9975 1455
glenstreet.com.au
BLACKTOWN
SR7 BETH YAHP: EAT FIRST, TALK
LATER
May 16, 6.30–7.30pm
Blacktown City Max Webber Library
Eat First, Talk Later is Beth Yahp’s memoir
about her family’s trip to her birth country,
Malaysia. Beth talks about how writing the
book forced her to answer questions about
family, nationhood, food and belonging.
swf2016.eventbrite.com.au
BOWRAL
SR8 SWF IN THE SOUTHERN
HIGHLANDS WITH PETINA
GAPPAH
May 22, 12–1pm
The Highlands School of the
Performing Arts
Petina Gappah’s prize-winning debut An
Elegy for Easterly heralded her as a major
new voice in fiction. The Zimbabwean
author speaks about her new novel, The
Festival Highlight
SR13 MAGDA SZUBANSKI: RECKONING
May 18, 7–8pm
The Concourse Concert Hall
One of Australia’s best-loved comedians, Magda Szubanski, shares stories from her
acclaimed memoir, Reckoning, in which she recounts her search for the truth about her
father’s secret wartime past and her own journey of self-discovery. With Tracey Spicer.
Supported by The Concourse Chatswood.
$25/$20 Bookings 1300 795 012, theconcourse.com.au/events
Book of Memory, with Lisa Forrest.
$25 Bookings 4862 1634, shwf.com.au
SR9 SWF IN THE SOUTHERN
HIGHLANDS WITH SHIRLEY
BARRETT
May 22, 2–3pm
The Highlands School of the
Performing Arts
An exclusive session with Shirley Barrett,
speaking about her debut novel, Rush Oh!.
Shirley is best known as a screenwriter and
director, whose first film, Love Serenade, won
the Caméra d’Or (Best First Feature) at Cannes.
$25 Bookings 4862 1634, shwf.com.au
CAMDEN
SR10 LEISEL JONES: BODY
LENGTHS
May 18, 6.30–7.30pm
Camden Civic Centre
Leisel Jones talks about depression,
bullying in the Australian swim team,
growing up in the spotlight with the hopes
of the nation on her shoulders, and her new
life beyond the pool. Supported by Western
Sydney University.
$10 Bookings library.camden.nsw.
gov.au/bookings
CAMPBELLTOWN
SR11 MATTHEW CONDON: ALL
FALL DOWN
May 19, 2.30–3.30pm
Campbelltown HJ Daley
Central Library
Matthew Condon talks about researching
All Fall Down, his explosive conclusion to
The Three Crooked Kings true crime trilogy,
which delivers unprecedented insights into
corruption during one of Queensland’s
most turbulent periods. Supported by
Western Sydney University.
campbelltown.nsw.gov.au/library
CAMPERDOWN
SR17 A LITTLE LIFE: AN EVENING
WITH HANYA YANAGIHARA
May 18, 6–7.15pm
Charles Perkins Centre
University of Sydney
Join the United States Studies Centre for
an in-depth and interactive discussion with
Hanya Yanagihara about her award-winning
book A Little Life and the inspiration behind it.
Supported by the United States Studies
Centre at the University of Sydney.
Free, bookings essential ussc.edu.au
SR51 IN CONVERSATION WITH
JULIAN BAGGINI
May 19, 6.30–8pm, Sydney Law
School, University of Sydney
Join philosopher Julian Baggini in a
revealing conversation about a question
that has puzzled philosophers for centuries:
Do we have free will? This promises to
be a fascinating evening. Supported
by the University of Sydney.
sydney.edu.au/sydney_ideas
CASTLE HILL
SR12 HUGH MACKAY: BEYOND
BELIEF
May 18, 6.30–7.30pm
Pioneer Room – Castle Hill Library
and Community Centre
Social researcher and prolific writer Hugh
Mackay’s latest book, Beyond Belief,
explores the ways we find meaning and
purpose in today’s often secular world.
thehills.nsw.gov.au/library
CHATSWOOD
SR13 MAGDA SZUBANSKI:
RECKONING
May 18, 7–8pm
The Concourse Concert Hall
SR14 YE XIN: EDUCATED YOUTH
May 19, 1–2pm
Chatswood Library on the
Concourse
Educated Youth explores the far-reaching
consequences of the 1960s Chinese
government policy of sending city highschool leavers to the countryside. Join Ye
Xin to unravel a previously untold story of
China during the Cultural Revolution.
Supported by The Concourse Chatswood.
willoughby.nsw.gov.au/library
SR15 STUART KELLS: PENGUIN
AND THE LANE BROTHERS
May 20, 12.30–1.30pm
Chatswood Library on the
Concourse
Join Stuart Kells to learn how three
entrepreneurial brothers brought literary
giants like Agatha Christie and Virginia
Woolf to the masses, and changed the
course of publishing forever. Supported by
The Concourse Chatswood.
willoughby.nsw.gov.au/library
DOUBLE BAY
SR16 HOW TO BE A WRITER IN THE
21ST CENTURY
May 19, 6–8pm
Double Bay Library
John Birmingham shares his best
writing and hustling secrets in How to
Be a Writer, a new writing guide with a
tough-love approach, written for the
internet generation.
woollahra.nsw.gov.au/events
HORNSBY
SR18 JANE CARO: PLAINSPEAKING JANE
May 19, 6.30–7.30pm
Hornsby Central Library
Jane Caro discusses her book, PlainSpeaking Jane, a witty, unflinching
reflection on her career, family and
personal struggles, and what it means
to be an imperfect woman in a world that
SR19 GREG SHERIDAN: WHEN WE
WERE YOUNG AND FOOLISH
May 19, 7–8pm
Hurstville Library
Join Greg Sheridan as he reflects on his
formative years with a generation of politicians
– including Tony Abbott as his best friend at
university – before they became household
names. Refreshments from 6.30pm.
Free, bookings essential, 9330 6111,
www.trybooking.com/188524
KENSINGTON
SR20 YEONMI PARK: THE YOUNG
NORTH KOREAN DEFECTOR
CHANGING THE WORLD
May 19, 6.30–7.30pm
John Niland Scientia Building, UNSW
Human rights activist Yeonmi Park shares
her extraordinary story of survival and
escape. Now a university student, Yeonmi
joins UNSW to inspire a new generation
of young world changers. Supported by
UNSW Arts & Social Sciences.
arts.unsw.edu.au/swf
KOGARAH
SR21 JESSICA ROWE: IS THIS MY
BEAUTIFUL LIFE?
May 18, 7–8pm
Kogarah Library and Cultural Centre
Jessica Rowe imagined she would have a
fairy tale life. Her memoir tells of the reality
behind the myth of having it all. Join Jessica
as she talks about the darkest days of her
life and learning to ask for help.
kogarahlibrary.eventbrite.com.au
PARRAMATTA
SR22 GETTING PUBLISHED:
WORDS TO THE WISE
May 18, 6–7pm
Auditorium, Parramatta Campus
Western Sydney University
This expert panel of authors and industry
professionals sets about demystifying
the opaque world of book publishing. Author
Rosie Waterland and publishers Lex Hirst and
Robert Watkins speak to James Arvanitakis.
Free, no bookings
SR23 WORDS FROM THE WEST
May 19, 6.30–8pm
Parramatta Artists Studios
From the west of Melbourne to the west
of Sydney, join Alice Pung and Sheila
Pham, Maryam Azam and Peter Polites,
recipients of The CAL WestWords Western
Sydney Emerging Writers’ Fellowship, for
storytelling, conversation and provocation.
Supported by Parramatta Artists Studios,
Parramatta City Council, WestWords and
Free, bookings essential, drinks
and supper included 9687 6090
studios@parracity.nsw.gov.au
SR24 THE RUMBLE WITH SPECIAL
GUESTS
May 20, 5.30–7pm
Riverside Theatre, Parramatta
A fresh pack of young Western Sydney and
international spoken-wordsmiths set the
mic alight. Featuring US performers Nate
Marshall, Jamila Woods, Sarah Kay and
Phil Kaye, and local champion Phil Wilcox.
Hosted by Miles Merrill. Presented with
Word Travels. Supported by Parramatta City
Council and Western Sydney University.
riversideparramatta.com.au
SR25 SUAD AMIRY: REVISITING
HOME – PALESTINIAN STORIES
May 21, 3–4pm
Deeply informed by her Palestinian
heritage, architect Suad Amiry speaks
with Randa Abdel-Fattah about home, loss
and displacement, and the stories behind
certain houses in West Jerusalem.
Supported by Parramatta City Council and
$20/$15 Bookings 8839 3399
SR26 KERRY O’BRIEN: KEATING
May 21, 5.30–6.30pm
Join veteran journalist Kerry O’Brien to
hear his insider’s take on writing about the
formidable and remarkable former PM,
Paul Keating. With Eric Sidoti. Supported
by Parramatta City Council and Western
Sydney University.
$20/$15 Bookings 8839 3399
SR27 BOB BROWN: OPTIMISM
May 21, 7.30–8.30pm
Bob Brown’s Green Nomads and memoir
Optimism are testament to his love for
nature and belief in the power of people.
He gives a special talk, then speaks about
his life and passion for the environment
with James Arvanitakis. Supported by
Parramatta City Council and Western
Sydney University.
$20/$15 Bookings 8839 3399
PENRITH
SR28 TOM AND MEG KENEALLY:
THE SOLDIER’S CURSE
May 20, 6.30–7.30pm
Penrith City Library
Tom Keneally has joined forces with his
eldest daughter Meg to cook up a fastpaced, gripping book about early colonial
New South Wales, with a dash of murder
and deception for good measure.
$5 including light refreshments
Bookings 4732 7891
RANDWICK
SR29 DEBRA ADELAIDE: THE
WOMEN’S PAGES
May 18, 6.30–7.30pm
Margaret Martin Library, Randwick
Debra Adelaide talks about her novel, The
Women’s Pages, which draws inspiration
from Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights and
follows Dove, who is consumed with writing
a novel about an ordinary woman with
secrets and regrets.
randwick.nsw.gov.au/library
RYDE
SR30 RICHARD GLOVER: FLESH
WOUNDS
May 18, 7.15–8.15pm
Ryde Library
702 ABC Sydney’s Richard Glover has
always played ‘Who’s Got the Weirdest
Parents?’ with self-assurance. His memoir
Flesh Wounds dives deeper, revealing
uncomfortable truths. Join him as he
dissects the highs and lows of his family.
$5 Bookings (02) 9952 8352
ryde.nsw.gov.au/RichardGlover
WETHERILL PARK
SR31 LARISSA BEHRENDT:
FINDING ELIZA
May 19, 6.30–7.30pm
Wetherill Park Library
The tale of Eliza Fraser’s capture by
Aboriginal people made 19th-century
headlines, but the captors’ side of the
story was never told. Larissa Behrendt
talks about Finding Eliza and inequity in
colonial storytelling. Supported by Western
Sydney University.
Free, no bookings
WOLLONGONG
SR32 BLACK WALLABY
INDIGENOUS WRITERS’ NIGHT
May 19, 6–8.30pm
Wollongong Art Gallery
Dreaming Inside IV is a collection of
poems by Aboriginal inmates at the
Junee Correctional Centre, which will be
launched by Tony Birch.
Free, no bookings
SR33 ROCKET READINGS
May 22, 1–3pm
Wollongong Art Gallery
Rocket Readings is South Coast Writers
Centre’s annual poetry event, this year
featuring Christine Paice and Kathleen
Bleakley, plus a three-minute open mic
section. With host Linda Godfrey.
Free, no bookings
Suburban & Regional
Blue Mountains
The Blue Mountains program is presented with Varuna, the National
Writers House and Sydney Writers’ Festival. Day passes and two-day
passes are available for Monday May 16 and Tuesday May 17.
Single sessions $15 at the door, subject to availability.
Bookings 4782 5674, varuna.com.au, unless otherwise stated.
SR34 MODERN ART PROJECTS
AND VARUNA PRESENT:
WANTANGANURA
May 15, 1–4pm
Varuna, The National Writers House
Wantanganura/Skyworld features
installations by Aboriginal artists
accompanied by artist talks, ceremony
and the opportunity to meet artists during
a fire-circle chat.
modernartprojects.org
SR35 NOT JUST BLACK AND
WHITE: ABORIGINAL HISTORIES
REVEALED
May 16, 10.10–11am
Carrington Hotel, Katoomba
Murri elder Lesley Williams talks to Heidi
Norman about the pursuit of justice for
Aboriginal workers, a nine-year quest that
took Lesley and her daughter, Tammy, from
Cherbourg mission in Queensland to the
United Nations.
SR36 SIX BEDROOMS: SHORT
STORIES AND THE AUSTRALIAN
IMAGINATION
May 16, 11.30am–12.20pm
Tegan Bennett Daylight skilfully crafts short
stories in her new collection Six Bedrooms.
She talks to Kate Fagan about creating
stories and characters who are volatile,
memorable and distinctively Australian.
SR37 VIVIAN GORNICK: THE ODD
WOMAN AND THE CITY
May 16, 1.30–2.30pm
Native New Yorker and writer Vivian
Gornick speaks to Leah Kaminsky about
The Odd Woman and the City, a memoir of
self-discovery and friendship told through
conversations, sharp observations and
poetic vignettes of New York street life.
SR38 DICTIONARY OF SYDNEY
May 16, 3–4pm
Find out about the online Dictionary of
Sydney and those commissioned to write
about Blue Mountains’ icons for the site.
Featuring Julian Leatherdale, Naomi Parry,
John Low and Delia Falconer talking
with Lisa Murray. Supported by the Blue
Mountains City of the Arts Cultural Trust.
SR39 CHARLOTTE WOOD: THE
NATURAL WAY OF THINGS
May 16, 4.30–5.30pm
Charlotte Wood talks about her latest book,
The Natural Way of Things, a dystopian
allegory of power and misogyny set
in the Australian bush. With Tegan
Bennett Daylight.
SR40 THE DR DARK MEMORIAL
LECTURE: GOOD NEWS, BAD NEWS
May 16, 6–7pm
In the 2016 Dr Dark Memorial Lecture,
award-winning journalist Andrew Fowler
interrogates the state of the media, the rise
of ‘thin journalism’ and its implications for a
democratic society.
$15/$10
SR41 TRAVELLING HOME: DEBUT
FICTION
May 17, 10–11am
Leah Kaminsky and Miles Allinson have
each written debut novels about troubled
Australians on a quest in their forebears'
country. They speak with Carol Major about
the psychology of memory and guilt.
SR42 JAMES REBANKS: THE GOOD
SHEPHERD
May 17, 11.30am–12.30pm
James Rebanks is the Herdwick shepherd,
whose family has farmed in England’s Lake
Live and Local
Sydney Writers’ Festival continues to expand its horizons
with Live and Local, our digital
live-streaming project, going national in 2016. We
have partnered with local arts centres, libraries and
writers’ groups across the country to host events with
a selection of sessions from the Festival program.
Audiences at these venues have the opportunity to
ask questions of the guest authors in Sydney via a live
feed. This year, Live and Local will reach audiences in
Adelaide, Albury, Alice Springs, Armidale, Bathurst,
Brisbane, Broken Hill, Byron Bay, Cairns, Coffs Harbour,
Darwin, Frankston, Horsham, Port Macquarie, Tamworth,
Taree, Toowoomba, Wagga Wagga and Wollongong.
Learn more at swf.org.au/live
SATURDAY MAY 14 - SUNDAY MAY 22
District for more than 600 years. He speaks
with Kate Fagan about his bestselling
memoir, The Shepherd’s Life.
SR43 MAGDA SZUBANSKI: A
TENDER RECKONING
May 17, 1.30–2.30pm
One of Australia’s most-loved performers,
Magda Szubanski talks to Alison Manning
about searching for skeletons in the family
closet and her fearless journey of selfdiscovery, chronicled in Reckoning.
SR44 LIFE IN THE HIVE
May 17, 3–4pm
Mireille Juchau (The World Without Us) and
Peggy Frew (Hope Farm) talk with Tegan
Bennett Daylight about their elegiac and
gripping novels of lost childhoods and
broken families.
swf.org.au
21
Business Bites
MONDAY MAY 16 – FRIDAY MAY 20
BB5 John
Cantwell
Festival Highlight
SR45 THE WRITER’S MIND
May 17, 4.30–5.30pm
Sylvia Martin and Mark O’Flynn have
both written poignant tales of writers
struggling with their sanity. They talk to
Barbara Brooks about creativity, madness
and the sometimes thin line between
history and fiction.
BB5 JOHN CANTWELL: ADAPTING
COMBAT LEADERSHIP TO BUSINESS
May 19, 12.30–1.30pm
Coleman Greig boardroom, Parramatta
In this practical and inspiring talk, Major-General John Cantwell draws on
40 years of experience in the Australian Army to describe the skills needed
to build the loyalty, teamwork and decisiveness vital to successful leadership.
With James Arvanitakis.
SR46 SELF-PUBLISHING: THE
TOOLS OF THE TRADE
May 21, 10am–1pm
Blue Mountains Cultural Centre
Local authors share their self-publishing
journeys and career professionals reveal
the tricks of the trade. A half-day forum of
insights into how to take your writing to
the next stage.
$15 Bookings library.bmcc.nsw.gov.au
Our business-themed lunchtime
events, Business Bites, will be
presented in both Circular Quay
and Parramatta in 2016.
Journalist and biographer Paddy
Manning speaks with Jessica Irvine about
the business skills and strategies that
helped Malcolm Turnbull ascend to the
job he was destined for.
All tickets $40 including light
lunch. Bookings 9256 4200
swf.org.au.
BB4 BUSINESS BITES: RUSSEL
HOWCROFT AND JANE CARO
– HOW TO SELL ANYTHING
May 20, 12.30–1.30pm
Customs House, Barnet Long Room
Industry veterans Jane Caro and Russel
Howcroft talk all things advertising with
Elizabeth Knight, from best and worst ads
to industry gossip and tips on how to sell
ice to Eskimos.
SR47 THE MICE WHO ROARED: THE
INDEPENDENT POETRY PRESS
May 21, 2–3pm
How do you fit a poet in your pocket? Join
us at Varuna as we celebrate Ginninderra
Press’s 20th anniversary and the success of
Ginninderra pocket chapbooks.
Free, no bookings
SR48 POETRY PARTY
May 21, 3.30–4.30pm
Gather around the fire in the gardens
of Varuna to hear local poets read
their work. Poets include Deb Westbury,
Ignatius McGovern, Ron Pretty and
Stephen Matthews.
Free, no bookings
SR49 WORKSHOP: BESPOKE
BOOKMAKING
May 22, 10am–1pm
A handcrafted book always has a
story to tell. Write a poem or pen a
vision with Deb Westbury at a workshop
dedicated to the people’s press and the
art of bespoke bookmaking.
$60/$55
CITY
Supported by The Sydney Morning
Herald BusinessDay.
BB1 BUSINESS BITES: SATYAJIT
DAS – DESPERATELY SEEKING
INNOVATION
May 16, 12.30–1.30pm
Is the fervent belief that innovation
will solve our problems founded in
reality or faith? Leading global financial
expert Satyajit Das asks what we really
mean when we declare that innovation
is the solution. With John McDuling.
BB2 BUSINESS BITES: RICHARD
WATSON – DIGITAL VS HUMAN
May 17, 12.30–1.30pm
Futurist and internationally bestselling
author Richard Watson speaks to
Elizabeth Knight about disruptive
technologies and their possible effect
on the lives we’ll lead at work and
home. How will we live, love and
think in the future?
BB3 BUSINESS BITES: PADDY
MANNING – BORN TO RULE
May 18, 12.30–1.30pm
PARRAMATTA
Supported by The Sydney Morning
Herald BusinessDay and Parramatta City
Council. A Parramatta Smart City initiative.
BB5 BUSINESS BITES: JOHN
CANTWELL – ADAPTING COMBAT
LEADERSHIP TO BUSINESS
May 19, 12.30–1.30pm
Coleman Greig boardroom,
Parramatta
BB6 BUSINESS BITES: STORY
SELLING – NEWS, FACEBOOK
AND THE SECRETS OF VIRAL
CONTENT
May 20, 12.30–1.30pm
UNE Lecture Room, Parramatta
Hal Crawford, Andrew Hunter and
Dom Filipovic have built an engine that
tracks the sharing of millions of stories
from more than 100 news sources. Now
they share their surprising findings.
22
swf.org.au
See swf.org.au for all
participant biographies.
KEY
BB: Business Bites
BOS: BOSTES Days
CUR: Curiosity Lectures
CYA: Children & Young Adult
PSD: Primary School Days
SR: Suburban and Regional
SSD: Secondary School Days
W: Workshops
International writer
A
Patrick Abboud 120
Randa Abdel-Fattah SR25
Phillip Adams 88, 125
Robert Adamson 123
Debra Adelaide 115, 156, SR29
Louise Adler 72, 174, 190, 252
Carmen Aguirre 69, 185, 210
Adam Aitken 28
Emma Alberici 152, 218
Emma Allen CYA14
Miles Allinson 25, SR41
Sahar Amer CUR155, CUR168,
CUR180
Suad Amiry 99, 120, SR25
Felice Arena CYA3, CYA4,
PSD1, PSD2, PSD3, PSD4, PSD5
Michelle Arrow 243
James Arvanitakis BB5,
CUR121, SR22, SR27
David Astle 81, 94, 165, CYA7,
CYA17
Alan Atkinson 23
Jami Attenberg 57, 103, W9
Auburn Poets and Writers
Group SR2
Maryam Azam SR23
B
B’tutta CYA2
Sunil Badami 268, CUR85,
CUR98, CUR108, CUR111, CUR121,
CUR132, CUR134
Julian Baggini 153, 171,
230, 260, SR51
Julia Baird 125
Bajo CYA8
Eileen Baldry 74
Bankstown Poetry Slam 203,
SR3
Nir Baram 109, 138, 174
Julian Barnes 34 91 221
J.D. Barrett 188
Shirley Barrett 188, 215, SR9
Nigel Bartlett 119
Linda Bartolomei 124
Rosie Batty 114, 145
Caroline Baum 199, 221, 272
Larissa Behrendt 243, SR31
Hilary Bell CYA14, W21
Tamryn Bennett 169
Tegan Bennett Daylight 46,
104, 170, SR36, SR39, SR44
Katherine Biber 175
Carla Billinghurst SR46
Anthony Billingsley 240
Tony Birch 228, 262, SR32, W25
John Birmingham CUR108, SR16,
W19
Stephanie Bishop 116, 167
Aaron Blabey CYA5
Georgia Blain 250
Kathleen Bleakley SR33
Anthony Bond CUR40
Frank Bongiorno CUR64
Chris Bowen 35, 275
Mike Bowers 11
William Boyd 91, 147, 210,
W29
John Boyne 87, 138, 275,
SSD1, SSD2, SSD3
James Bradley 73
Troy Bramston 107
Frank Brennan 198
Anna Broinowski CUR247
Brothablack SR5
Bob Brown 114, 263, SR27
Bryan Brown SR4
James Brown 47, 129
Pam Brown 219
Thomas Brown SR34
John Muk Muk Burke SR32
joanne burns 219
Julian Burnside QC 29
Kate Burt CYA21
Caroline Butler-Bowdon 23
Jennifer Byrne 27, 51, 146
Participants
C
Michelle Cahill 257
John Cantwell 95, 129, BB5
Jane Caro 24, 185, 215, BB4, SR18
Ber Carroll W17
a.j. carruthers 219
Kit Carstairs SR46
Barrie Cassidy 11
Michael Cathcart 96, 189
Tony Cavanaugh 135, 188, W28
Anish Chandy 130
Minglu Chen 118
Peter Chen CUR227, CUR237,
CUR246
Eileen Chong 169
Anna Clark 243
Maxine Beneba Clarke W17
Aoife Clifford 119
Roger Cohen 101, 152, 213, 245
Matthew Condon
35, 231, CUR155, SR11
Bryce Corbett 20
Ross Coulthart 95
Jesse Cox 196
CPAC Youth CYA15
Annabel Crabb 11, 17, 216, 244
Andrew Cranna CYA4, CYA22
Anwen Crawford 75
Hal Crawford BB6, CUR246
D
Wilson da Silva 157
Mark Dapin 129, 268
Marie Darrieussecq
45, 68, 226, 241
Satyajit Das 84, 264, BB1
Zoe Dattner W17
Graham Davis King SR34
Michelle de Kretser 53
Rowan Dean 166
Quentin Dempster 22, 273
Andrew Denton 140, 151, 198
Peter Doherty 31, 81, 154, BOS5
Ken Done 18, 153
Geraldine Doogue 241, 265
Kelly Doust 126
Ceridwen Dovey 16, 67, 242
Peter Doyle 36, 62
Philip Dwyer 88, CUR134
David Dyer 57, CUR256, W5
E
Kirsty Eagar CYA12
Katharina Ebinger W17
Ali Cobby Eckermann 59, 123,
204
Jill Eddington 97
Susan Elderkin 16, 110, 181,
CYA24
Tim Elliott 220, 245
Chris Endrey 179
Álvaro Enrigue 109, 215, 233
Kate Evans 109, 161, 194, 233, 259
Peter Evans BOS1
F
Kate Fagan 160, 219, SR36, SR42
Delia Falconer 187, 242, SR38
Suzanne Falkiner 58
Ellen Fanning 30, 67, 234, 263
Gabriel Farago SR46
Nicolas Fargues 136, 211, 241
Marc Fennell CUR182
Sarah Ferguson 254
Richard Fidler 96, 176
Dom Filipovic BB6
Luke Fischer 195
Toby Fitch 219
Martin Flanagan 19, 163, CUR98
Victoria Flanagan CYA10
Tim Flannery 31, 117, 214
Lionel Fogarty 123, 219, 255, SR5
Adam Ford 50, 99
Kate Forsyth 112, 191, W12
Andrew Fowler 92, 171, 273,
SR40
Candice Fox 119, 212, W6, W17
Jon Foye CYA4, CYA21
First Dog on the Moon 67, 179
Peter Frankopan 71, 152, 240
Jonathan Franzen 104, 224
Mia Freedman 265
Jackie French 265
Peggy Frew 75, 97, SR44
Anna Funder 29, 224, 270
G
Matthew Gain W17
Damon Gameau 260
Petina Gappah 89, 161, 210,
SR8
Peter Garrett 30, 114, 225
Sarah Gates W17
Joe Gelonesi 230
Sulari Gentill 57, W4
Anna Gerber 229
Madeline Gleeson 13, 258
A–Z
Jane Gleeson-White 90
Richard Glover 133, 151, 173, 220,
SR30
Linda Godfrey SR33
Ann Goldstein 128, 218 ,251
Elena Gomez 219
David Gonski AC 144
Gus Gordon CYA4, CYA14
Vivian Gornick 113, 151, 213,
252, SR37
Lisa Gorton 123
Michael Grant CYA10,
SSD1, SSD2, SSD3
Stan Grant 19, 201, BOS3
Ross Grayson Bell 49, 188, W29
John M. Green 20, 65
Tim Griffiths CUR14
Billy Gruner SR34
James Gurbutt 130
H
Eleanor Hall 43, 152
Rosalie Ham 137, 184
Lesley Harding 32, 58
Marieke Hardy 27, 51, 223
Elizabeth Harrower 197
Jacqueline Harvey W16
Paula Hawkins 89, 194, 231
Janet Hawley 54
Ashley Hay 89, 116, 159
Antonia Hayes 25, 126, CUR227
Jack Heath CYA10
Aleksandar Hemon 13, 72,
86, 124, 213
David M. Henley 73
Steven Herrick SR46
John Hewson 127
Hex CYA8
Kathryn Heyman W10
Michael Heyward 130, 197
Amanda Hickie SR46
Michael Hing 150
Lex Hirst 236, SR22
Bernie Hobbs 214
Jenny Hocking 107
Carolyn Holbrook 23
Lucinda Holdforth 113, 235,
CUR266
Tom Holloway 269
Sacha Horler 184
Russel Howcroft 166, BB4
David Hunt W17
Andrew Hunter BB6, CUR246
Rebecca Huntley 198
I
Jordan Idiare CYA12
Ivor Indyk 257
Jessica Irvine BB3
Mark Isaacs SR4
Britt Iverson 229
J
Meredith Jaffé 25, 42, 70, 261
Linda Jaivin 69, 141, 211, 238
Marlon James 109, 151, 189, 210
Emma Jane 271
Jenna Johnson 130
Lou Johnson W17
Susan Johnson 70, 115, CUR85
Elizabeth Johnstone 156, 253
Gail Jones 190, CUR237
Leisel Jones 42, 153, BOS6, SR10
Debra Jopson 28
Toni Jordan 137, 191, 215, W27
Jane Jose 99
Mireille Juchau 15, 139, SR44
K
Michaela Kalowski 138, 184
Leah Kaminsky 103, 138, 198,
SR37, SR41, W20
Sarah Kanowski 86, 136, 251
Deepti Kapoor 29, 60, 191,
232
Fiona Katauskas CYA4, CYA14
Sarah Kay 80, 208, SR24, W22
Phil Kaye 80, 208, SR24, W22
Catherine Keenan 114, 142, 147
Phillip Keir 48
Amanda Keller 158
Stuart Kells 41, SR15
Paul Kelly 107, 131
Paul Kelly 274, BOS1
Meg Keneally 223, SR28
Thomas Keneally 88, 223,
BOS2, SR28
Rachel Kent 18, 58
Kinderling Kids Radio CYA1
Michael Kimmel 269
Starlee Kine 83, 143, 196
Jon Klassen 192, PSD1, PSD2,
PSD3, PSD4, PSD5
Elizabeth Knight BB2, BB4
Herman Koch 151, 231, 259
Will Kostakis CYA9, CYA12
Christopher Kremmer 60
Friederike KrishnabhakdiVasilakis SR32
Jay Kristoff CYA10
L
Zelda la Grange 21, 72
Sofie Laguna 33, 159, W15
Samantha Lang 269
Benjamin Law 82, 143, 218
Joy Lawn 28, 228, SSD1, SSD2,
SSD3
Johannes Leak CYA4
Suzanne Leal 45, 70, 100, 139
Julian Leatherdale SR38
Christophe Lecourtier 241
Alexandra Lee 150
Jody Lee SR46
Geoffrey Lehmann 195
Andrew Leigh 122
Julia Leigh 136, 216, 226
David Leser 21, 48, 140
Amelia Lester 91, 128, 213
Janna Levin 76, 157, CUR205
Yasmine Lewis SR4 , SR3
Sophie Lieberman 99
Kate Lilley 195, 257
Eleanor Limprecht 36, W26
Astrid Lorange 219
John Low SR38
Nakkiah Lui 269, SR4
Valeria Luiselli 160, 190, 252
Catharine Lumby 163
M
Kent MacCarter 219, 257
Hugh Mackay 43, 125, SR12
Megan Mackenzie CUR180
Dougal MacPherson CYA14
Emily Maguire 139, 207
Carol Major SR41
David Malouf 56, 123
Robert Manne 258, CUR193
Alison Manning SR43
Paddy Manning 122, BB3
Simon Marnie 248
David Marr 11, 107, 122, 258, 278
Nate Marshall 61, 208, SR24
Sylvia Martin SR45
Stephen Matthews SR47, SR48
Kate McClymont 164
Cassie McCullagh 32, 183
Rónán McDonald 177
John McDuling 264, BB1
Fiona McFarlane 53, 268
Alyce McGovern 207
Ignatius McGovern SR47, SR48
Michaela McGuire 223
Richard McHugh 65
Adrian McKinty 135, 212, SR1
Felicity McLean 20, 42, SR4
George Megalogenis
11, 55, 149, 162, 217, 254
Caro Meldrum-Hanna 22
Catriona Menzies-Pike 249,
CUR38
Miles Merrill 208, SR24, W17
Jane Messer 65, W7
Mahalya Middlemist SR34
Murray Middleton 236
Richard Miles 50, 71
Sarah Mills SR46
Catherine Milne 41
Veronica Milsom 150
Peter Minter 219, SR40
Catriona Mitchell 232
Natasha Mitchell 59, 117
Drusilla Modjeska 102, 156,
218, 252
Kelsey Montague 12, 183
Frank Moorhouse 171, 253
Jocelyn Moorhouse 184
Kendrah Morgan 32, 58
Julian Morrow 239
Jenny Mosher SR46
Tara Moss 68, 145, 271
Sam Mostyn 19
Elspeth Muir 236, 249
Paul Muldoon 56, 87, 128,
208, CUR168
Kate Mulvany 2, 274
Craig Munro 5, 41
Lisa Murray SR38
Paul Murray 65, 87, 177, 210
N
Alexandra Nahlous W23
Indira Naidoo 260, CUR132
Dalia Nassar CUR14, CUR26,
CUR38
Christopher Neff CUR111
Jacqui Newling 248
John Newton 248
Barbara Nicholson SR32
Garth Nix W17
Wyatt Nixon-Lloyd 150
Bianca Nogrady 31, 157, W8
Lynette Noni 73
Heidi Norman SR35
Zoe Norton Lodge 172, SR4
Aaron Nyerges CUR182, CUR193,
CUR205, CUR206
O
Gail O’Brien 66
Juliette O’Brien 66
Kerry O’Brien 163, 234, SR26
Mark O’Flynn 58, SR45
James O’Loghlin CYA22
Paddy O’Reilly 242, 268
Susie Orbach 37, 68, 101, 173,
199
Eva Orner 10, 258, BOS3
Cheryl Orsini CYA4, CYA14
Caroline Overington 66, 135
P
Christine Paice SR33
Yeonmi Park 29, 100, SR20
Naomi Parry SR38
Steve Pennells 22
Antonia Pesenti W21
Sheila Pham SR23
Claire Phipps 164
Liz Pichon CYA6, PSD1, PSD2,
PSD3, PSD4, PSD5
Ailsa Piper 46, 139, 209, 262
Felicity Plunkett 15, 102
Peter Polites SR23
Graham Potts 119
Ron Pretty SR47, SR48
Alice Pung 33, BOS3, CYA12,
SR23
John Purcell 126, 167, 191
R
Chris Reason 164
James Rebanks 67, 117, 176,
SR42
Georgina Reid 169
Michael Reid 164
Eliza Reilly 150
Hannah Reilly 150
Tohby Riddle PSD1, PSD2, PSD3,
PSD4, PSD5
Erin Riley 19
Sally Rippin CYA16
Jamila Rizvi 55, 105
Rhoda Roberts 106, 201
Michael Robotham 223, CUR267
Vivien Robotham 223
Judith Rossell PSD1, PSD2,
PSD3, PSD4, PSD5
Kate Rossmanith 62
Aedenn Rowan SR34
Celestine Rowe 106, 204
David Rowe 11
Jessica Rowe 261, SR21
Josephine Rowe 25, 70
Jean-Christophe Rufin
59, 124, 209, 241
Lesley Russell 265
Juanita Ruys CUR247, CUR256,
CUR266, CUR267
S
Kerri Sackville 265
Leigh Sales 244
Luc Sante 62, 190, 272
Charles Santoso CYA4
Lisa Miranda Sarzin CYA14
Margot Saville 35, 44, 131, 144,
163
Niki Savva 11, 131, 278
Julianne Schultz 92
Claire Scobie W3
Penelope Seidler 48
Michael Sexton SC CUR52
Don Share 61, 123
Greg Sheridan 44, SR19
Shuangyuan Shi 200
Annette Shun Wah 210, 249
Eric Sidoti SR26
Ira Silverberg W17
Alecia Simmonds 207, 236, W13
Adrian Simon 220
Emma Sky 47, 124, 154, 240
Inga Simpson 126, 228, SR6, W14
Michael Slezak 157
Glenda Sluga CUR40, CUR52,
CUR63, CUR64
Anna Smaill 15, 73, 141, W24
Dorothea Smartt 106, 208, W11
Babette Smith 23
David Smith 213
Suzanne Smith 22
Hannah Sommerville CYA14
Tim Soutphommasane 68
Adam Spencer 76, 81
Tracey Spicer 24, 158, SR13
Beck Stanton CYA14
Matt Stanton CYA4, CYA14
Jason Steger 27, 51, 270
Gloria Steinem 59, 146, 162
Amanda Stewart 219
Emmett Stinson W17
Elana Stone 223
Yael Stone 223
Story Box Library CYA23
Samanth Subramanian
29, 60, 93, 240
Norman Swan 260
Magda Szubanski 149, 185, 225,
SR13, SR43
T
Chris Taylor 83, 153, 225
Cory Taylor 198
Mark Tedeschi,QC 175, 231
Kate Tempest 6, 151, 186
Jol Temple CYA21
Anne Tiernan 92
James Tierney 33
Laura Tingle 122, 162
Natalie Tran 81, 271
Kirsten Tranter 116, 156
Mark Tredinnick 169
Lucy Treloar 167, 262
Gillian Triggs 202
Ira Trivedi 60, 162, 225, 232
Wayne Tunnicliffe 54
Mick Turner 75
U
T.L. Uglow 105, 229, CUR206, W17
Abigail Ulman 97
David Uren 127, BOS4
V
James Valentine 185
Felicity Vallence CYA13
Peter van Onselen 92, 131
Yanis Varoufakis 83, 152, 217
Rebecca Vaughan
3, 7, 9, 79, 222, 277
Jean-François Vernay CUR26
Michael Visontay 20
PJ Vogt 81, 105, 196, 239
W
Vikki Wakefield SD1, SSD2, SSD3
Ian Walker W17
Tommy Wallach CYA11
Adele Walsh CYA12
Maggie Walsh 97, 255, SR5
Jessica Walton CYA14
Rosie Waterland 172, 220,
271, SR22, W17
Robert Watkins SR22
Don Watson 141, 187
Richard Watson 83, 105, BB2,
BOS4
Frances Watts CYA14
Cat Weatherill 112, W2
Nerrilee Weir W17
Alexis West 106, 204
Kylie Westaway CYA14
Anna Westbrook 36, 207
Deborah Westbury SR47, SR48,
SR49
Judith Whelan 13, 84, 154, 226
Anne Whitehead 88
Wendy Whiteley 54
Debbie Whitmont 245
Phil Wilcox 80, SR24
Marian Wilkinson 87
Lesley Williams 74, SR35
Michael Williams 17, 57, 93, 186
Tammy Williams 74
Graham Wilson W17
Jeanette Winterson 77,
117, 151
Ben Wood CYA14
Charlotte Wood 89, 170, 235,
250, SR39
Frank Woodley CYA3
Jamila Woods 61, 208, SR24
Jeremy Wortsman 192
Fiona Wright 37, 167, 249, W1
Tom Wright 36
Edwina Wyatt CYA14
Elizabeth Wymarra 255
Susan Wyndham 34, 178, 218
X
Ye Xin 118, 238, SR14
Y
Beth Yahp 28, CUR63, SR7
Hanya Yanagihara 82, 136,
276, SR17
Joshua Yeldham 183, W30
Damon Young 39, 90, W18
Z
Xu Zhiyuan 29, 84, 118, 171, 200
Li Zhou 118
Jamie Zimmermann 129
Claire Zorn CYA10, SSD1, SSD2,
SSD3
Venues & Bookings
BOOKINGS
Sydney Writers’ Festival presents
both free and ticketed events.
The majority of ticketed events
can be booked through the Roslyn
Packer Theatre box office, either
online at roslynpackertheatre.com.
au/swf, by phone on 9250 1988 or
in person at 22 Hickson Road, Walsh
Bay.
Seats cannot be booked for free
events in the Walsh Bay Precinct,
except for select events at the
Children’s and YA Precinct on Sunday
May 22 (refer to page 19). Free events
fill quickly and we recommend you
arrive early. In most instances, venues
must be vacated at the end of each
event.
Box offices will also operate at
Pier 2/3, Pier 4/5, City Recital Hall
and Sydney Town Hall for ticket
purchases on event days.
For events not ticketed by the
Roslyn Packer Theatre box office,
please refer to individual event
listings in the program.
Concessions apply for children
under 16, full-time students and
Australian
Health Care Card or Centrelink
pension cardholders. Transaction
fees may apply for all bookings.
MY PERFECT FESTIVAL
TICKET PACKAGES
Enjoy a selection of the Artistic
Director’s Festival highlights and relax
between events at our private lounge
at Walsh Bay. My Perfect Festival ticket
packages are available at swf.org.au.
ACCESSIBILITY
All venues are wheelchair accessible.
The following venues are fitted with
a hearing loop system: Roslyn Packer
Theatre, Wharf 2 Theatre, City Recital
Hall, and Sydney Town Hall.
Events 146 Gloria Steinem: Life
on the Road and 221 Julian Barnes:
The Noise of Time will be AUSLAN
interpreted.
All events at the Roslyn Packer
Theatre on Saturday May 21 and
Sunday May 22 will be closed
captioned.
Tickets for AUSLAN-interpreted and
captioned events can be purchased
directly through the Roslyn Packer
Theatre box office.
After the Festival, some events will
be made available as audio podcasts
on our iTunes channel or as video on
our YouTube channel.
TRAVELLING TO THE
WALSH BAY PRECINCT
TRAIN AND FERRY
The closest train station and ferry
terminal is Circular Quay, about a
15-minute walk from the Walsh Bay
precinct. From Circular Quay, walk
down George Street and turn right on
Hickson Road. Follow Hickson Road
under the Harbour Bridge and around
past the hotel, Pier One Sydney
Harbour, to the Festival precinct.
BUS
The 311 bus stops at Towns Place and
Hickson Road, Walsh Bay. The 324 and
325 buses terminate in Hickson Road,
FESTIVAL INFORMATION
Walsh Bay. The 431 and 433 buses
previously terminating in Walsh Bay
will now terminate at Martin Place and
Central Station respectively.
SYDNEY WRITERS’
FESTIVAL SHUTTLE BUS
From Thursday May 19 to Sunday
May 22, a Sydney Writers’ Festival
shuttle bus will run a return service
from Circular Quay to the Festival
precinct at Walsh Bay.
Buses depart approximately every
15 minutes between 9am and 6.15pm
from the First Fleet Park stop on
George Street, near Circular Quay.
Alternate buses will be wheelchair
accessible.
The first stop is opposite Roslyn
Packer Theatre, and the second
stop is outside Pier 4/5. Buses then
return directly to Circular Quay. The
last scheduled service returning to
Circular Quay departs from Walsh
Bay at 6.15pm.
The cost is $1 one-way on the SWF
shuttle bus. As this is a charter service,
MyBus tickets, TravelTen tickets, Opal
Cards, concession cards and pensioner
day tickets are not accepted.
BICYCLES
Bicycle parking is provided under the
awning on Pier 2.
PARKING
While on-street metered parking
is available in Walsh Bay, we
recommend parking at Bond Store
One, 26 Hickson Road Walsh Bay or
Barangaroo Point Car Park (entry via
Hickson Rd) at Walsh Bay.
ROAD CLOSURES
In 2016, the light rail construction
scheme along George Street will
impact journeys to the Sydney CBD
and Walsh Bay. Please visit mysydney.
nsw.gov.au for the latest information
and to plan your trip.
swf.org.au
23
OTHER CITY VENUES
ABC TV Studios
700 Harris Street, Ultimo
Angel Place, Sydney
WALSH BAY
PRECINCT VENUES
Customs House, Barnet Long
Room
31 Alfred Street, Sydney
22 Hickson Road, Walsh Bay
Dendy Opera Quays
2 East Circular Quay, Sydney
Pier 4/5
Hickson Road, Walsh Bay
Bangarra Studio Theatre
Sydney Dance 1
Sydney Dance 2
Sydney Dance Viewing Lounge
Sydney Dance Lounge
Philharmonia Studio
The Theatre Bar at the End of the
Wharf
Wharf 2 Theatre
The Waterfront
Pier 2/3
Hickson Road, Walsh Bay
Main Stage
Club Stage
The Loft
Curiosity Stage
The Hemingway Bar
Knox St Bar
21 Shepherd Street, Chippendale
Royal Botanic Garden, Sydney
Mrs Macquaries Road Sydney NSW
2000
Science House, NYU Sydney
157-161 Gloucester Street, Sydney
State Library of NSW
Macquarie Street, Sydney
Sydney Jewish Museum
148 Darlinghurst Road, Darlinghurst
Sydney Town Hall
483 George Street, Sydney
ENQUIRIES (excluding
bookings)
For any general enquiries, please
contact Sydney Writers’ Festival either
by phone on 9252 7729 or by email
on info@swf.org.au.
Great
minds
think
alike
The City of Sydney is
a proud sponsor of
Sydney Writers’ Festival 2016.
We proudly support programs that help
form the creative lifeblood of our city
and inspire where we live, work and play.
Together with our partners, we’re continuing
make Sydney an exciting, dynamic and
international city.
See more events at whatson.sydney
CREATIVE
CITY
SYDNEY

let`s talk writing - Sydney Writers` Festival

Transcription

Similar documents

music city brawl nashville skyline bowfishing

For advance bookings or queries please call our

spicks and specks - St Michaels North Carlton

Fading Gigolo (M) 2014

Beadling Soccer Demo

woolly wednesdays

Purchase a ticket to the Guns N` Roses concert on Monday, August

Buca di Beppo - Park Lane July 13th Final

Weekly Bulletin - New Generation Church