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A CRIMINAL
,
MIND
MOLLY RINGWALD
& A SEDUCTION
ARTIST
WALK INTO A...
HAVE WE GOT A STORY FOR YOU.
Tara Moss, Molly Ringwald, Robert Greene and more.
Live at Sydney Writers’ Festival May 20–26, 2013.
1HERSA1 S001
2 swf.org.au
SYDNEY WRITERS’ FESTIVAL WOULD LIKE TO THANK
CORE FUNDERS
SUPPORTERS
EXCLUSIVE LEGAL PARTNER
MAJOR PARTNERS
ABL Open
Allen & Unwin
Ashfield Library
Auburn Poets and Writers Group
Auckland Writers and Readers
Festival
Australian Poetry
Australian Publishers
Association
Avant Card
Black Inc
Blacktown Arts Centre
Blacktown City Libraries
Byteback Computing
Camden Council Library Service
Campbelltown Arts Centre
Campbelltown City Library
Casula Powerhouse Arts Centre
Chanelle Collier
Chatswood Concourse
Children’s Book Council
of Australia
City of Sydney Libraries
Editor Group
Fairfax Community News
Freemantle Press
Geraldine Pascall Foundation
Glen Street Theatre
Grain Bar @ Four Seasons
Griffith REVIEW
Hachette Australia
HarperCollins
Head On Photo Festival
The Hills Shire Library
Service
History Council of NSW
Hoopla
Hornsby Central Library
Hurstville City Library
ICE
Kathy Shand
Kogarah Library
Lox & Smith
Macleay Museum
Meanjin
Mont Blanc
Murdoch Media Group
Museum of Contemporary
Art
The Nest
NSW Writers’ Centre
Overland
Pan Macmillan
Paper Boat Press
Penguin Books Australia
Penrith City Library
Pier Ate
Polli
Powerhouse Museum
Random House
MAJOR PATRONS
FRIENDS OF THE FESTIVAL
MAJOR DONORS
Alan and Sue Cameron
Marion Dixon
Catherine and Whitney Drayton
David Hardy and Margaret Seale
Anni Rowland-Campbell
Deena Shiff
The WeirAnderson Foundation
Anonymous (3)
PARTNERS
Randwick City Library Service
Red Room Company
Riverside Theatres
Ryde Library Service
Scholastic
Scribe
Simmer on the Bay
South Coast Writers Centre
Stella Prize
Sydney Dance Lounge
Sydney PEN
Sydney Story Factory
Text Publishing
The Folio Society
The Langham Sydney
University of Queensland Press
University of Technology
Sydney
UWA Publishing
Varuna, The Writers’ House
Vivid Ideas
Walker Books
The Walkley Foundation for
Journalism
Walsh Bay Precinct
Wharf Restaurant
The Wheeler Centre
WestWords
Word Travels
The Key Foundation
The Low Family Foundation
Robyn Martin-Weber
Stephen, Margie and Xavier Morris
Annette Schmiede
Peter Waters
PATRONS
Kim Anderson
Dr Darleen Bungey
Rowena Danziger AM and Ken
Coles AM
Patrick Gallagher
Chris Golding
Virginia Gordon
Deborah Griffin
Hachette Australia
Rosemary Higgs
H.K Tey Pty Ltd.
Michelle Landerer
Bevan Lisle
Kathryn Lovric
Russell Mills
Tim Peach
Christina Pender
Peter Shergold
Doug Snedden
Tavumi Pty Ltd
Anonymous (2)
SWF BOARD
HOSPITALITY PARTNERS
MEDIA PARTNERS
Deena Shiff – Chair
Peter Shergold AC - Deputy
Chair
Guy Hedley
Elizabeth Johnstone
David Marr
Lena Nahlous
Margie Seale
James Strong AO in memorium
SWF STAFF
Artistic Director
Jemma Birrell
Programming Coordinator
Renee Senogles
CULTURAL PARTNERS
Executive Director
Ben Strout
Head of Development & Media Relations
Helen Johnstone
Sponsor Relations
Ashlea Wallington
Operations Manager
Mike Smith
Head of Marketing
Ainslie Lenehan
Administrator
Summar Hipworth
Volunteer Coordinator
Jennie Bradbury
Marketing Coordinator
Kitiya Palaskas
Ticketing Coordinator
Richard Cox
Operations Coordinator
Andy Lysle
Ground Transport Coordinator
Liam Nesbitt
Festival Publicist
Benython Oldfield
Associate Publicist
Emma Noble
Intern
Elise Phalen
School Days Program
Judith Ridge (WestWords)
... the team behind the award winning documentary Tall Man
May 26, 2:30pm-3:30pm, Wharf Theatre 2, FREE
1HERSA1 S002
A MESSAGE FROM THE ARTISTIC DIRECTOR
A
FTER NOURISHMENT, shelter
and companionship, stories are the
thing we need most in the world.”
– Philip Pullman.
Stories lie at the heart of our lives. We
need them to understand ourselves, to
understand others, to make sense of the
world around us. This year, Sydney Writers’
Festival looks at the depth and breadth
of storytelling and celebrates the simple
pleasure of being told a great tale.
“To begin at the beginning”, as Dylan
Thomas said, is to consider our oral
storytelling traditions. In this year’s
Festival Opening Address, Daniel Morden,
one of Europe’s greatest oral storytellers,
reinvigorates this ancient tradition by sharing
with us some of the stories he’s collected
from around the world and across the ages.
Irish poet, novelist and bird-watcher
Dermot Healy, whose work has been lavishly
praised by Seamus Heaney, among others,
visits us from the wilds of Sligo. Also in
Australia for the first time, we have The New
Yorker’s literary critic, James Wood, as well
as Norway’s most notorious and controversial
author, Karl Ove Knausgaard. Faramerz
Dabhoiwala, “the Stephen Hawking of sex”,
spices up an event or two, and renowned
physicist and cosmologist Lawrence Krauss
shows us that not only is it possible that
our universe arose naturally from nothing,
without supernatural shenanigans, but also
that it probably did.
We welcome one of India’s most loved
writers, Anita Desai, whose work spans
decades, continents and emotional landscapes;
Kate Atkinson, whose new book is “a box of
delights”; Carlos Ruiz Zafón, author of The
Shadow of the Wind; and Claire Messud with
The Woman Upstairs, a brilliant “acid bath”
of a novel. Claire, a Canadian-French-American
hybrid, who grew up partly in Australia, will
deliver the Festival’s Closing Address on the
importance of “imaginary homelands”.
Showcasing the extraordinary range and
scope of Australian writing, the Festival
celebrates our unique storytellers. Gillian
Mears speaks about her award-winning novel,
Foal’s Bread, for the first time in Sydney. Major
General John Cantwell shares his profoundly
moving story of living with post-traumatic
stress, and Amanda Lohry asks former leader
of the Greens, Bob Brown, about the future
of activism. Hannah Kent, whose debut novel,
Burial Rites, caused a bidding war around the
world, describes her love letter to Iceland and
the true story behind it.
As we hear more and more about
technological innovation, it’s easy to forget
that the platform is only as interesting as
the story. Eli Horowitz, creator of The Silent
History, a serialised novel for iPhones, shows
us the possibilities of digital storytelling when
the creatives take control.
You will be treated to some of the best
live storytelling from Australia and around
the world. From London we have 5x15 –
five speakers each talking for 15 minutes
about a passion or obsession. Scotland’s
Jackie Kay retells some of her favourite taxi
conversations, Lawrence Krauss argues that
Star Trek saved the world, Australian hiphop artist Urthboy defends new beginnings,
novelist Kate Mosse reveals the importance
of female heroes and Amelia Lester gives us
the inside scoop on being Managing Editor of
The New Yorker.
In SWF Shorts, Claudia Karvan, Jacqueline
McKenzie, Brendan Cowell and William
McInnes read their favourite short stories. And
Kip Williams from Sydney Theatre Company
curates readings straight from the bazaar in
The Thousand and One Nights.
In this election year, we look more closely
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at how political stories are told, and who
is really crafting the message behind the
politicians we love and loathe. At Town Hall,
the ABC’s Leigh Sales speaks to President
Barack Obama’s chief digital strategist Joe
Rospars, alongside pollster Mark Textor and
advertising guru Neil Lawrence.
In the Opera House, philosopher and
“rock-star moralist” Michael Sandel confronts
one of the biggest ethical issues of our time,
asking if there’s something wrong with a
world in which everything is for sale.
Comedian, writer and activist Ruby Wax,
who has openly battled depression, takes
to the stage to tell us how to keep sane in
an insane world. Ruby is here as part of
our collaboration with London’s Southbank
Centre’s WOW – Women of the World –
festival, which we’re thrilled to be launching
in Australia. Feminist and author Naomi Wolf
delves into sex and creativity, and journalist
Janine di Giovanni looks at love in the
aftermath of war. These are just a few of the
fabulous women on the program.
Film icon, writer and “silk-voiced jazz
chanteuse” Molly Ringwald comes to Sydney
to share her eclectic work with us. Her first
novel, When it Happens to You, explores
love, betrayal and the intricacies of the
human heart. Molly and her band will close
the Festival in style with an evening of jazz, in
homage to the great American songbook.
Down at the wharves, Pat Grant and Leigh
Rigozzi create a drawing spectacle, alongside
installations and parading poets. By night,
the Festival Club returns, with The Chaser
team and a fine selection of writers and
musicians brought together by Eddie Sharp.
At Parramatta’s Riverside Theatre, don’t miss
the genius performance poets Kate Tempest
and Anis Mojgani, and Daniel Morden, who
will enthrall you with gypsy tales from the
woods of Wales. In the city, there’s poetry in
one of the last places you’d expect – curated
by the winner of the Prime Minister’s Literary
Award for Poetry, Luke Davies. Check our
blog for daily posts and interviews from
writer-in-residence Josephine Rowe.
On Sunday, we have family activities in
the spectacular Big Top for Little People.
Australia’s Dreaming will come alive with
Aboriginal storytellers and music, and Archie
Roach will launch his illustrated songbook.
This year, Sydney Writers’ Festival brings
together an exhilarating selection of
storytellers who will delight, inform and
entertain. So come along, sit back, and let us
tell you a story.
Jemma Birrell
Artistic Director, Sydney Writers’ Festival
TWITTER FOLLOW US
AT @SYDWRITERSFEST.
USE THE HASHTAG
#SWF2013
WEBSITE VISIT
SWF.ORG.AU TO
CATCH UP ON ALL
THE FESTIVAL NEWS
swf.org.au 3
CONTENTS
CITY & WALSH
BAY EVENTS
MAY 18–23
PAGE 4
CITY & WALSH
BAY EVENTS
THURSDAY
MAY 23
PAGES 4–8
CITY & WALSH
BAY EVENTS
FRIDAY
MAY 24
PAGES 10–11
Daniel
Morden
Aleks
Krotoski
Jackie Kay
FESTIVAL
CALENDAR
PAGES 12–13
CITY & WALSH
BAY EVENTS
SATURDAY
MAY 25
PAGES 14–17
CITY & WALSH
BAY EVENTS
SUNDAY
MAY 26
PAGE 17–19
WORKSHOPS
PAGE 20
SUBURBAN
& REGIONAL
EVENTS
PAGE 21
PARTICIPANTS
PAGE 22
Carlos
Ruiz Zafón
Molly
Ringwald
Melanie
Tait
Cheryl
Strayed
Rachael
Treasure
VENUES &
BOOKINGS
PAGE 23
PRODUCED BY FX (FAIRFAX)
EDITOR ISOBEL KING
ADVERTISING ELISHA CLOTHIER 9282 2373
READERLINK 9282 1569
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SATURDAY, MAY 18 – THURSDAY, MAY 23
This year’s Festival celebrates the strength and creativity of women, with a range of
writers and thinkers whose work explores what it is to be a woman. We launch
London’s Southbank Centre’s WOW – Women of the World – festival in Australia,
featuring Ruby Wax in the Opera House on how to find calm in a frenetic world; the
WOW Lecture by Shami Chakrabarti, the Director of UK rights organisation Liberty;
bestselling author Kate Mosse; Jude Kelly, the Artistic Director of Southbank Centre
and founder of WOW; a speed mentoring session for women; WOW Bites showcasing
women’s life stories; and at Town Hall, a panel with Dale Spender, Mia Freedman,
Jamila Rizvi and more, that ponders the question, “I’m a Feminist – Can I Vajazzle?”
There are so many fabulous women in the program: bestselling author and
feminist Naomi Wolf; Rachael Treasure, rural romance icon; Anne Summers on The
Misogyny Factor; Cheryl Strayed of Wild and “Dear Sugar” fame; some “Digital Divas”;
Anna Goldsworthy and Monica Dux on motherhood; correspondent Janine di Giovanni on
love and war; and artist Wangechi Mutu exploring sex and representation. There are also
Stella Prize events, the Griffith REVIEW examining women and power, and Jane Caro and
Destroying the Joint contributors. To help you navigate, these events are highlighted
in blue throughout this guide. They are listed below in the order in which they appear.
14 Ruby Wax: Sane New World
21 Unexpected Motherhood
24 Lost and Found
28 What Makes Fabulous
Female Fiction?
42 Griffith REVIEW: Women and Power,
Turning Things Around
72 Wangechi Mutu
83 Sex and Representation
84 A Prize Of One’s Own
92 Conversations with Richard Fidler:
Cheryl Strayed
106 Digital Divas
149 Fifty Shades of Feminism
151 Janine di Giovanni: Love, War
and Redemption
161 WOW Bites
162 Naomi Wolf with Mia Freedman
169 Rachael Treasure and Rural
Romance
172 Under 10s Feminist Corner
175 The Misogyny Factor
178 Stella Prize Trivia
179 Shami Chakrabarti: WOW at
Sydney Writers’ Festival Lecture
196 Speed Mentoring
203 I’m a Feminist - Can I Vajazzle?
210 Destroying the Joint
219 Stella Stories
236 Dear Sugar: Advice on Life and Love
SR8 Wild: Stories from the Trail
SR10 Sexism, Australian Style
MAY 18
MAY 19
1 TROUBADOURS AND MINSTRELS
May 18, 12-1pm
The Rocks Square
Four musos lead four small crowds to
alcoves, underpasses and secret corners.
These mini-performance spaces, decked out
with couches, rugs, curtains and little amps,
are the backdrop for poetry readings. The
crowd rotates until everyone has seen all
four venues. Presented by Word Travels and
supported by The Rocks pop-up.
Free, no bookings
3 TROUBADOURS AND MINSTRELS
May 19, 12-1pm
The Rocks Square
Four musos lead four small crowds to
alcoves, underpasses and secret corners.
These mini-performance spaces, decked out
with couches, rugs, curtains and little amps,
are the backdrop for poetry readings. The
crowd rotates until everyone has seen all
four venues. Presented by Word Travels and
supported by The Rocks pop-up.
Free, no bookings
2 WRITER OVERNIGHTER WITH
CHRISTOPHER CHENG
May 18, from 2.30pm
Powerhouse Museum
Stay overnight in the Powerhouse Museum
for an evening of cracking ideas, with
children’s author Christopher Cheng.
Includes a special visit to the Wallace &
Gromit’s World of Invention exhibition.
Presented by the Powerhouse Museum.
$120 ($100 for Powerhouse members),
bookings 9217 0222,
play.powerhousemuseum.com
4 JORDIE ALBISTON:
THE BOOK OF ETHEL LAUNCH
May 19, 2-4pm
Brett Whiteley Studio
Jordie Albiston talks with David Musgrave
about The Book of Ethel, her new
collection of poems about her maternal
great grandmother, who was born in
Cornwell in 1872 and emigrated to
Australia. Ethel’s voice speaks across
centuries in precise micro-portraits.
Free, bookings essential, email:
[email protected]
1HERSA1 S004
5 NSW PREMIER’S LITERARY
AWARDS DINNER
May 19, 6-10pm
State Library of NSW
A glittering celebration of excellence in
Australian writing, which takes place on
the eve of Sydney Writers’ Festival 2013.
Winners of the 2013 NSW Premier’s
Literary Awards will be presented with
prizes totalling up to $315,000. Presented
by the NSW Government and administered
by the State Library of NSW in association
with Arts NSW.
$150, bookings 9273 1770,
sl.nsw.gov.au/premiersliteraryawards
MAY 20
6 THE EDITOR’S CUT
May 20, 5-6pm
University of Sydney Macleay Museum
Three editors talk about the complexities
and challenges of editing another’s work,
how you decide what makes it in and
what is left out, and whether you need to
be a writer to be a good editor.
Presented by Macleay Museum, the
University of Sydney.
Free, bookings essential, 9036 5253
7 NICK EARLS: FROM BOOK TO FILM
AND BEYOND
May 20, 6-7pm
Customs House Reading Room
Nick Earls discusses how it pans out
when a novelist trespasses into the
world of film and e-books. Will a book
always lose something in the process
of adaptation or is there a way to
keep the integrity of the written
word? Bring your wireless e-reading
device along to download a free
story! Presented with City of Sydney
Libraries.
Free, bookings essential, 9242 8555,
coslibrary.eventbrite.com.
MAY 22
9 BUSINESS BREAKFAST: JOE ROSPARS
May 22, 7-9am
The Wharf Restaurant
George Megalogenis interviews Joe Rospars,
co-founder and CEO of Blue State Digital and
President Barack Obama’s principal digital
strategist for the 2008 and 2012 campaigns.
$80, bookings 9250 1988,
swf.sydneytheatre.org.au
10 BOHEMIAN SYDNEY: DANCING
WITH EMPTY POCKETS
May 22, 6-7pm
State Library of NSW,
Metcalfe Auditorium
Debauched, deprived and drunken was the
common view about bohemians in the
mid-19th century. Dr Tony Moore traces the
history of Australia’s bohemians with
Elizabeth Farrelly. Presented by State
Library of NSW.
$20/$15, bookings 9250 1988,
swf.sydneytheatre.org.au
11 MICHAEL SANDEL: WHAT MONEY
CAN’T BUY
May 22, 6.30-7.30pm
SOH, Joan Sutherland Theatre
Is there something wrong with a world in
which everything is for sale? In What
Money Can’t Buy: The Moral Limits of
Markets, Harvard philosopher Michael
Sandel tackles this big ethical question.
Chair: George Megalogenis. Supported by
Deutsche Bank.
$40/$35, bookings 9250 1988 or
9250 7777, swf.sydneytheatre.org.au
or sydneyoperahouse.com
12 STORIES THEN & NOW
May 22, 7-8.30pm
Carriageworks
Stories Then & Now brings together six
Asian Australians to tell personal stories
DANIEL MORDEN
8 OPENING ADDRESS: THE
GHOST AT MY SHOULDER
May 21, 6.30-8.30pm
Sydney Theatre
Daniel Morden is one of Europe’s greatest
storytellers. He has collected and told stories from
the Arctic to Haiti to London’s National Theatre. For
the 2013 Opening Address, Daniel blends traditional
tale, anecdote and insight, examining the place of
story in our lives. “To experience Daniel Morden in
full flight is an amazing thing” (BBC).
$30/$25, bookings 9250 1988,
swf.sydneytheatre.org.au
from their past, to unravel the threads to
their present day lives. Directed by William
Yang and Annette Shun Wah. Presented by
Carriageworks and Performance 4a.
$35, bookings Ticketmaster 1300 723 038
13 FESTIVAL CLUB
May 22, 7-11.45pm
Pier 2/3 Club Stage
Featuring Slide Night with Tom Tilley; The
Chaser’s Empty Vessel with special guests
Amelia Lester, Faramerz Dabhoiwala and
Janine di Giovanni; and SWF Up Late with
Teen Diary Readings featuring Catherine
Deveny, Lucinda Gleeson and Michael Hing.
$10 at the door, full details swf.org.au
14 RUBY WAX: SANE NEW WORLD
May 22, 8.30-10pm
SOH, Joan Sutherland Theatre
Comedian, writer and mental health
campaigner Ruby Wax shows us how to rewire
our thinking and find calm in a frenetic world.
Presented with Southbank Centre’s WOW.
$45/$35, bookings 9250 1988 or
9250 7777, swf.sydneytheatre.org.au
or sydneyoperahouse.com
MAY 23
15 COFFEE AND PAPERS WITH THE
SYDNEY MORNING HERALD
May 23, 9-10am
The Bar at the End of the Wharf
Join The Sydney Morning Herald’s
journalists and special guest Amelia Lester
to hear their take on the stand-out stories
and what is making news headlines today.
Supported by The Sydney Morning Herald.
Free, no bookings
16 PUBLIC SYDNEY
May 23, 10-11am
The Mint
Public places, essential to a democratic
society, are often controversial and
marginalised. The authors of Public
Sydney: Drawing the City discuss.
Free, no bookings
17 A CHARACTER CALLED PLACE
May 23, 10-11am
Bangarra Mezzanine
How do Amy Espeseth, Ashley Hay and
Stephen Scourfield create such a vivid
sense of place that it becomes a character
in itself? They talk with Jill Eddington.
Free, no bookings
18 MEET THE NSW PREMIER’S
LITERARY AWARD WINNERS
May 23, 10-11am
Philharmonia Studio
Winners of this year’s NSW Premier’s
Literary Awards discuss their work with
Suzanne Leal. Presented by the State
Library of NSW.
Free, no bookings
THURSDAY, MAY 23
19 RARE OBJECT SERIES LAUNCH
May 23, 10-11am
Pier 2/3 Club Stage
Luke Davies launches new poetry chapbooks
by David Malouf, Robert Adamson, Martin
Harrison and Adam Aitken, part of the iconic
Rare Object Series from Vagabond Press.
Free, no bookings
20 THE UNCOMMON READER
May 23, 10-11am
Pier 2/3 Main Stage
What makes a good reader? How does one
develop a critical instinct? James Wood,
Geordie Williamson and Jane Gleeson-White
share some of the books that inspire and
compel them with Tegan Bennett Daylight.
$20/$14, bookings 9250 1988,
swf.sydneytheatre.org.au
21 UNEXPECTED MOTHERHOOD
May 23, 10-11am
Pier 2/3 The Loft
Monica Dux and Anna Goldsworthy join
anthropologist and author Sally Warhaft for a
frank discussion about pregnancy, birth and
what it means to be a mother today.
Free, no bookings
22 LAUREN BEUKES:
THE SHINING GIRLS
May 23, 10-11am
Sydney Dance 1
Michael Cathcart interviews Lauren Beukes
about her new serial-killer novel, The
Shining Girls, live on ABC Radio National’s
Books and Arts Daily.
Free, no bookings
23 NARRATIVE IN DOCUMENTARY
May 23, 10-11am
Sydney Dance 2
A discussion of the journalistic issues
tackled in documentary, with the 2012
Walkley Documentary winner Celeste Geer
and finalists Morag Ramsay and Rick
McPhee. Chaired by the ABC’s Quentin
Dempster and presented by The Walkley
Foundation for Journalism.
Free, no bookings
24 LOST AND FOUND
May 23, 10-11am
Sydney Theatre
Writers Ailsa Piper and Cheryl Strayed have
both turned to travel in a bid to find
redemption and connection. They talk with
Caroline Baum about the journeys that
have shaped who they are today.
$20/$14, bookings 9250 1988,
swf.sydneytheatre.org.au
25 AFFAIRS OF THE ART
May 23, 10-11am
Richard Wherrett Studio
Katrina Strickland (Affairs of the Art) and
Huon Hooke speak to Julianne Schultz
about the role of those left behind in
swf.org.au 5
burnishing an artist’s reputation after
their death.
$14/$10, bookings 9250 1988,
swf.sydneytheatre.org.au
38 HARBOUR CITY POETS:
SOME PEOPLE YOU MAY KNOW
May 23, 1-2pm
Bangarra Mezzanine
Showcasing poems about personalities,
fictional characters, individuals and types,
Harbour City Poets deliver a fast-paced,
witty and professional onstage dialogue.
Featuring Margaret Bradstock, John Carey,
David Musgrave, Louise Wakeling and
Les Wicks.
Free, no bookings
ALEKS KROTOSKI
26 ANNE DEVESON WITH
PHILLIP ADAMS: WAGING PEACE
May 23, 10-11am
Wharf Theatre 2
Writer and documentary filmmaker Anne
Deveson speaks to Phillip Adams about
Waging Peace, her memoir of an activist’s life.
$20/$14, bookings 9250 1988,
swf.sydneytheatre.org.au
29 UNTANGLING THE WEB
39 FAN FICTION
May 23, 1-2pm
Philharmonia Studio
With the publishing success of Fifty Shades
of Grey, which began its life as online fan
fiction, everyone wants to know more.
Sydney University’s Joseph Brennan
speaks to Amanda Hayward alongside
novelist Lauren Beukes and David Large.
Free, no bookings
27 MICHELLE DE KRETSER:
QUESTIONS OF TRAVEL
May 23, 11.30am-12.30pm
Bangarra Mezzanine
A mesmerising novel, Questions of Travel
follows the two very different lives of Laura,
who travels the world, and Ravi, who dreams
of being a tourist until he is driven from Sri
Lanka. Michelle de Kretser speaks with The
Sydney Morning Herald’s Susan Wyndham.
Free, no bookings
28 WHAT MAKES FABULOUS FEMALE
FICTION?
May 23, 11.30am-12.30pm
Philharmonia Studio
Publishers Hilary Teeman, Frederique Polet
and Annette Barlow discuss what makes a
fabulous “women’s fiction read” with Caroline
Overington, author and Associate Editor of
Australian Women’s Weekly. Supported by
The Writer’s Coffee Shop (TWCS).
Free, no bookings
30 THE PUBLIC PHILOSOPHER: SOCIAL
JUSTICE IN THE AGE OF MARKETS
May 23, 11.30am-12.30pm
Pier 2/3 Main Stage
Join Harvard philosopher and “rock-star
moralist” Michael Sandel for a conversation
with Julian Morrow. On the agenda is the
question of whether social justice is dead;
the future of global education; and the idea
of the “common good” in an age of markets.
$20/$14, bookings 9250 1988,
swf.sydneytheatre.org.au
31 THE SPIRIT OF ROMANCE
May 23, 11.30am-12.30pm
Pier 2/3 The Loft
Since Samuel Richardson’s 1740 novel
Pamela, romance novels have become
the world’s most popular literary genre.
What styles of romance writing are people
reading today? Suzy Duffy, Kate Forsyth
and Rachael Treasure discuss with
Amanda Hooton. Supported by The Writer’s
Coffee Shop (TWCS).
Free, no bookings
32 THE HUMAN COST OF WAR
May 23, 11.30am-12.30pm
Sydney Dance 1
May 23, 11.30am-12.30pm
Pier 2/3 Club Stage
Social psychologist and presenter of BBC
Radio 4’s The Digital Human, Aleks
Krotoski has spent a decade probing the
effects of the web on our lives. She
Major General John Cantwell (Exit Wounds),
investigative journalist Chris Masters
(Uncommon Soldier) and historian Ross
McMullin (Farewell, Dear People) discuss
with Mark Corcoran Australia’s involvement
in wars past and present.
Free, no bookings
33 BOOKS TO LIVE BY
May 23, 11.30am-12.30pm
Sydney Dance 2
Want some great book recommendations
from three of Sydney’s most in-the-know
booksellers and tastemakers? John Purcell
(Booktopia), Morgan Smith (Gleebooks) and
Barbara Horgan (Shearers) speak to Walter
Mason and recommend their favourite books.
Free, no bookings
34 FARAMERZ DABHOIWALA:
THE ORIGINS OF SEX
May 23, 11.30am-12.30pm
Sydney Theatre
Faramerz Dabhoiwala has been described as
“the Stephen Hawking of sex”. In this witty
talk, Faramerz explains the origins of our
modern sexual culture and how we came
to live in a world where sex is supposedly
private, yet ever more publicised.
$20/$14, bookings 9250 1988,
swf.sydneytheatre.org.au
35 MAXINE MCKEW: OUT OF
THE TRENCHES
broadcasts and writes on our increasing
dependence on the online world. Aleks
talks with ABC Radio National’s Marc
Fennell. Supported by Bloomberg.
$14/$10, bookings 9250 1988,
swf.sydneytheatre.org.au
40 IS THERE A SOUNDTRACK?
May 23, 1-2pm
Pier 2/3 Club Stage
Josephine Rowe, Arnold Zable and
Courtney Collins discuss with Michaela
Kalowski whether music has played
a role in the creation of their books.
$14/$10, bookings 9250 1988,
swf.sydneytheatre.org.au
May 23, 11.30am-12.30pm
Richard Wherrett Studio
Maxine McKew spectacularly unseated
John Howard in the 2007 Federal election.
Then in 2010 she became one of the
casualties of a disastrous election
campaign. Maxine speaks to Margot Saville
about Tales From the Political Trenches,
what went wrong and the current political
climate. Supported by K&L Gates.
$14/$10, bookings 9250 1988,
swf.sydneytheatre.org.au
41 BEDTIME STORIES WITH
PHILLIP ADAMS
May 23, 1-2pm
Pier 2/3 Main Stage
For 22 years, Phillip Adams has graced the
airways of ABC Radio National’s Late Night
Live. He shares previously unknown stories
about the world leaders, thinkers,
ideologues, gurus and crackpots who have
joined him on air.
$20/$14, bookings 9250 1988,
swf.sydneytheatre.org.au
36 ON COLLECTING
May 23, 11.30am-12.30pm
Wharf Theatre 2
From vintage fashion and homewares to
contemporary art, fanzines and antiquarian
books, three influential collectors talk about
their collections and the obsession that
drives them. David Francis talks with Sibella
Court, Glenn Barkley and Nicholas Pounder.
$20/$14, bookings 9250 1988,
swf.sydneytheatre.org.au
42 GRIFFITH REVIEW: WOMEN AND
POWER, TURNING THINGS AROUND
May 23, 1-2pm
Pier 2/3 The Loft
Join Anne Summers, Mary Delahunty,
Chris Wallace, Yassmin Abdel-Magied and
Julianne Schultz for a discussion about
the changing relationship between women
and power. Presented with Griffith REVIEW.
Free, no bookings
37 SHAPING PUBLIC SYDNEY
May 23, 1-2pm
The Mint
Former Government Architect Peter Mould
and City Historian Lisa Murray discuss the
various factors that have influenced Sydney’s
development with Dr Caroline Butler-Bowdon,
HHT Assistant Director, Creative Services.
Free, no bookings
43 WHY READ DICTIONARIES?
May 23, 1-2pm
Sydney Dance 1
Crossword-maker David Astle interrogates
Mark Forsyth, bestselling author of The
Etymologicon and The Horologicon, and
blogger known as The Inky Fool, on having
the most boring hobby in the world.
Supported by Editor Group.
Free, no bookings
THE STATE LIBRARY OF NSW PRESENTS
2013 NSW Premier’s Literary Awards
presentation dinner, Mitchell Library
Sunday 19 May, 6 pm – 10 pm
Cost: $150 per ticket
Bookings required (02) 9273 1770, [email protected]
Visit www.sl.nsw.gov.au/premiersliteraryawards
People’s Choice
Vote now for your favourite book from the 2013 Christina Stead Prize
for Fiction shortlist:
, Murray Bail (Text Publishing)
Gillian Mears (Allen & Unwin)
, Frank Moorhouse (Random House Australia)
, Carrie Tiffany (Pan Macmillan Australia)
, Charlotte Wood (Allen & Unwin)
, Tom Keneally (Random House Australia)
Cast your vote by midnight Sunday 12 May and go into the draw to win
fantastic prizes. Vote here: www.sl.nsw.gov.au/peopleschoice
The winner will be announced on Sunday 19 May 2013.
The Book Stack: People’s Choice
Thursday 9 May, 6 pm – 8 pm
Cost: $15, bookings required
Venue: Dixson Room, State Library of NSW
Enjoy dramatic readings from the Christina
Stead Prize for Fiction shortlist, hosted by
award-winning author Dr Kathryn Heyman
Event bookings: (02) 9273 1770
[email protected]
Meet the NSW Premier’s
Literary Award winners
Thursday 23 May, 10 am – 11 am
Free, no bookings
Venue: Philharmonia Studio
Pier 4/5, Hickson Road, Walsh Bay
Join the winners of this year’s NSW Premier’s
Literary Awards as they discuss their work
with author and literary judge Suzanne Leal. Macquarie St Sydney
Ph (02) 9273 1414
www.sl.nsw.gov.au
The NSW Premier’s Literary Awards are presented by the NSW Government
and administered by the State Library of NSW in association with Arts NSW
P&D-4035-4/2013
Congratulations to the shortlisted authors of the NSW
Premier’s Literary Awards. The winners will be announced at the
1HERSA1 S005
THURSDAY, MAY 23
Photo: Prudence Upton
6 swf.org.au
44 CAN WRITERS LEARN LESSONS
FROM SPORT?
May 23, 1-2pm
Sydney Dance 2
Goal setting, agility, patience, commitment
and overcoming adversity are all sporting
virtues. Malcolm Knox, Michael Robotham
and Melissa Lucashenko speak to P.M.
Newton and consider what sporting skills
can be applied to their writing technique.
Free, no bookings
45 WILLIAM DALRYMPLE: RETURN
OF A KING
May 23, 1-2pm
Sydney Theatre
Join historian William Dalrymple as he talks
about his new book, Return of a King: The
Battle for Afghanistan, described by The
Guardian as a “clear-eyed, non-judgmental,
sober history, beautifully told”.
$25/$20, bookings 9250 1988,
swf.sydneytheatre.org.au
48 ANTARCTICA DREAMING
May 23, 2.30-3.30pm
Bangarra Mezzanine
Jesse Blackadder (Chasing the Light) and
Alasdair McGregor (Antarctica: That Sweep
of Savage Splendour) discuss their shared
passion for the “big, white desert” with
historian and biographer Ross McMullin.
Free, no bookings
49 LOVE AND EXTINCTION
May 23, 2.30-3.30pm
Philharmonia Studio
As a writer in a world with threatened
ecologies, how do you grab people’s
attention? UNSW’s Stephen Muecke speaks
to Robert Drewe, Deborah Bird Rose and
Stephen Scourfield about exploring
environmental issues in their work.
Supported by UNSW.
Free, no bookings
46 KIRSTIE CLEMENTS:
THE VOGUE FACTOR
May 23, 1-2pm
Richard Wherrett Studio
Ex-Vogue editor Kirstie Clements talks to
Tara Moss about her 25 years at Vogue and
how fashion bloggers are challenging
glossy magazine predominance.
$14/$10, bookings 9250 1988,
swf.sydneytheatre.org.au
50 IN THEIR OWN WORDS:
CRAIG TAYLOR
May 23, 2.30-3.30pm
Pier 2/3 Club Stage
Craig Taylor discusses his bestselling book,
Londoners. You’ll hear from street
sweepers and investment bankers,
manicurists and a very British dominatrix.
“A rich and exuberant kaleidoscopic
portrait” (The New York Times).
$14/$10, bookings 9250 1988,
swf.sydneytheatre.org.au
47 NICK CATER: THE LUCKY CULTURE
May 23, 1-2pm
Wharf Theatre 2
Is the secret of Australia’s good fortune our
particular Australian character? Fifty years
after Donald Horne named Australia The
Lucky Country, Nick Cater examines whether
that spirit of egalitarianism is threatened.
$20/$14, bookings 9250 1988,
swf.sydneytheatre.org.au
51 BY THE BOOK: RAMONA KOVAL
WITH RICHARD GILL
May 23, 2.30-3.30pm
Pier 2/3 Main Stage
Award-winning conductor Richard Gill talks
with Ramona Koval about her lifelong love
affair with books, captured in her stunning
By the Book: A Reader’s Guide to Life.
$20/$14, bookings 9250 1988,
swf.sydneytheatre.org.au
1HERSA1 S006
There’s more Festival to enjoy in Walsh
Bay this year, with special attractions and
exhibitions. Have a bite to eat with an
SWF restaurant partner or grab a snack
from the Sydney Food Trucks.
And while you’re in Pier 2/3:
n Take a moment to relax in the Reading
Room, supported by The Sydney
Morning Herald.
n Watch SWF free events on the big
screen in the Viewing Lounge, thanks
to Bloomberg.
n Grab some headphones and listen to
non-fiction tales from regional
Australia via abc.net.au/open
n Look for Chanelle Collier’s beautifully
carved book sculptures.
n See The Sydney Book Art Group’s
“Lifecycle” installation, made of
“reborn text”.
n Watch for the collaborative drawing
spectacle from cartoonists Pat Grant
and Leigh Rigozzi on May 25-26.
n Bring the kids to join in all the fun of
The Big Top for Little People on Sunday,
May 26.
n When you least expect it, you might get
a gift from the Q-poets – CJ Bowerbird,
Jo Sri, Eleanor Jackson, Scott Sandwich,
project creator Skye Loneragan and
more – as they deliver literary relief
to dedicated festival-goers.
53 WHAT OUR FOOD SAYS ABOUT US
May 23, 2.30-3.30pm
Sydney Dance 1
How does our relationship with food reflect
our culture and who we are? Stephanie
Alexander (Kitchen Gardens Program),
Lorraine Elliott (Not Quite Nigella) and
Pauline Nguyen (Red Lantern restaurant)
speak with food journalist John Newton.
Free, no bookings
55 HISTORICAL FACT AND FICTION
May 23, 2.30-3.30pm
Sydney Theatre
Edward Rutherfurd, Faramerz Dabhoiwala
and Hannah Kent explain the differences
between historical fact and fiction with
Miriam Cosic. Are the boundaries between
them important?
$20/$14, bookings 9250 1988,
swf.sydneytheatre.org.au
54 FAMILY MATTERS
May 23, 2.30-3.30pm
Sydney Dance 2
We all cherish our heritage and stories
passed down in the family, but writing a
book dealing with the intimacies of
family is not always easy and can
bring both heartache and joy. James
Button, Anna Goldsworthy and Jackie
Kay discuss the challenges with
Benjamin Law.
Free, no bookings
56 THE IVANHOE HOTEL:
AUSTRALIAN CREATIVITY
May 23, 2.30-3.30pm
Richard Wherrett Studio
W.G. Sebald’s work is crammed with history
and stories. David Brooks considers what
an Australian version might be, and
whether our lack of settler stories might
offer creative freedom from the weight of
history. Chair: Steven Gale.
$14/$10, bookings 9250 1988,
swf.sydneytheatre.org.au
DERMOT HEALY
52 ON CRAFT: THE ORAL
TRADITION
May 23, 2.30-3.30pm
Pier 2/3 The Loft
Join novelist, playwright, poet and short
story writer Dermot Healy, who Roddy
Doyle has called “Ireland’s greatest
writer”, for a talk on the oral tradition
and the craft of writing. He will discuss
his thoughts on dialogue being the key
to fiction, non-fiction and poetry. Part
of the SWF Craft Series.
Free, no bookings
57 THE 21ST CENTURY AUTHOR
May 23, 2.30-3.30pm
Wharf Theatre 2
Social innovator, Rachel Botsman (What’s
Mine Is Yours: The Rise of Collaborative
Consumption), says we are “wired to
share”. She talks to journalist Caroline
Baum about how technology will change
the role of authors.
$20/$14, bookings 9250 1988,
swf.sydneytheatre.org.au
58 DESIGNER SUBURBS
May 23, 3-4pm
The Mint
Join Dr Judith O’Callaghan, Dr Charles Pickett
and Ian Innes as they discuss how architects
took high-end design to the suburbs during
the 1950s, ’60s and ’70s, and why these
designer homes are important today.
Free, no bookings
59 DANIEL MORDEN: THE EMPTY HAND
May 23, 4-5pm
Bangarra Mezzanine
What if the one you loved was taken from
you? How far would you go to find them?
Join Daniel Morden, one of Europe’s
greatest storytellers, for haunting tales of
love in this world and the next.
Free, no bookings
60 THE CUTTING EDGE
May 23, 4-5pm
Philharmonia Studio
Satirists Jonathan Biggins and James
Jeffrey (editor of Strewth) celebrate satire
in Australian journalism with Steve Lewis.
Presented by The Walkley Foundation
for Journalism.
Free, no bookings
61 THE BIG READ
May 23, 4-5pm
Pier 2/3 Main Stage
A Festival favourite, this year The Big Read
brings together Australian and
international guests Lauren Beukes, Sheila
Heti, Patrick Ness, Nicolas Rothwell and
Arnold Zable. Hosted by Annette Shun Wah.
Includes presentation of The Sydney
Morning Herald Best Young Australian
Novelist awards for 2013. Supported by The
Sydney Morning Herald.
$20/$14, bookings 9250 1988,
swf.sydneytheatre.org.au
62 THE GARDEN: AN ADVENTURE
IN IDEAS
May 23, 4-5pm
Pier 2/3 The Loft
“If you have a garden in your library,” wrote
Cicero, “we will want for nothing.” Gardens
and literature are ancient bedfellows, and
Damon Young gives a unique presentation
about the great ideas that have flowered
in parks, yards and pots.
Free, no bookings
1HERSA1 S007
THURSDAY, MAY 23
8 swf.org.au
63 WRITING PAINFUL EXPERIENCES
May 23, 4-5pm
Sydney Dance 1
Anne Deveson, Dawn Barker and Helen Sage
speak with Caroline Overington and offer
their perspectives on writing through trauma.
Free, no bookings
64 CHINA, FRIEND OR FOE?
May 23, 4-5pm
Sydney Dance 2
China is a key economy of the current era,
but what other effects will economic power
have on China? Experts Dr Bates Gill, Mobo
Gao and Feng Chongji talk with Kerry Brown.
Presented by the University of Sydney.
Free, no bookings
66 THE POWER OF LANDSCAPE
May 23, 4-5pm
Richard Wherrett Studio
Melissa Lucashenko and Sue Woolfe discuss
the power and influence of the Australian
landscape on their writing with Walter Mason.
$14/$10, bookings 9250 1988,
swf.sydneytheatre.org.au
McGuire present a rare “People of Letters”, in
which five pairs of people write “a letter to
my other half”. Join them for a homage to
the lost art of letter writing. Stamps provided.
Free, no bookings
67 PANKAJ MISHRA: FROM THE RUINS
OF EMPIRE
May 23, 4-5pm
Wharf Theatre 2
Pankaj Mishra talks with Julian Morrow about
his latest book, From the Ruins of Empire, a
deeply researched look at the Victorian era
from the perspective of Asia.
$20/$14, bookings 9250 1988,
swf.sydneytheatre.org.au
69 ANITA DESAI WITH DEBORAH LEVY:
THE ARTIST OF DISAPPEARANCE
May 23, 6-7pm
City Recital Hall, Angel Place
Hailed by The Guardian as India’s
“greatest living writer”, Anita Desai’s
writing spans decades, continents and
emotional landscapes. She speaks about
The Artist of Disappearance and her
extraordinary body of work with 2012 Man
Booker finalist Deborah Levy. Supported
by the City of Sydney.
$32/$25, bookings 9250 1988 or
8256 2222, swf.sydneytheatre.org.au
or cityrecitalhall.com
68 PEOPLE OF LETTERS
May 23, 4-5.30pm
Pier 2/3 Club Stage
Co-curators Marieke Hardy and Michaela
ROBERT GREENE
65 ON CREATIVITY
May 23, 4-5pm
Sydney Theatre
Drawing on the years of research that
went into his latest book, Mastery, this
presentation from The New York Times
bestselling author Robert Greene will
challenge all of your basic assumptions
about creative thinking.
Supported by BDO.
$20/$14, bookings 9250 1988,
swf.sydneytheatre.org.au
Proud major
partner of the
Sydney Writers’
Festival
70 THE STATE OF REVIEWS
May 23, 6-7pm
State Library of NSW,
Metcalfe Auditorium
Join Sophie Cunningham, Chair of the
Literature Board, as she discusses the
state of reviews in Australian media with
Stephen Romei, James Ley and Angela
Meyer. Presented by the State Library of
NSW and supported by the Literature
Board, Australia Council for the Arts.
$20/$15, bookings 9250 1988,
swf.sydneytheatre.org.au
71 THE 61ST BOOK DESIGN AWARDS
May 23, 6-10pm
Powerhouse Museum
The Book Design Awards is the premier
event for recognising creativity, excellence
and innovation in contemporary Australian
book design. This annual event includes
cocktails, the presentation ceremony and
awards party. Presented by the Australian
Publishers Association.
$82.50, bookings 9281 9788,
publishers.asn.au
72 WANGECHI MUTU
May 23, 6.30-7.30pm
Museum of Contemporary Art
Join artist Wangechi Mutu and the MCA’s
Senior Curator Rachel Kent as they discuss
aspects of Wangechi’s practice – including
themes of gender, desire and the female
body, as well as abjection and violence.
Presented by the Museum of Contemporary
Art in association with the Human Rights
Arts and Film Festival.
Free, no bookings
73 2SER IN CONVERSATION:
HOLLY THROSBY AND DARREN HANLON
May 23, 7-8pm
The Green Room Lounge
Much-loved Australian songwriters Holly
Throsby and Darren Hanlon talk with 2SER
Music Director Andrew Khedoori about
their approach to songwriting – their
inspirations, motivations and how to build
a tower of song. Presented by 2SER.
Free, bookings email
[email protected]. Full details
2ser.com
74 STORIES THEN & NOW
May 23, 7-8.30pm
Carriageworks
Stories Then & Now brings together six
Asian Australians to tell personal stories
from their past, to unravel the threads to
their present day lives. Directed by William
Yang and Annette Shun Wah. Presented by
Carriageworks and Performance 4a.
$35, bookings Ticketmaster
1300 723 038
75 EVENINGS WITH DOMINIC KNIGHT
May 23, 7-10pm
Sydney Dance Lounge
Grab a drink and a bite to eat while you join
702 ABC Sydney Evenings host Dominic
Knight for a special version of NORMAN the
Quiz, plus engaging discussions with visiting
authors. Presented with 702 ABC Sydney.
Free, no bookings
76 FESTIVAL CLUB
May 23, 7-11.45pm
Pier 2/3 Club Stage
Featuring Erotic Fan Fiction with Noni
Hazlehurst, Benjamin Law and Ben Jenkins;
The Chaser’s Empty Vessel with special
guests Sylvie Simmons, Mark Forsyth and
Aleks Krotoski; and SWF Up Late with
Courtney Collins, Kate Miller-Heidke,
Swimwear and Dave Graney.
Tickets $10 on the door,
see swf.org.au
77 OBAMA: THE DIGITAL CAMPAIGN
May 23, 8.30-10pm
City Recital Hall, Angel Place
Barack Obama’s Chief Digital Strategist
Joe Rospars, and Stephen Muller, the
Obama campaign’s Video Director, offer
an overview of how the campaign
managed to unite and mobilise 13 million
online supporters toward a single goal
of electing President Obama.
Chair: Michael Brissenden. Supported by
the City of Sydney.
$32/$25, bookings 9250 1988 or
8256 2222, swf.sydneytheatre.org.au
or cityrecitalhall.com
Sharpen your writing skills with a national leader
in creative writing
• Undergraduate degrees
• Postgraduate research options
• UNSWriting program
Cultivating flows of ideas and good writing
Connecting writers, publishers and students
Offering special events, workshops and public talks
arts.unsw.edu.au
Never
Stand Still
Faculty of
Arts Social Sciences
*2012 Excellence in Research for Australia report
Cricos Provider No. 00098G
1HERSA1 S008
FRIDAY, MAY 24
78 COFFEE AND PAPERS WITH THE
SYDNEY MORNING HERALD
May 24, 9-10am
The Bar at the End of the Wharf
Join The Sydney Morning Herald journalists
and special guest Janine di Giovanni to
hear their take on the stand-out stories
and what is making news headlines.
Supported by The Sydney Morning Herald.
Free, no bookings
79 MORNINGS WITH LINDA MOTTRAM
May 24, 9-11am
Pier 2/3 Club Stage
Be part of the live audience as Linda
Mottram chats with Festival guests and
presents her 702 ABC Sydney Mornings
program. Hear from some of the Festival’s
leading authors as they explore a range of
thought-provoking issues. Presented with
702 ABC Sydney.
Free, no bookings
80 BOWERBIRD
May 24, 10-11am
The Mint
Interior stylist Sibella Court discusses the
process of creating her recent book,
Bowerbird: Creating Beautiful Interiors
with the Things You Collect.
Free, no bookings
81 WRITING ACROSS FORMS
May 24, 10-11am
Bangarra Mezzanine
Panellists Lauren Beukes, Robert Drewe and
Luke Davies talk to Sally Heath about the
creative challenges, rewards and freedoms
of writing across different genres.
Free, no bookings
82 WRITERS WHO BLOG
May 24, 10-11am
Philharmonia Studio
Mark Forsyth, Tara Moss, Lorraine Elliot and
Angela Meyer discuss the pros and cons of
blogging, and the differences between
writing on and offline.
Free, no bookings
83 SEX AND REPRESENTATION
May 24, 10-11am
Pier 2/3 Main Stage
Join four incredible women for a panel on sex
and representation. Wangechi Mutu, Naomi
Wolf, Emily Maguire and Dr Juanita Ruys
speak to MCA’s Rachel Kent.
$20/$14, bookings 9250 1988,
swf.sydneytheatre.org.au
ANNA KRIEN
89 SEX, POWER AND
SPORT
May 24, 10-11am
Richard Wherrett Studio
Anna Krien speaks to Amanda Lohrey
about her controversial and fearless
Night Games, an investigation into
sex, consent, power and the dark side
of footy culture.
$14/$10, bookings 9250 1988,
swf.sydneytheatre.org.au
1HERSA1 S010
84 A PRIZE OF ONE’S OWN
May 24, 10-11am
Pier 2/3 The Loft
A discussion about the importance of having
a prize of one’s own. Introducing the winner
of the inaugural Stella Prize, alongside judge
Claudia Karvan and Kate Mosse, bestselling
novelist and co-founder of UK’s The Women’s
Prize for Fiction – formerly the Orange Prize.
Presented with the Stella Prize.
Free, no bookings
85 FOR THE LOVE OF BOOKS
May 24, 10-11am
Sydney Dance 1
Richard Glover, Gretel Killeen and Mark
Dapin talk to Angelo Loukakis about why
they love the beauty, smell and feel of
books. Presented with Sydney PEN.
Free, no bookings
86 GRIFFITH REVIEW: REVIVING
THE NOVELLA
May 24, 10-11am
Sydney Dance 2
Ian McEwan regards the novella as the
“supreme literary form”. Join Julienne van
Loon, Jim Hearn and Katerina Cosgove as
they debate its future with Julianne
Schultz. Presented with Griffith REVIEW.
Free, no bookings
87 BOOKS AND ARTS DAILY WITH
MICHAEL CATHCART
May 24, 10-11am
Sydney Dance Lounge
ABC Radio National’s Books and Arts Daily,
hosted by Michael Cathcart, broadcasts
live from Sydney Writers’ Festival.
Presented with ABC Radio National.
Free, no bookings
88 LEARNING FROM THE PAST
May 24, 10-11am
Sydney Theatre
William Dalrymple and Pankaj Mishra speak
to the Lowy Institute’s Michael Fullilove,
exploring new perspectives in history and
how they challenge, inform and redefine
our current world view.
$20/$14, bookings 9250 1988,
swf.sydneytheatre.org.au
90 BOOK DESIGN: A THOUSAND
WORDS WORTH
May 24, 10-11am
Wharf Theatre 2
What rules the cover – image or text? Do
Australian illustrations and designs reach
international markets? A discussion about
the ins and outs of book design, with a
panel fresh from the 61st Book Design
Awards and Helen Boyle, Templar
Publishing in the UK. Presented by the
Australian Publishers Association.
Free, no bookings
91 CRYPTIC CROSSWORD SOLVING
WITH DA
May 24, 10.30am-12pm
The Bar at the End of the Wharf
Unravel a cryptic crossword with DA, alias
David Astle. Amid eurekas, David will share
the madness and misadventures of a
word-nerd. BYO pencil. Supported by The
Sydney Morning Herald.
Free, no bookings
92 CONVERSATIONS WITH RICHARD
FIDLER: CHERYL STRAYED
May 24, 11am-12pm
Pier 2/3 Club Stage
Richard Fidler interviews author and
advice columnist Cheryl Strayed about her
acclaimed memoir, Wild, a chronicle of her
solo hike along the Pacific Crest Trail.
Presented with 702 ABC Sydney.
Free, no bookings
93 EXTRAORDINARY STORIES
OF MIGRATION
May 24, 11.30am-12.30pm
Bangarra Mezzanine
Majok Tulba (Beneath The Darkening Sky),
Kooshyar Karimi (I Confess), Arnold Zable
(Violin Lessons) and Pauline Nguyen
(Secrets of the Red Lanten) talk with Tim
Soutphommasane (Don’t Go Back to Where
You Came From) about the remarkable
stories that brought them to Australia.
Free, no bookings
CLAIRE MESSUD
116 THE WOMAN UPSTAIRS
94 HOW FARES THE REVOLUTION?
May 24, 11.30am-12.30pm
Philharmonia Studio
News leaders Kate Torney and Lauren Martin
reveal success stories and lessons learned at
the coalface of the transformed newsroom,
and ponder what the future holds. Presented
by The Walkley Foundation for Journalism.
Free, no bookings
95 WHY CRITICISM MATTERS
May 24, 11.30am-12.30pm
Pier 2/3 Main Stage
Why is it so important to have a robust
culture of criticism? James Wood, Susan
Wyndham and James Ley discuss this and
more with Sophie Cunningham. Supported
by the Literature Board, Australia Council
for the Arts.
$20/$14, bookings 9250 1988,
swf.sydneytheatre.org.au
96 THE PEOPLE’S REVOLUTION
May 24, 11.30am-12.30pm
Pier 2/3 The Loft
Award-winning author and journalist
Janine di Giovanni and Walkley Awardwinning, former Middle East correspondent
David Hardaker speak to Mike Carlton
about the changing face of people’s
revolutions around the world.
Free, no bookings
97 PHILOSOPHY AND WRITING
May 24, 11.30am-12.30pm
Sydney Dance 1
Philosophy informs and inspires writing in
both subtle and obvious ways. Join Joe
Gelonesi from ABC Radio National’s The
Philosopher’s Zone as he discusses its
influences in literature with author Scarlett
Thomas, philosopher Damon Young and
novelist David Brooks.
Free, no bookings
98 THE PAST IS A FOREIGN COUNTRY
May 24, 11.30am-12.30pm
Sydney Dance 2
Winners of the 2012 NSW Premier’s History
Awards, Russell McGregor and Deborah
Beck, discuss how historians recreate
yesterday for the reader with awards judge
Caroline Butler-Bowdon. Presented by the
History Council of NSW and the State
Library of NSW.
Free, no bookings
99 EDWARD RUTHERFURD’S PARIS
May 24, 11.30am-12.30pm
Sydney Theatre
Edward Rutherfurd presents his new novel,
Paris, which weaves intricate historical
details into a sweeping saga, giving the
city of lights a whole new dimension.
$20/$14, bookings 9250 1988,
swf.sydneytheatre.org.au
100 DARK DESIRES
May 24, 11.30am-12.30pm
Richard Wherrett Studio
The dark underbelly of human sexuality is
endlessly fascinating. Krissy Kneen, Emily
Maguire and Chloe Hooper discuss with
Courtney Collins the way it’s explored in their
work. Supported by The Writer’s Coffee Shop.
$14/$10, bookings 9250 1988,
swf.sydneytheatre.org.au
101 ROBYN DAVIDSON: MAKING
TRACKS
May 24, 11.30am-12.30pm
Wharf Theatre 2
In 1977, Robyn Davidson set off from Alice
Springs for the West Australian coast with
a dog and four camels. She speaks to Sally
Warhaft and Emile Sherman about the
enduring interest in her iconic classic,
Tracks, and its film adaptation.
$20/$14, bookings 9250 1988,
swf.sydneytheatre.org.au
Photo: Lisa Cohen
10 swf.org.au
102 THE BOOK CLUB
May 24, 12.45-1.45pm
ABC Studios
Join Jennifer Byrne with regular panellists
Jason Steger and Marieke Hardy for the
taping of a Sydney Writers’ Festival edition
of The Book Club. Featuring special
Festival guests Carlos Ruiz Zafón and
Lauren Beukes.
Free, bookings essential, 8333 3644
103 COLLECTOMANIA: FROM OBJECTS OF
DESIRE TO MAGNIFICENT OBSESSION
May 24, 1-2pm
The Mint
Self-confessed “collectomaniac” Claudia
Chan Shaw shares the motives behind her
obsession, explains the difference between
collecting and hoarding, and celebrates
collections both strange and beautiful.
Free, no bookings
104 NICOLAS ROTHWELL: BELOMOR
May 24, 1-2pm
Bangarra Mezzanine
Nicolas Rothwell’s writing seeks to convey
something of the scale and grandeur of what
surrounds us. Join one of our most original
writers speaking with The Australian’s chief
literary reviewer Geordie Williamson.
Free, no bookings
105 LITERARY BUZZ
May 24, 1-2pm
Philharmonia Studio
International publishers Grazia Rusticali,
Kirsty Dunseath and Michael Zöllner speak
to Hachette’s Matt Richell about what makes
particular books worldwide phenomenons.
Free, no bookings
106 DIGITAL DIVAS
May 24, 1-2pm
Pier 2/3 Main Stage
Wendy Harmer, Anne Summers and Elisabeth
Wynhausen speak with Monica Attard
about how women are embracing digital
publishing as an economical and efficient
way to reach new audiences, and deal with
subjects not catered to by the mainstream
media. Supported by Forming Circles.
$20/$14, bookings 9250 1988,
swf.sydneytheatre.org.au
107 TENSION AND SUSPENSE
May 24, 1-2pm
Pier 2/3 The Loft
Every novel needs a narrative drive, a reason
for people to keep turning the pages. Hannah
Richell, Julienne van Loon and Caroline
Overington discuss with Matthew Condon.
Free, no bookings
108 WHAT SHOULD WE TELL OUR
CHILDREN?
May 24, 1-2pm
Sydney Dance 1
Stephanie Alexander, Chris Sarra, Richard
Gill and Maxine McKew discuss the stories
and ideas we pass on to our children to
prepare them for the way ahead.
Free, no bookings
109 FINCH MEMOIR PRIZE
May 24, 1-2pm
May 24, 2.30-3.30pm
Pier 2/3 Main Stage
The New York Times bestselling author
Claire Messud’s The Woman Upstairs is
a tour de force. She speaks to Caroline
Baum about this “scorching social
anatomy” of ambition, envy and
betrayal. Claire also gives the Closing
Address on Sunday, May 26 (259).
$20/$14, bookings 9250 1988,
swf.sydneytheatre.org.au
Sydney Dance 2
Announcement of the winner of the annual
Finch Memoir Prize for an unpublished
Australian life story. The winner joins Richard
Glover, Susan Duncan and Jacqueline Kent to
discuss the book and the writing process.
Free, no bookings
110 KATE MOSSE: CITADEL
May 24, 1-2pm
Sydney Theatre
Internationally bestselling novelist, playwright
and short story writer Kate Mosse speaks
with Steven Gale about Citadel, the last book
in her Languedoc trilogy, set in World War II.
$20/$14, bookings 9250 1988,
swf.sydneytheatre.org.au
111 THE SATIRISTS
May 24, 1-2pm
Richard Wherrett Studio
If Australians claim to be anti-authoritarian
rabble-rousers, where is the canon of
contemporary satirical novels reflecting this
stereotype? David Foster, William McInnes and
Alan Wearne combine to ruffle some feathers
with David Musgrave.
$14/$10, bookings 9250 1988,
swf.sydneytheatre.org.au
112 READING IN THE E-FUTURE
May 24, 1-2pm
Wharf Theatre 2
Is technology changing how and what we
read? Eli Horowitz, Stuart Buchanan,
Quintin Schevernels and Neil James speak
to Anna Maguire about the various literary
forms of the e-future. Presented in
collaboration with Vivid Ideas. Supported
by the Plain English Foundation.
$20/$14, bookings 9250 1988,
swf.sydneytheatre.org.au
113 AFTERNOONS WITH JAMES
VALENTINE
May 24, 1-3pm
Pier 2/3 Club Stage
James Valentine hosts a fun-filled spin on
the world of writing in this edition of the
702 ABC Sydney Afternoons program.
Presented with 702 ABC Sydney.
Free, no bookings
114 LITERARY MAG REVIVAL
May 24, 2.30-3.30pm
Bangarra Mezzanine
Are literary journals going through a revival?
Join our expert panellists, Craig Taylor of Five
Dials, Rebecca Starford from Kill Your
Darlings and Sam Cooney of The Lifted Brow,
as they discuss with Alice Grundy (Seizure)
what formats are working, and what’s next.
Supported by Macleay College.
Free, no bookings
115 BEYOND CLIMATE DENIAL ON A
NEOLIBERAL PLANET
May 24, 2.30-3.30pm
Philharmonia Studio
Antoinette Abboud, Jeremy Walker and
Robert Manne untangle the complex
relationships between climate, politics and
economic doctrines with Overland editor
Jeff Sparrow. Presented with Overland.
Free, no bookings
FRIDAY, MAY 24
117 ON CRAFT: MONKEYS WITH
TYPEWRITERS
May 24, 2.30-3.30pm
Pier 2/3 The Loft
A session about the craft of writing with
novelist and creative writing teacher Scarlett
Thomas, who offers advice on how to write
good characters. Part of the SWF Craft Series.
Free, no bookings
118 DERMOT HEALY WITH
LUKE DAVIES
May 24, 2.30-3.30pm
Sydney Dance 1
Luke Davies interviews fellow author and
poet Dermot Healy, who Roddy Doyle has
called “Ireland’s greatest writer”. A
discussion embracing everything from the
oral tradition to literary history, Irishness,
exile, otherness, poetry, novels and the
universality of literature.
Free, no bookings
119 TURNING THE TIDE: INDIGENOUS
AUSTRALIAN WRITERS AND THINKERS
May 24, 2.30-3.30pm
Sydney Dance 2
Peter Minter leads a discussion on
Indigenous Australian literature and
identity with Lionel Fogarty, Jeanine Leane
and Melissa Lucashenko. Presented with
the Faculty of Education & Social Work,
University of Sydney.
Free, no bookings
120 LAWRENCE KRAUSS: A UNIVERSE
FROM NOTHING
May 24, 2.30-3.30pm
Sydney Theatre
Lawrence Krauss leads an exploration of
the discoveries that have revolutionised
our understanding of both nothing and
something. Chair: Robyn Williams.
$20/$14, bookings 9250 1988,
swf.sydneytheatre.org.au
Shane Warne, speak to Julia Baird.
$20/$14, bookings 9250 1988,
swf.sydneytheatre.org.au
124 AN AUSTRALIAN MUSICAL STYLE?
May 24, 4-5pm
Bangarra Mezzanine
Has the Australian musical sound, so
prevalent in the ’70s, ’80s and ’90s,
evaporated into the vortex of a globalised
music industry? Richard Gill, Dave Graney
and Andrew Ford look for an Australian
music style, with Mark Mordue.
Free, no bookings
of short stories is Black Vodka.
Free, no bookings
$14/$10, bookings 9250 1988,
swf.sydneytheatre.org.au
ABC Radio National.
Free, no bookings
128 THE PEOPLE BEHIND THE
POLITICS
May 24, 4-5pm
Sydney Dance 1
Using their respective books as jumpingoff points, Michael Brissenden and James
Button discuss with Phillip Adams the
people behind the politics in a
conversation that traverses the Pacific.
Free, no bookings
132 UTS ANTHOLOGY LAUNCH:
THE EVENING LANDS
May 24, 4-5.30pm
Wharf Theatre 2
Amanda Lohrey launches the 2013 UTS
Anthology, The Evening Lands. The event
includes the awarding of the UTS
Anthology Writing Prize, followed by
the Guy Morrison Prize for Literary
Journalism. Presented by the University
of Technology, Sydney.
Free, no bookings
138 STORIES THEN & NOW
May 24, 7-8.30pm
Carriageworks
Brings together six Asian Australians to
tell personal stories from their past, to
unravel the threads to their present lives.
Directed by William Yang and Annette Shun
Wah. Presented by Carriageworks and
Performance 4a.
$35, bookings Ticketmaster
1300 723 038
129 FICTION ON THE EDGE
OF REALITY
May 24, 4-5pm
Sydney Dance 2
Andrew Croome (Midnight Empire), John
M. Green (The Trusted) and Dawn Barker
(Fractured) talk with Tom Wright, drawing
from their experiences to write novels that
are unnervingly real.
Free, no bookings
125 MOUTH TO MIC
May 24, 4-5pm
Philharmonia Studio
International spoken wordsmiths Kate
Tempest and Anis Mojgani join Australian
Poetry Slam Champion CJ Bowerbird, trading
samples of powerful poetry. They discuss the
whys and hows of their craft with Miles
Merrill. Presented with Word Travels.
Free, no bookings
126 WOMEN ON THE RUN
May 24, 4-5pm
Pier 2/3 Main Stage
Michael Robotham, Tara Moss and Lauren
Beukes all have one thing in common: they
have put their female protagonists in
grave danger. Do these feisty femmes
manage to escape from their novels alive?
$20/$14, bookings 9250 1988,
swf.sydneytheatre.org.au
130 SWF SHORTS
May 24, 4-5pm
Sydney Theatre
Sit back and settle in as some of
Australia’s finest actors choose one of
their favourite stories to read. Inspired by
Selected Shorts in New York, with Claudia
Karvan, Jacqueline McKenzie, Brendan
Cowell and William McInnes.
$25/$20, bookings 9250 1988,
swf.sydneytheatre.org.au
127 DEBORAH LEVY: SWIMMING HOME
AND BLACK VODKA
May 24, 4-5pm
Pier 2/3 The Loft
Man Booker-shortlisted author Deborah
Levy speaks with philosopher Damon Young.
Deborah is the author of Swimming Home,
one of The New York Times’ 100 Notable
Books of 2012. Her latest anthology
131 ON ADAPTATION
May 24, 4-5pm
Richard Wherrett Studio
Andrew Upton, Artistic Director of the
Sydney Theatre Company, and playwright
Joanna Murray-Smith explore the
excitement, challenges and questions that
arise when adapting classics for Australian
theatre with Michaela Kalowski.
121 CONTEMPORARY AUSTRALIAN
ASIAN POETRY
May 24, 2.30-3.30pm
Richard Wherrett Studio
Contemporary Asian Australian Poets
editors Adam Aitken, Kim Cheng Boey and
Michelle Cahill discuss with Nicholas Jose
how the anthology might begin to fill
existing cultural gaps in our poetic
representations. With selected readings.
Free, no bookings
JACKIE KAY
123 CONVERSATIONS WITH
RICHARD FIDLER
Photo: Denise Else
122 THE ART AND ETHICS OF
BIOGRAPHY
May 24, 2.30-3.30pm
Wharf Theatre 2
Writing a biography holds a huge
responsibility. How does a biographer
faithfully report the lives of others? Helen
Trinca on Madeleine St John, Sylvie Simmons
on Leonard Cohen, Michael Fullilove on
Franklin D. Roosevelt and Gideon Haigh on
swf.org.au 11
May 24, 3-4pm
Pier 2/3 Club Stage
Critically acclaimed poet, novelist and
short story writer Jackie Kay talks
about her extraordinary life, her
memoir, Red Dust Road, and Fiere,
her recent collection of poems.
Presented with 702 ABC Sydney.
Free, no bookings
133 THANK GOD IT’S FRIDAY WITH
RICHARD GLOVER
May 24, 5-6pm
Pier 2/3 Club Stage
Join Richard Glover on 702 ABC Sydney
Drive for a special edition of his weekly TGIF
comedy show, including live music with Kate
Miller-Heidke. Presented with 702 ABC Sydney.
Free, no bookings
134 LAUNCH: STONED CROWS AND
OTHER AUSTRALIAN ICONS
May 24, 6-7pm
Bangarra Mezzanine
Watch poets taking the pith out of
Australian icons when Newtown Review
of Books launches SpinelessWonders’
annual anthology, Stoned Crows And
Other Australian Icons.
Free, no bookings
135 CRAFTING THE MESSAGE
May 24, 6-7.30pm
Sydney Town Hall
Hear from three image-makers who shape
the politicians you loathe and love. Joe
Rospars, Neil Lawrence and Mark Textor
discuss with Leigh Sales how they mould
political messages and reputations.
$25/$20, bookings 9250 1988,
swf.sydneytheatre.org.au
136 STARBURST WORLD: A NIGHT OF
IMAGINATION, STARGAZING AND WINE
WITH ROSS GIBSON
May 24, 6-8pm
Sydney Observatory
Journey with Ross Gibson to his Starburst
World: William Dawes at Sydney Cove
1788-91 at Sydney Observatory, then enjoy
a glass of wine, hors d’oeuvres and
telescope viewing with astronomers.
$32/$28, bookings 9921 3485,
sydneyobservatory.com
137 RADIO NATIONAL’S FRIDAY DRIVE
WITH JULIAN MORROW
May 24, 6-8pm
Sydney Dance Lounge
ABC Radio National’s Friday Drive,
hosted by Julian Morrow, broadcasts
live from the Festival. Presented with
139 THE 2013 AUSTRALIAN BOOK
INDUSTRY AWARDS
May 24, 7-11pm
Four Seasons Hotel
Join us for the book industry’s premier
event, celebrating the best Australian
books and recognising our finest
authors, booksellers and publishers from
the past year. Presented by the
Australian Publishers Association,
partnering with the Australian
Booksellers Association.
$176 (APA/ABA members)/$220
(non-members), bookings 9281 9788,
publishers.asn.au
140 FESTIVAL CLUB
May 24, 7-11.45pm
Pier 2/3 Club Stage
Featuring Word Travels’ Spoken Four with
international artists Anis Mojgani and
Kate Tempest; The Chaser’s Empty Vessel
with special guests Cheryl Strayed,
Dermot Healy and Eli Horowitz; and SWF
Up Late with HEDTalks featuring Max
Lavergne, Eddie Sharp and Andrew
Denton.
$10 on the door, details swf.org.au
141 PATRICK WHITE PLAYWRIGHTS’
AWARD AND FELLOWSHIP
May 24, 8-10.30pm
Wharf Theatre 2
Join STC’s Artistic Director, Andrew Upton,
for the announcement of the 2012 Patrick
White Playwrights’ Award and Fellowship.
Hear the award-winning work read by
Sydney Theatre Company artists.
$5, bookings 9250 1988,
swf.sydneytheatre.org.au
142 ARE WE CHANGING SEX OR IS
SEX CHANGING US?
May 24, 8.30-10pm
Sydney Town Hall
Are we more liberal than ever about sex?
Have times really changed? Join our
sexperts Naomi Wolf, Faramerz
Dabhoiwala, Frank Bongiorno and
Benjamin Law, as they speak with
Natasha Mitchell.
$25/$20, bookings 9250 1988,
swf.sydneytheatre.org.au
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1HERSA1 S011
walsh bay EVENT LIFT-OUT
THURSDAY, MAY 23 - FRIDAY, MAY 24
12 swf.org.au
THURSDAY, MAY 23
SYDNEY
THEATRE
RICHARD
WHERRETT
WHARF
THEATRE
2
9am
10am
Lost and Found 24
Affairs of the Art 25
11am
11.30am
12pm
12.30pm
2pm
3pm
5pm
Anne Deveson with
Phillip Adams:
Waging Peace 26
Lauren Beukes: The
Shining Girls 22
PIER
2/3
MAINSTAGE
PIER
2/3
CLUB STAGE
PIER
2/3
THE LOFT
The Human Cost
of War 32
Books to Live By 33
Can Writers
Learn Lessons from
Sport? 44
William Dalrymple:
Return of a King 45
Kirstie Clements:
The Vogue Factor
46
Nick Cater: The
Lucky Culture 47
Why Read
Dictionaries? 43
Historical Fact and
Fiction 55
The Ivanhoe Hotel:
David Brooks 56
The 21st Century
Author:
Rachel Botsman 57
What Our Food Says
About Us 53
Family Matters 54
Robert Greene:
On Creativity 65
The Power of
Landscape 66
Pankaj Mishra: From
the Ruins of Empire
67
Writing Painful
Experiences 63
China, Friend or
Foe 64
10am
Meet the NSW
Premier’s Literary
Award winners 18
The Uncommon
Reader 20
What Makes
Fabulous Female
Fiction? 28
The Public
Philosopher:
Michael Sandel 30
Aleks Krotoski:
Untangling the Web
29
The Spirit of
Romance 31
Harbour City Poets:
Some People You
May Know 38
Fan Fiction 39
Bedtime Stories
with Phillip Adams
41
Is There a
Soundtrack? 40
Griffith REVIEW:
Women and Power
42
Antarctica
Dreaming 48
Love and
Extinction 49
By the Book:
Ramona Koval with
Richard Gill 51
In their Own Words:
Craig Taylor 50
A Character Called
Place 17
Narrative in
Documentary 23
On Collecting 36
4pm
4.30pm
PHILHARMONIA
STUDIO
9.30am
Maxine McKew: Out
of the Trenches 35
2.30pm
3.30pm
BANGARRA
MEZZANINE
9am
Faramerz
Dabhoiwala: The
Origins of Sex 34
1pm
1.30pm
SYDNEY
DANCE
LOUNGE
Coffee and Papers
with The Sydney
Morning Herald 15
9.30am
10.30am
SYDNEY
DANCE
2
SYDNEY
DANCE
1
BAR AT THE
END OF
THE WHARF
Michelle de
Kretser: Questions
of Travel 27
Daniel Morden:
The Empty Hand
59
Rare Object Series
Launch 19
Unexpected
Motherhood 21
11am
11.30am
The Big Read 61
People of Letters
68
The Garden:
Damon Young 62
Also showing
tonight at City Recital
Hall Angel Place:
69 Anita Desai with
Deborah Levy
77 Obama: The Digital
Campaign
9pm
9.30pm
10pm
Evenings with
Dominic Knight
75
8pm
8.30pm
9pm
The Chaser’s
Empty Vessel 76
9.30pm
10pm
10.30pm
11pm
11pm
SWF Up Late
76
11.30pm
11.30pm
12am
12am
FRIDAY, MAY 24
SYDNEY
THEATRE
RICHARD
WHERRETT
WHARF
THEATRE
2
9am
SYDNEY
DANCE
2
SYDNEY
DANCE
1
BAR AT THE
END OF
THE WHARF
SYDNEY
DANCE
LOUNGE
BANGARRA
MEZZANINE
PHILHARMONIA
STUDIO
PIER
2/3
MAINSTAGE
10am
Learning From
The Past 88
Anna Krien: Sex,
Power and Sport 89
11am
Book Design:
A Thousand
Words Worth 90
Dark Desires 100
Kate Mosse:
Citadel 110
The Satirists 111
Lawrence Krauss:
A Universe From
Nothing 120
Contemporary
Australian Asian
Poetry 121
SWF Shorts 130
On Adaptation 131
Robyn Davidson:
Making Tracks 101
PIER
2/3
THE LOFT
9.30am
Griffith REVIEW:
Reviving the
Novella 86
For the Love of
Books 85
Books and Arts
Daily with Michael
Cathcart 87
Writing Across
Forms 81
Writers Who
Blog 82
Sex and
Representation 83
Cryptic Crossword
Solving with DA 91
Edward
Rutherfurd’s
Paris 99
PIER
2/3
CLUB STAGE
9am
Coffee and Papers
with The Sydney
Morning Herald 78
9.30am
Philosophy and
Writing 97
The Past is a
Foreign Country 98
Extraordinary
Stories of
Migration 93
How Fares the
Revolution? 94
Nicolas Rothwell:
Belomor 104
Literary Buzz 105
Why Criticism
Matters 95
Mornings with
Linda Mottram 79
Conversations with
Richard Fidler:
Cheryl Strayed 92
10am
A Prize Of One’s
Own 84
11.30am
The People’s
Revolution 96
5pm
What Should We Tell Finch Memoir Prize
109
Our Children? 108
The Art and Ethics
of Biography 122
Dermot Healy with
Luke Davies 118
Turning the Tide 119
UTS Anthology
Launch: The Evening
Lands 132
The People Behind
the Politics 128
Fiction on the Edge
of Reality 129
Literary Mag
Revival 114
An Australian
Musical Style? 124
12.30pm
6pm
6.30pm
RN’s Friday Drive
with Julian Morrow
137
7pm
7.30pm
8pm
9pm
9.30pm
10pm
10.30pm
11pm
11.30pm
12am
Patrick White
Playwrights’
Award and
Fellowship
141
Digital Divas 106
Afternoons with
James Valentine 113
Beyond Climate
Claire Messud:
Denial on a
The Woman Upstairs
Conversations with
Neoliberal Planet 115
116
Richard Fidler:
Jackie Kay 123
Mouth to Mic 125
Also showing
tonight at Town Hall:
135 Crafting the
Message
142 Are We Changing
Sex or is Sex
Changing Us?
Tension and
Suspense 107
Launch: Stoned
Crows and Other
Australian Icons
134
1.30pm
2pm
On Craft:
Scarlett Thomas
117
Deborah Levy:
Swimming Home
and Black Vodka
127
Women on the
Run 126
Thank God It’s
Friday with Richard
Glover 133
5.30pm
8.30pm
12pm
1pm
Reading in the
E-Future 112
4pm
4.30pm
10.30am
11am
1pm
3.30pm
5pm
7.30pm
Erotic Fan Fiction
76
10.30pm
3pm
4.30pm
7pm
8.30pm
2.30pm
3.30pm
6.30pm
8pm
2pm
3pm
6pm
7.30pm
1.30pm
2pm
5.30pm
7pm
12.30pm
1.30pm
4pm
The Cutting Edge
60
6pm
12pm
1pm
2.30pm
On Craft:
Dermot Healy 52
6.30pm
11.30am
12pm
12.30pm
5.30pm
10.30am
10.30am
2.30pm
3pm
3.30pm
4pm
4.30pm
5pm
5.30pm
6pm
6.30pm
7pm
7.30pm
Spoken Four 140
8pm
8.30pm
9pm
The Chaser’s
Empty Vessel 140
9.30pm
10pm
10.30pm
SWF Up Late
140
11pm
11.30pm
12am
walsh bay EVENT LIFT-OUT
SATURDAY, MAY 25 - SUNDAY, MAY 26
SATURDAY, MAY 25
SYDNEY
THEATRE
RICHARD
WHERRETT
9am
10.30am
11am
12pm
2pm
3pm
PIER
2/3
MAINSTAGE
PIER
2/3
CLUB STAGE
PIER
2/3
THE LOFT
Human Endurance
in the Extreme
South 153
9.30am
10am
Courtney Collins:
The Burial 163
Patrick Ness: The
Crane Wife 164
Sylvie Simmons on
Leonard Cohen 160
WOW Bites 161
James Wood: The
Fun Stuff 173
Robert Drewe:
Montebello 174
The Misogyny
Factor: Anne
Summers 175
What the Classics
Teach Us 170
Hactivism, Internet
Privacy and
Encryption 171
Escape and
Reinvention 165
Carlos Ruiz Zafón
183
In Cold Blood 184
Around the World in
Eighty Etymologies:
Mark Forsyth 185
The Future Face
of Asia 181
War Stories 182
Kate Atkinson: Life
After Life 193
In Praise of
Short Form 194
Diego Marani 191
Australian
Character 192
4pm
4.30pm
PHILHARMONIA
STUDIO
9am
Naomi Wolf with Mia
Freedman 162
2.30pm
3.30pm
BANGARRA
MEZZANINE
Telling Stories:
Conflict in Art 152
1pm
1.30pm
SYDNEY
DANCE
LOUNGE
Janine di Giovanni:
Love, War and
Redemption 151
11.30am
12.30pm
SYDNEY
DANCE
2
Coffee and Papers
with The Sydney
Morning Herald 143
9.30am
10am
SYDNEY
DANCE
1
BAR AT THE
END OF
THE WHARF
WHARF
THEATRE
2
swf.org.au 13
5pm
Water: New Writing
154
Effective Political
Storytelling:
Stephen Muller 195
Fifty Shades of
Feminism 149
Storytelling and
Business 150
Boys to Men 144
Writing Great TV 145
Defining Moments
147
The Silent History
146
Words and Music
148
11am
11.30am
Who Are We Without
Language? 155
Question Time with
Sheila Heti 157
Love and Laughter
159
When a Book Travels Ideas That Changed
the World 168
166
Five Dials Launch
167
Rachael Treasure
and Rural
Romance 169
Questions of
Morality 176
Creative Writing as
Freedom, Education
as Exploration 177
Shami Chakrabarti:
WOW Lecture 179
Stella Prize Trivia
178
Marathon Poetry
Reading 187
Meet The SMH Best
Young Australian
Novelists 188
Bob Brown: The
Future of Activism
190
Now Hear This:
Lost the Plot 189
Speculative Fiction
156
Tash Aw: Five Star
Billionaire 158
Speed Mentoring
196
Meanjin LetterRips
197
Is Caxton Cactus
- Newspaper
Nullius? 199
5x15 198
9pm
10pm
Story Club 202
9pm
The Chaser’s
Empty Vessel 202
9.30pm
10pm
10.30pm
11pm
SWF Up Late
202
11.30pm
11.30pm
12am
12am
SUNDAY, MAY 26
SYDNEY
THEATRE
RICHARD
WHERRETT
WHARF
THEATRE
2
9am
2.30pm
3pm
3.30pm
BAR AT THE
END OF
THE WHARF
SYDNEY
DANCE
1
SYDNEY
DANCE
2
SYDNEY
DANCE
LOUNGE
BANGARRA
MEZZANINE
PHILHARMONIA
STUDIO
PIER
2/3
MAINSTAGE
PIER
2/3
CLUB STAGE
9am
Sylvia Nasar: Is the
West Over and What
Would Keynes say?
212
Framing a Life:
On Memoir 213
Gillian Mears: Foal’s Luke Davies: Poetry,
Fiction, Screen and
Bread and Living
Beyond 226
Life 225
The Amber Amulet:
Short Film Screening
214
Destroying
the Joint 210
Griffith REVIEW:
Tasmania – The Soft
Power of Culture 211
Transformation:
Books to Film, Film
to Books 205
Fantastical Tales
206
Hugh Mackay:
What Makes a Life
Worth Living? 208
Fun and Games
with Libba and
Justine 207
Daniel Morden:
Tales From the
Odyssey 209
Sheila Heti: How
Should a Person
Be? 228
John Cantwell:
Exit Wounds 223
Press Freedom
and the Public’s
Right to Know 224
Research and
Writing 218
Stella Stories 219
Jane Austen’s Pride
and Prejudice 221
Storytelling for
Young and Old 220
Love Letter to
Iceland:
Hannah Kent 222
Cricket and
Country 237
Free Voices:
Waleed Aly Sydney
PEN Lecture 238
Sex, Deception
and Justice: Mark
Tedeschi 232
Ben Goldacre:
Bad Pharma 235
Aleks Krotoski:
Stories without
Words 234
Is Rhetoric Dead
in the Age of the
Soundbite? 239
Stories That Last
240
Archie Roach
241
SWF Shorts: The
One Thousand and
One Nights 253
Karl Ove
Knausgaard: My
Struggle 254
Adapting Reality:
The Truth is in
the Details 256
4pm
9.30am
Food: New Writing
255
Canberra
Unmasked 250
Tales From the
Editorial Front Line
251
Words Collide:
Kate Tempest and
Anis Mojgani 252
Following
Gertrude Stein 247
The Art and Pleasure
of Reading 233
Unlocked: Poets,
Police and Prisoners
257
5.30pm
On Craft:
Deborah Levy 249
10pm
10.30pm
11pm
11.30pm
12am
12pm
12.30pm
1pm
1.30pm
2pm
3pm
5pm
5.30pm
6pm
6.30pm
7.30pm
9pm
11.30am
4.30pm
Closing Address:
Claire Messud 259
7pm
9.30pm
11am
4pm
6.30pm
8.30pm
10.30am
3.30pm
6pm
8pm
Dear Sugar:
Cheryl Strayed
236
10am
2.30pm
Almost French to
All Good Things:
Sarah Turnbull 248
4.30pm
5pm
PIER
2/3
THE LOFT
Coffee and Papers
with The Sydney
Morning Herald 204
9.30am
2pm
5pm
8.30pm
11pm
1pm
4.30pm
8pm
10.30pm
1.30pm
3.30pm
6.30pm
Also showing
tonight at Town Hall:
200 Molly Ringwald:
When It Happens to You
203 I’m a Feminist
– Can I Vajazzle?
9.30pm
12.30pm
3pm
7.30pm
8.30pm
12pm
2pm
7pm
8pm
11.30am
1.30pm
6pm
7.30pm
11am
1pm
4pm
7pm
10am
12.30pm
5.30pm
6pm
10.30am
12pm
2.30pm
On Craft:
Jackie Kay 180
5.30pm
6.30pm
10.30am
Don’t miss
kids’ activities
and events at The
Big Top for
Little People.
See page 19.
Finale: Molly
Ringwald and Her
Jazz Band 260
7pm
7.30pm
8pm
8.30pm
9pm
9.30pm
10pm
10.30pm
11pm
11.30pm
12am
SATURDAY, MAY 25
14 swf.org.au
143 COFFEE AND PAPERS WITH THE
SYDNEY MORNING HERALD
May 25, 9-10am
The Bar at the End of the Wharf
Join The Sydney Morning Herald
journalists and special guest Ben Goldacre
to hear their take on the stand-out stories
and what is making news headlines today.
Supported by The Sydney Morning Herald.
Free, no bookings
147 DEFINING MOMENTS
May 25, 10-11am
Pier 2/3 Main Stage
Claire Messud, Georgia Blain and Cate
Kennedy speak to Monica Dux about delving
into the truth of human nature: our
motivations and desires. They discuss
their individual approaches to writing.
$20/$14, bookings 9250 1988,
swf.sydneytheatre.org.au
144 BOYS TO MEN
May 25, 10-11am
Bangarra Mezzanine
How challenging is it for boys to become
men? Richard Glover discusses the issues for
boys in this period of transition with Dr Arne
Rubinstein, Richard Beasley and Craig Silvey.
Free, no bookings
148 WORDS AND MUSIC
May 25, 10-11am
Pier 2/3 The Loft
Music and literature are two very different
artistic mediums, yet wholly connected.
Jeff Lang, Kate Miller-Heidke, Kate Fagan
and Andrew Ford discuss with Luke Davies
how lyrics and poetry intertwine.
Free, no bookings
149 FIFTY SHADES OF FEMINISM
May 25, 10-11am
Sydney Dance 1
Celebrating the launch of Virago’s Fifty
Shades of Feminism, contributors Jude
Kelly, Shami Chakrabarti and Kate Mosse
discuss with ABC Radio National’s Natasha
Mitchell what being a woman today really
is about. Presented with ABC Radio
National and Southbank Centre’s WOW.
Free, no bookings
150 RACHEL BOTSMAN: STORYTELLING
AND BUSINESS
May 25, 10-11am
Sydney Dance 2
Corporations are discovering the power of
storytelling and using it to great effect. Join
Shehan Karunatilaka (Chinaman), Robert
Greene (Mastery), Rachel Botsman (What’s
145 WRITING GREAT TV
May 25, 10-11am
Philharmonia Studio
Australian TV writing is going through a
boom period, with hit series such as Puberty
Blues, Offspring, Miss Fisher’s Murder
Mysteries, Underbelly, Paper Giants and
Howzat! Join Deb Cox, Christopher Lee and
Debra Oswald with Ruth Ritchie as they
share their inside knowledge.
Free, no bookings
JANINE DI
GIOVANNI
151 LOVE, WAR & REDEMPTION
Photo: Rannjan Joawn
146 THE SILENT HISTORY
May 25, 10-11am
Pier 2/3 Club Stage
Sam Cooney speaks to Eli Horowitz about
The Silent History, his revolutionary novel
written for the iPad and iPhone. With readings
from Australian contributors Josephine
Rowe, Krissy Kneen and Sam Cooney.
$14/$10, bookings 9250 1988,
swf.sydneytheatre.org.au
OPERA
VERDI
May 25, 10-11am
Sydney Theatre
War correspondent Janine di Giovanni
has reported on most of the world’s
violent conflicts since the late 1980s.
She talks with ABC TV The Book Club’s
Jennifer Byrne about her deeply
moving memoir, Ghosts by Daylight.
$25/$20, bookings 9250 1988,
swf.sydneytheatre.org.au
Mine Is Yours) and Neil Lawrence, famed
for his renowned “Kevin 07” campaign, as
they speak with Moya Sayer-Jones.
Supported by the Plain English Foundation.
Free, no bookings
152 TELLING STORIES: CONFLICT IN ART
May 25, 10-11am
Richard Wherrett Studio
How do artists engage with war and what
stories are they telling? MCA Senior Curator
Rachel Kent speaks with critic Michael Fried,
Afghan artist Khadim Ali and award-winning
photographer Benjamin Lowy. With thanks to
the Museum of Contemporary Art, Head On
Photo Festival and the University of Sydney.
$14/$10, bookings 9250 1988,
swf.sydneytheatre.org.au
155 WHO ARE WE WITHOUT
LANGUAGE?
May 25, 11.30am-12.30pm
Bangarra Mezzanine
A discussion of language and its place
in human identity, with Diego Marani,
Martin Harrison, Karl Ove Knausgaard
and Sue Woolfe.
Free, no bookings
156 SPECULATIVE FICTION
May 25, 11.30am-12.30pm
Philharmonia Studio
Join Lauren Beukes, Scott Westerfeld,
David M. Henley and James Bradley as they
speculate on speculative fiction. What is it?
Where do the boundaries blur between
genres and sub-genres?
Free, no bookings
153 HUMAN ENDURANCE IN THE
EXTREME SOUTH
May 25, 10-11am
Wharf Theatre 2
Aussie explorers Justin Jones and James
Castrission (Extreme South) are constantly
pushing the boundaries of human endurance.
Last year they completed the longest ever
unsupported polar expedition. Hear Justin
speak about their daring journey.
$20/$14, bookings 9250 1988,
swf.sydneytheatre.org.au
157 QUESTION TIME WITH
SHEILA HETI
May 25, 11.30am-12.30pm
Pier 2/3 Club Stage
Sheila Heti blends the real and imaginary
in her novel, How Should a Person Be?
In this Q&A performance she asks the
audience questions to find out what
makes a person “interesting”.
$14/$10, bookings 9250 1988,
swf.sydneytheatre.org.au
154 WATER: NEW WRITING
May 25, 10.30-11.30am
The Bar at the End of the Wharf
India’s Anita Desai, Ireland’s Dermot Healy
and Australia’s Amanda Lohrey read new
short pieces themed around water,
especially created for the 2013 Sydney
Writers’ Festival. Hosted by UNSW’s
Stephanie Bishop. Supported by UNSW.
Free, no bookings
158 TASH AW: FIVE STAR BILLIONAIRE
May 25, 11.30am-12.30pm
Pier 2/3 Main Stage
ABC Radio National’s Michael Cathcart
chats to Tash Aw about his new novel,
Five Star Billionaire, a tale of migrant
Malaysian workers forging lives for
themselves in sprawling Shanghai.
$20/$14, bookings 9250 1988,
swf.sydneytheatre.org.au
Soul-stirring singing, intense emotions, thrilling music...
Welcome to the spectacular world of opera.
At Sydney Opera House • 29 June – 2 November
PUCCINI
INTRODUCE YOUR
MUM TO THE OPERA
THIS MOTHER’S DAY
Give her a gift voucher for tickets to
the opera and you give her a special
occasion, a night to remember and an
experience to cherish. Gift vouchers
come in an attractive presentation pack
or electronic format and can be mailed
or emailed to you or your mum.
Only available through Opera Australia.
LA TRAVIATA TOSCA
30 JULY – 31 AUGUST
6 JULY – 31 AUGUST
Emma Matthews, one of Australia’s leading sopranos, stars as
Violetta Valéry in Elijah Moshinsky’s acclaimed production of
Verdi’s heartbreaking tale. Set in Paris in the late 19th century,
La Traviata remains one of the most beautiful operas ever written
and is a perfect first-time opera experience.
Puccini’s stirring music dramatises a dark tale of deceit, murder and
jealousy as two young lovers, the painter Mario Cavaradossi and
singer Floria Tosca, become trapped in a plot to help their friend
escape from prison. Directed by John Bell, this production is rich
with drama and emotion and will have you on the edge of your seat.
TICKETS FROM $108*
Opera Australia (02) 9318 8200 • opera-australia.org.au
Sydney Opera House (02) 9250 7777 • sydneyoperahouse.com
*Conditions and booking fees may apply.
1HERSA1 S014
PRINCIPAL PARTNER
GOVERNMENT PARTNERS
HERO PARTNER
PERFORMANCE PARTNER
SATURDAY, MAY 25
159 LOVE AND LAUGHTER
May 25, 11.30am-12.30pm
Pier 2/3 The Loft
In their recent novels, both William McInnes
and Graeme Simsion have created engaging,
loveable characters that make us laugh
and empathise with them. What is their
secret? They talk with Fiona Harari.
Free, no bookings
160 SYLVIE SIMMONS ON
LEONARD COHEN
May 25, 11.30am-12.30pm
Sydney Dance 1
Sylvie Simmons, one of the best-known
names in British rock writing, talks to ABC
Radio National’s Robbie Buck about I’m
Your Man, her biography of Leonard
Cohen. Presented with ABC Radio National.
Free, no bookings
161 WOW BITES
May 25, 11.30am-12.30pm
Sydney Dance 2
Hear amazing women’s stories as part of
WOW Bites: talks and ideas, achievements,
obsessions, performances, and more. With
Yassmin Abdel-Magied, Melissa Lucashenko,
Kristi Mansfield, Katharine Brisbane, Elaf
Khaleel and Maheen Bhutta. Presented
with Southbank Centre’s WOW.
Free, no bookings
162 NAOMI WOLF WITH
MIA FREEDMAN
May 25, 11.30am-12.30pm
Sydney Theatre
Can women only be creative if they’re
having great sex? Feminist writer Naomi
Wolf is never far from controversy. Her first
book, The Beauty Myth, launched a new
wave of feminism and her latest work,
Vagina: A New Biography, is no less
provocative. Naomi speaks to Mia Freedman.
$20/$14, bookings 9250 1988,
swf.sydneytheatre.org.au
163 COURTNEY COLLINS: THE BURIAL
May 25, 11.30am-12.30pm
Richard Wherrett Studio
Courtney Collins’ debut novel, The Burial,
is inspired by real-life bushranger Jessie
Hickman. Courtney speaks to Claudia
Karvan about this heartbreaking novel.
$14/$10, bookings 9250 1988,
swf.sydneytheatre.org.au
164 PATRICK NESS: THE CRANE WIFE
May 25, 11.30am-12.30pm
Wharf Theatre 2
Patrick Ness speaks to Steven Gale about
The Crane Wife, his first adult novel in nine
years. Based on an ancient Japanese
folk-tale, it’s a hymn to the creative
imagination and a celebration of the
power of love.
$20/$14, bookings 9250 1988,
swf.sydneytheatre.org.au
165 ESCAPE AND REINVENTION
May 25, 1-2pm
Bangarra Mezzanine
What is it about human nature that drives
many of us to run away from our everyday
lives to seek out different experiences in
other places? Emily Maguire, Catherine
Deveny and Arnold Zable speak to Sarah
Macdonald and ponder why home isn’t
always where the heart is.
Free, no bookings
166 WHEN A BOOK TRAVELS
May 25, 1-2pm
Philharmonia Studio
Craig Silvey and Chloe Hooper discuss with
international publishers, Erin Clarke and
Paul Whitlatch, the way Australian books
are edited and packaged for different
markets. Chaired by Penguin’s Ben Ball.
Includes the announcement of the 2014
Beatrice Davis Editorial Fellowship.
Supported by Macleay College.
Free, no bookings
JAMES WOOD
173 THE FUN STUFF
May 25, 1-2pm
Sydney Theatre
In his only solo appearance at the
Festival, The New Yorker’s book critic
James Wood talks to Susan Wyndham,
Literary Editor of The Sydney Morning
Herald, about the art of critiquing. He
discusses his latest collection of
essays, The Fun Stuff. Supported by
the University of Sydney.
$20/$14, bookings 9250 1988,
swf.sydneytheatre.org.au
167 FIVE DIALS LAUNCH
May 25, 1-2pm
Pier 2/3 Club Stage
Join Five Dials editor Craig Taylor as he
releases a special edition of this
international magazine, which includes
new Australian writing.
Free, no bookings
168 IDEAS THAT CHANGED THE WORLD
May 25, 1-2pm
Pier 2/3 Main Stage
Throughout history, remarkable ideas
have changed the way we play, work and
think. Sylvia Nasar, Rachel Botsman and
Aleks Krotoski speak to Richard Glover
about some of the key ideas that have
irrevocably changed our lives.
Supported by Forming Circles.
$20/$14, bookings 9250 1988,
swf.sydneytheatre.org.au
169 RACHAEL TREASURE AND RURAL
ROMANCE
May 25, 1-2pm
Pier 2/3 The Loft
Rachael Treasure talks to Caroline
Baum about her latest novel, The Farmer’s
Wife, and the phenomenon of rural
romance that she kick-started with her
first novel, Jillaroo.
Free, no bookings
swf.org.au 15
170 WHAT THE CLASSICS TEACH US
May 25, 1-2pm
Sydney Dance 1
Alastair Blanshard speaks to Robert Greene,
David Brooks and Richard Gill about the
ways in which they bring new life and
relevance to classic stories in their work.
Free, no bookings
171 HACTIVISM, INTERNET PRIVACY
AND ENCRYPTION: THE FUTURE OF
POLITICS?
May 25, 1-2pm
Sydney Dance 2
Will the future belong to those who
understand technology? Cryptoparty founder
Asher Wolf, programmer Benjamin Laird and
author Neil Chenoweth discuss with Overland
editor Jeff Sparrow. Presented with Overland.
Free, no bookings
172 UNDER 10S FEMINIST CORNER
May 25, 1-2pm
Sydney Dance Studio
Join other young feminists for an
interactive workshop exploring what being
a girl means and how to start a campaign
in your bedroom. Presented with
Southbank Centre’s WOW.
Free, bookings essential,
email [email protected]
174 ROBERT DREWE: MONTEBELLO
May 25, 1-2pm
Richard Wherrett Studio
Malcolm Knox speaks to award-winning
novelist, non-fiction writer and editor
Robert Drewe about Montebello, the sequel
to his acclaimed memoir, The Shark Net.
$14/$10, bookings 9250 1988,
swf.sydneytheatre.org.au
1HERSA1 S015
16 swf.org.au
175 THE MISOGYNY FACTOR
May 25, 1-2pm
Wharf Theatre 2
Anne Summers takes a hard look at what
kind of society Australia really is in light of
the unprecedented expressions of hatred
directed at women at the top.
$20/$14, bookings 9250 1988,
swf.sydneytheatre.org.au
SATURDAY, MAY 25
CARLOS RUIZ ZAFÓN
183 IN CONVERSATION WITH SUZANNE LEAL
188 MEET THE SYDNEY MORNING
HERALD BEST YOUNG AUSTRALIAN
NOVELISTS
May 25, 4-5pm
Philharmonia Studio
Each year The Sydney Morning Herald
names the authors it considers the best
young novelists in the country. SMH Literary
Editor Susan Wyndham leads a discussion
with the 2013 winners about their novels,
with short readings. Presented with The
Sydney Morning Herald.
Free, no bookings
246 STORIES THEN & NOW
May 25, 2-3.30pm
Carriageworks
Stories Then & Now brings together six
Asian Australians to tell stories from their
past, unravelling the threads to their
present day lives. Directed by William
Yang and Annette Shun Wah. Presented by
Carriageworks and Performance 4a.
$35, bookings Ticketmaster
1300 723 038
176 QUESTIONS OF MORALITY
May 25, 2.30-3.30pm
Bangarra Mezzanine
Infanticide, incest or even using one’s
family as creative fodder ... literature is a
perfect vehicle to explore human
boundaries. Karl Ove Knausgaard, Amy
Espeseth, Krissy Kneen and Courtney
Collins discuss moral and social
boundaries in their work, with Steven Gale.
Free, no bookings
177 CREATIVE WRITING AS FREEDOM,
EDUCATION AS EXPLORATION
May 25, 2.30-3.30pm
Philharmonia Studio
Creative writing is more than just words on
a page; it’s freedom. Libby Gleeson,
Professor Robyn Ewing and Teya
Dusseldorp discuss how imaginative
freedom can improve children’s life
chances. Presented with Sydney PEN.
Free, no bookings
178 STELLA PRIZE TRIVIA
May 25, 2.30-3.30pm
Pier 2/3 Club Stage
Join MC Sally Warhaft and some of your
favourite Australian authors in an
afternoon of trivia and laughs, celebrating
the writing of Australian women, past and
present. Presented with The Stella Prize.
Free, no bookings
179 SHAMI CHAKRABARTI: WOW AT
SYDNEY WRITERS’ FESTIVAL LECTURE
May 25, 2.30-3.30pm
Pier 2/3 Main Stage
Shami Chakrabarti, Director of the UK’s
Liberty, sets out the story of women’s
struggles for freedom across the world
– and why it’s important that we don’t
stop making noise. Presented with
Southbank Centre’s WOW.
$20/$14, bookings 9250 1988,
swf.sydneytheatre.org.au
and sensuality, the everyday and the ecstatic.
With Elizabeth Allen, Michael Brennan, L.K.
Holt, Jessica L. Wilkinson, Luke Davies, Kate
Fagan and Lionel Fogarty, hosted by Michelle
Cahill. Supported by Forming Circles.
Free, no bookings
May 25, 2.30-3.30pm
Sydney Theatre
Carlos Ruiz Zafón, author of
international bestseller The Shadow of
the Wind, and one of the world’s most
180 ON CRAFT: HOW THE
IMAGINATION CAN HELP US SURVIVE
May 25, 2.30-3.30pm
Pier 2/3 The Loft
Plagued by dementia, delusions and
desperation, the characters in Jackie Kay’s
books often struggle with reality. In this
lecture, Jackie will speak about how they
use imagination to survive. Part of the SWF
Craft Series. Supported by Forming Circles.
Free, no bookings
181 THE FUTURE FACE OF ASIA
May 25, 2.30-3.30pm
Sydney Dance 1
Where is Asia, the world’s largest and most
populous continent, heading next? Will the
21st century be Asia’s finest? Tash Aw,
Pankaj Mishra and Benjamin Law debate
Asia’s future with Monica Attard.
Free, no bookings
182 WAR STORIES
May 25, 2.30-3.30pm
Sydney Dance 2
Mike Carlton speaks to Ross McMullin, Tim
Bowden and national treasure, Thai-Burma
Railway survivor, 92-year-old Tom Uren,
about Australians who went to war.
Free, no bookings
184 IN COLD BLOOD
May 25, 2.30-3.30pm
Richard Wherrett Studio
In the tradition of Truman Capote’s In Cold
Blood, three bold Australian non-fiction
loved authors, speaks to Suzanne Leal
about his work and thrilling new book,
The Prisoner of Heaven.
$20/$14, bookings 9250 1988,
swf.sydneytheatre.org.au
writers bring insights into the complexities
of criminal trials and trial by media. Anna
Krien, Mark Tedeschi AM QC and Matthew
Condon discuss with P.M. Newton.
$14/$10, bookings 9250 1988,
swf.sydneytheatre.org.au
185 AROUND THE WORLD IN
EIGHTY ETYMOLOGIES
May 25, 2.30-3.30pm
Wharf Theatre 2
English language “pedant” and author Mark
Forsyth circles the world in 80 etymologies:
30 seconds each, with etymologies from
London to Sydney and beyond.
$20/$14, bookings 9250 1988,
swf.sydneytheatre.org.au
186 LUCKY SYDNEY: A LUCKY
PEACH EVENT
May 25, 4-5pm
Grain Bar, Four Seasons Hotel
Quarterly journal of food and writing
Lucky Peach is a culinary bible produced
by Editor-in-Chief Chris Ying and superchef
David Chang (Momofuku). Chris shares his
recipe for preparing the perfect
publication and his tips for crafting
delicious food writing with Adam Liaw.
Presented in collaboration with Vivid Ideas.
Free, no bookings
187 MARATHON POETRY READING
May 25, 4-5pm
Bangarra Mezzanine
An afternoon of poetics and protest, sense
189 NOW HEAR THIS: LOST THE PLOT
May 25, 4-5pm
Pier 2/3 Club Stage
Join ABC Radio National’s Now Hear This
host Melanie Tait and Conversations’ Richard
Fidler for a special afternoon of live stories,
as five well-known Australians reveal their
true story on the theme, “Lost the Plot”.
$14/$10, bookings 9250 1988,
swf.sydneytheatre.org.au
190 BOB BROWN: THE FUTURE
OF ACTIVISM
May 25, 4-5pm
Pier 2/3 Main Stage
In 1976, a young Bob Brown fasted at the top
of Hobart’s Mount Wellington in protest
against the arrival of a nuclear warship.
Now, after 16 years in the Senate, he’s joined
the Sea Shepherd to direct their campaign
against Japanese whalers. Amanda Lohrey
talks to him about the future of activism.
$20/$14, bookings 9250 1988,
swf.sydneytheatre.org.au
191 DIEGO MARANI
May 25, 4-5pm
Sydney Dance 1
Diego Marani (novelist, essayist, translator
and creator of Europanto, a language
without rules) talks with the Plain English
Foundation’s Neil James about his recent
novels, looking at whether we need
language to define ourselves. Supported
by the Plain English Foundation.
Free, no bookings
192 AUSTRALIAN CHARACTER
May 25, 4-5pm
Sydney Dance 2
What does the fabric of our multicultural
society say about who we are? How exactly
do we define the Australian character, and is
it racist to say Australia and Australians are
special? Nick Cater, Tim Soutphommasane
and Pat Grant speak with Julia Baird.
Free, no bookings
193 KATE ATKINSON: LIFE AFTER LIFE
May 25, 4-5pm
Sydney Theatre
Caroline Baum speaks to Kate Atkinson
about Life After Life, her most ambitious
novel to date. “Kate Atkinson’s new novel is
a box of delights ... If you wish to be moved
and astonished, read it” (Hilary Mantel).
$20/$14, bookings 9250 1988,
swf.sydneytheatre.org.au
194 IN PRAISE OF SHORT FORM
May 25, 4-5pm
Richard Wherrett Studio
Join Deborah Levy, Anita Desai and Cate
Kennedy as they speak to Tegan Bennett
Daylight about why telling a story in short
form can be immensely satisfying.
$14/$10, bookings 9250 1988,
swf.sydneytheatre.org.au
195 EFFECTIVE POLITICAL
STORYTELLING: STEPHEN MULLER
May 25, 4-5pm
Wharf Theatre 2
Stephen Muller, the Obama campaign’s
Video Director, speaks to Marc Fennell
about building the largest internal digital
team in political history, producing 1300
pieces of video content that resulted in
more than 130 million views.
$20/$14, bookings 9250 1988,
swf.sydneytheatre.org.au
196 SPEED MENTORING
May 25, 4-5.30pm
Pier 2/3 The Loft
Join a women-only speed-mentoring
session with experts across many fields,
for four 15-minute mentoring sessions. To
sign up to be a mentor or apply to be a
mentee, use the email below. Places on a
first come first served basis. Presented
with Southbank Centre’s WOW.
Free, registration essential, email
[email protected]
197 MEANJIN LETTERRIPS
May 25, 5.30-6.30pm
Sydney Dance Lounge
Meanjin goes head-to-head with rival
Sydney Review of Books in a series of fun,
fast-paced literary games, to see who the
real literary heavyweights are.
Free, no bookings
198 5X15
May 25, 5.30-7pm
Sydney Theatre
Five speakers, 15 minutes: Amelia Lester
dishes the inside word on The New Yorker;
author Jackie Kay shares taxi chats; Urthboy
defends unclean slates and new beginnings;
Kate Mosse speaks about the importance of
female heroes; and Lawrence Krauss argues
that Star Trek saved the world.
$20/$14, bookings 9250 1988,
swf.sydneytheatre.org.au
Nine letter word for engrossed
Crossword lovers will love David Astle’s Cryptic Crossword event on Friday, May 24 at this year’s
Sydney Writers’ Festival, proudly supported by The Sydney Morning Herald.
You’ll also love the SMH app for iPad® which gives you more of the content you love: interactive
crosswords, video in full HD, full screen images and full depth profiles. Best of all, for a limited time
you get free access to the new features and all your SMH favourites.
Download the SMH for iPad from App StoreSM today.
Apple, the Apple logo and iPad are trademarks of Apple Inc., registered in the U.S. and other countries. App Store is a service mark of Apple Inc.
1HERSA1 S016
SATURDAY, MAY 25 - SUNDAY, MAY 26
199 IS CAXTON CACTUS - NEWSPAPER
NULLIUS?
May 25, 5.30-7pm
Wharf Theatre 2
702 ABC’s Simon Marnie leads a debate on
print media’s future with Margot Saville,
Don Groves, Simon Thomsen and Mark
Colvin. Includes presentation of The Critic
of the Year Pascall Prize. Presented by the
Geraldine Pascall Foundation.
Free, no bookings
200 MOLLY RINGWALD: WHEN IT
HAPPENS TO YOU
May 25, 6-7pm
Sydney Town Hall
Molly Ringwald, of The Breakfast Club fame,
discusses her debut novel, When it Happens
to You, a series of stories exploring love,
loss and betrayal. With Jane Gleeson-White.
$30/$25, bookings 9250 1988,
swf.sydneytheatre.org.au
201 STORIES THEN & NOW
May 25, 7-8.30pm
Carriageworks
Stories Then & Now captures the stories of
six Asian Australians. Directed by William
Yang and Annette Shun Wah. Presented by
Carriageworks and Performance 4a.
$35, bookings Ticketmaster 1300 723 038
202 FESTIVAL CLUB
May 25, 7-11.45pm
Pier 2/3 Club Stage
Featuring Story Club’s The Sincerest Form
of Flattery; The Chaser’s Empty Vessel with
Lauren Beukes, Graeme Simsion and
Robert Greene; and SWF Up Late with Pat
Grant, Jeff Lang, Melodie Nelson and Solo.
$10 on the door, details swf.org.au
Pier 2/3 The Loft
Join master-storyteller Daniel Morden for
the first and greatest adventure story of
all, The Odyssey, with the one-eyed
Cyclops, the enchanting music of the
sirens and the temptress Calypso.
Supported by Macquarie.
Free, no bookings
SUNDAY MAY 26
204 COFFEE AND PAPERS WITH
THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD
May 26, 9-10am
The Bar at the End of the Wharf
Join The Sydney Morning Herald
journalists and Festival special guest
Robert Greene to hear their take on the
stand-out stories and what is making
news headlines today. Supported by The
Sydney Morning Herald.
Free, no bookings
205 TRANSFORMATION: BOOKS TO
FILM, FILM TO BOOKS
May 26, 10-11am
Bangarra Mezzanine
How do books morph into film, and films
into books? Robyn Davidson, Nick Earls and
Graeme Simsion discuss the differences
between writing for film and writing books,
and question what is lost and/or gained in
the transformation, with Marc Fennell.
Free, no bookings
208 HUGH MACKAY: WHAT MAKES A
LIFE WORTH LIVING?
May 26, 10-11am
Pier 2/3 Main Stage
In his new book, The Good Life, social
researcher and psychologist Hugh
Mackay addresses the ultimate question:
what makes a life worth living? Chair:
Peter Shergold.
$20/$14, bookings 9250 1988,
swf.sydneytheatre.org.au
209 DANIEL MORDEN: TALES FROM
THE ODYSSEY
May 26, 10-11am
210 DESTROYING THE JOINT
May 26, 10-11am
Sydney Dance 1
#Destroythejoint initiator Jane Caro will
ask Senator Christine Milne, Catherine
Deveny, Monica Dux and Jenna Price to
do what women do best – wreak a little
more havoc!
Free, no bookings
211 GRIFFITH REVIEW: TASMANIA THE SOFT POWER OF CULTURE
May 26, 10-11am
Sydney Dance 2
Tasmania is the new black. Natasha Cica,
co-editor of Griffith REVIEW: Tasmania
– The Tipping Point?, leads a discussion
with contributors Scott Rankin and
Kathy Marks about the soft power of
Tasmanian culture. Presented with
Griffith REVIEW.
Free, no bookings
212 SYLVIA NASAR: IS THE WEST OVER
AND WHAT WOULD KEYNES SAY?
May 26, 10-11am
Sydney Theatre
Really smart people have argued that the
Western model – market economies and
democracy – is no longer the best way
forward. Hear what Sylvia Nasar, author
of Grand Pursuit: The Story of Economic
RUBY WAX
203 I’M A FEMINIST - CAN
I VAJAZZLE?
May 25, 8.30-10pm
Sydney Town Hall
In an era of slut-shaming and porn-ondemand, comedian and writer Ruby Wax
joins Shami Chakrabarti, Mia Freedman,
Dale Spender and Jamila Rizvi in a
discussion with Jude Kelly, founder of
WOW Festival, about what it means for a
woman to own her own body. Presented
with Southbank Centre’s WOW. Ruby will
also appear solo in the Sydney Opera
House on Wednesday, May 22 (14).
$25/$20, bookings 9250 1988,
swf.sydneytheatre.org.au
Genius, has to say. With Jane GleesonWhite. Supported by K&L Gates.
$20/$14, bookings 9250 1988,
swf.sydneytheatre.org.au
213 FRAMING A LIFE: ON MEMOIR
May 26, 10-11am
Richard Wherrett Studio
Tanya Levin (CrimWife), Rebecca
Huntley (The Italian Girl), Sarah Turnbull
(All Good Things) and Kirstie Clements
(The Vogue Factor) discuss writing
their memoirs and the challenges they
faced in life and on the page, with
Elizabeth Johnstone.
$14/$10, bookings 9250 1988,
swf.sydneytheatre.org.au
214 THE AMBER AMULET: SHORT
FILM SCREENING
May 26, 10-11am
Wharf Theatre 2
Award-winning short-film maker Matthew
Moore and producer/actor Genevieve
Hegney discuss adapting The Amber
Amulet for the big screen with author
Craig Silvey. Includes a special Australian
debut screening of the film.
$20/$14, bookings 9250 1988,
swf.sydneytheatre.org.au
217 MCA ZINE FAIR
May 26, 11am-4pm
Museum of Contemporary Art
Browse, buy and make zines at the sixth
annual MCA Zine Fair. Stuff your pockets
full of boutique handmade zines, catch a
drop-in workshop, and don’t miss the
Show & Tell session with zine-enthusiast
and MCA Curator Glenn Barkley.
Presented by the Museum of
Contemporary Art.
Free, no bookings
218 RESEARCH AND WRITING
May 26, 11.30am-12.30pm
Bangarra Mezzanine
Suzanne Leal leads a discussion with 2012
Nib Waverley Library Award winner Jane
Gleeson-White, and shortlistees Robin de
Crespigny and Fiona Harari, about the
different approaches to research they
used in their books. Presented with
Waverley Library.
Free, no bookings
219 STELLA STORIES
May 26, 11.30am-12.30pm
Philharmonia Studio
Women are working in many different
genres and across many different
mediums to tell their stories. Debra
Oswald, Kate Mulvany and Cate
Kennedy discuss the art and importance
of telling women’s stories with Sophie
Cunningham. Presented with The
Stella Prize.
Free, no bookings
swf.org.au 17
221 JANE AUSTEN’S PRIDE AND
PREJUDICE
May 26, 11.30am-12.30pm
Pier 2/3 Main Stage
Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice is one
of the world’s best-loved classics. Mark its
200th anniversary with Amanda Hooton,
Damon Young and Tegan Bennett Daylight,
who speak with Susannah Fullerton,
President of the Jane Austen Society of
Australia.
$20/$14, bookings 9250 1988,
swf.sydneytheatre.org.au
222 LOVE LETTER TO ICELAND
May 26, 11.30am-12.30pm
Pier 2/3 The Loft
In northern Iceland, 1829, Agnes Magnúsdóttir
is condemned to death for her part in the
brutal murder of two men. Hannah Kent talks
with SMH Literary Editor Susan Wyndham
about her powerful debut, Burial Rites, one
of this year’s most talked-about novels.
Free, no bookings
223 JOHN CANTWELL: EXIT WOUNDS
May 26, 11.30am-12.30pm
Sydney Dance 1
Author, journalist and political
commentator David Marr talks with Major
General John Cantwell about his powerful
book, Exit Wounds, a raw and
compassionate account of the modern
battlefield and a plea for understanding
the hidden wounds of war.
Free, no bookings
224 PRESS FREEDOM AND THE
PUBLIC’S RIGHT TO KNOW
May 26, 11.30am-12.30pm
Sydney Dance 2
A panel analysing freedom of expression
and freedom of the press in Australia,
featuring Kate McClymont, Steve Pennells
and Linton Besser, led by Christopher
Warren. Presented by The Walkley
Foundation for Journalism.
Free, no bookings
225 GILLIAN MEARS: FOAL’S BREAD
AND LIVING LIFE
May 26, 11.30am-12.30pm
Sydney Theatre
Gillan Mears reunites with her first
publisher, Bruce Pascoe, to speak about
her most recent novel, Foal’s Bread,
winner of the 2012 Prime Minister’s Literary
Award for Fiction, her writing and her love
of horses.
$20/$14, bookings 9250 1988,
swf.sydneytheatre.org.au
226 LUKE DAVIES: POETRY, FICTION,
SCREEN AND BEYOND
May 26, 11.30am-12.30pm
Richard Wherrett Studio
Award-winning poet, novelist and
screenwriter Luke Davies discusses the
OUR IDEAS LEAD THE WAY
FACULTY OF ARTS AND SOCIAL SCIENCES
The Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences at the University of Sydney is once again a proud
partner of the Sydney Writers’ Festival in 2013. Ranked in the top 21 universities in the world
for the study of arts and humanities (Times Higher Education UK) since 2006, we share the
Festival’s passion for outstanding writing and informed debate about the big questions of
our time.
Among the highlights of the Festival is a panel on fan fiction, which features PhD candidate
Joseph Brennan (pictured) as chair. Joseph’s doctoral research is on slash fiction.
Learn more at sydney.edu.au/arts
CRICOS 00026A
1HERSA1 S017
SUNDAY, MAY 26
18 swf.org.au
range and breadth of his work – from cult
favourite, Candy, through to the 2012
Prime Minister’s Literary Award winning
poetry collection, Interferon Psalms –
with David Michôd.
$14/$10, bookings 9250 1988,
swf.sydneytheatre.org.au
228 SHEILA HETI: HOW SHOULD A
PERSON BE?
May 26, 11.30am-12.30pm
Wharf Theatre 2
Sheila Heti blends the real and the
imaginary in her novel, How Should a
Person Be? Hear the Canadian author talk
about her “novel from life”, dubbed the
book version of HBO series Girls. “An
engaging mashup of memoir, fiction and
philosophy” (The Guardian).
$20/$14, bookings 9250 1988,
swf.sydneytheatre.org.au
229 TROUBADOURS AND MINSTRELS
May 26, 12-1pm
The Rocks Square
Alcoves, underpasses and secret corners
around The Rocks provide miniperformance spaces, decked out with
couches, rugs, curtains and little amps.
Four musos lead four small crowds to
poets in these intimate spaces. The crowd
rotates until each group has visited the
four makeshift venues. Presented by Word
Travels and supported by The Rocks
pop-up.
Free, no bookings
232 SEX, DECEPTION AND JUSTICE:
THE STORY OF EUGENIA FALLENI
May 26, 1-2pm
Bangarra Mezzanine
Mark Tedeschi AM QC will speak with Elsa
Atkin about his book Eugenia: A True Story
of Tragedy, Adversity, Crime and Courage,
in which a woman who lived in Sydney for
22 years as a man faced trial for murder.
Free, no bookings
233 THE ART AND PLEASURE
OF READING
May 26, 1-2pm
Philharmonia Studio
A reader lives 1000 lives before they die, a
non-reader only one. Ramona Koval,
William McInnes, Ashley Hay and Jill
Eddington discuss the art and pleasure of
reading, and how it impacts on writers.
Free, no bookings
KARL OVE
KNAUSGAARD
254 MY STRUGGLE
May 26, 2.30-3.30pm
Richard Wherrett Studio
Karl Ove Knausgaard discusses
My Struggle, the six-volume
autobiographical novel that intrigued
the people of Norway to the extent
that some workplaces had to declare
“Knausgaard-free days”. By turning a
frank and unforgiving eye on his own
life – without changing any names –
Karl shocked his family and became
a media sensation.
$14/$10, bookings 9250 1988,
swf.sydneytheatre.org.au
234 ALEKS KROTOSKI: STORIES
WITHOUT WORDS
May 26, 1-2pm
Pier 2/3 Club Stage
Aleks Krotoski, presenter of BBC Radio 4’s
The Digital Human, shares her series of
fascinating interviews with people who tell
stories without using words. Hear from a
five-star Michelin chef on taste and a
perfume-interpreter on storytelling
through scent. Supported by Daily Life.
$14/$10, bookings 9250 1988,
swf.sydneytheatre.org.au
235 BEN GOLDACRE: BAD PHARMA
May 26, 1-2pm
Pier 2/3 Main Stage
Ben Goldacre discusses the scathing
critique of today’s pharmaceutical industry
presented in his second book, Bad Pharma,
with Lisa Pryor.
$20/$14, bookings 9250 1988,
swf.sydneytheatre.org.au
236 DEAR SUGAR: ADVICE ON LIFE
AND LOVE
May 26, 1-2pm
Pier 2/3 The Loft
Cheryl Strayed, bestselling author and
beloved advice-columnist known as
“Dear Sugar” at The Rumpus, takes
ARCHIE ROACH
241 BUTCHER PAPER, TEXTA,
BLACKBOARD AND CHALK
May 26, 1-2pm
Wharf Theatre 2
Join Archie Roach, Australia’s beloved
Aboriginal singer/songwriter, who for
the first time in Sydney will launch
Butcher Paper, Texta, Blackboard and
Chalk, a collection of children’s songs.
A documentary will also be screened
and Archie will treat the audience to a
couple of songs. Chair: Jeff McMullen.
$20/$14, bookings 9250 1988,
swf.sydneytheatre.org.au
questions from the audience, offering
her advice on love and life.
Free, no bookings
237 CRICKET AND COUNTRY
May 26, 1-2pm Sydney Dance 1
Shehan Karunatilaka, winner of the 2012
Commonwealth Book Prize, and Gideon
Haigh, dubbed “the greatest cricket
writer alive”, discuss with P.M. Newton
how sport defines and reflects a culture
and country.
Free, no bookings
238 FREE VOICES: FREE SPEECH,
VILIFICATION AND POWER
May 26, 1-2pm
Sydney Dance 2
Waleed Aly, broadcaster, author and
commentator, gives the 2013 Sydney PEN
Free Voices lecture: “Free speech,
vilification and power”. Presented by
Sydney PEN.
Free, no bookings
239 IS RHETORIC DEAD IN THE AGE
OF THE SOUNDBITE?
May 26, 1-2pm
Sydney Theatre
Last year, Prime Minister Julia Gillard
electrified the world with her misogyny
speech, but this was a rare exception. Has
our political discourse been reduced to
slogans? And what does this mean for our
democracy? Michael Fullilove puts the big
questions to James Button, Malcolm
Turnbull, Annabel Crabb and Neil James.
Supported by the Plain English
Foundation.
$20/$14, bookings 9250 1988,
swf.sydneytheatre.org.au
5 -16 JUNE 2013
25 FILMS REVEALED!
FULL PROGRAM 8 MAY
READY TO POP!
SFF now at Hayden
Orpheum Picture Palace!
1HERSA1 S018
240 STORIES THAT LAST
May 26, 1-2pm
Richard Wherrett Studio
In a conversation about ancient
literature and the power of storytelling
over centuries, Dr Juanita Ruys, from
The University of Sydney, talks to
William Dalrymple, Daniel Morden and
Kooshyar Karimi.
$14/$10, bookings 9250 1988,
swf.sydneytheatre.org.au
242 DAVID SHRIGLEY: HOW ARE
YOU FEELING?
May 26, 1-3pm
Museum of Contemporary Art
In this Australian exclusive,
David Shrigley takes us through
his quirky creative journey,
explores the ideas behind his books,
and explains his collaborations with artists
from David Byrne to Franz Ferdinand.
Presented in collaboration with Vivid Ideas.
$25/$20, bookings vividsydney.com
244 ZINES: SHOW AND TELL WITH
CURATOR GLENN BARKLEY
May 26, 2-3pm
Museum of Contemporary Art
Join zine-enthusiast and Museum of
Contemporary Art Curator Glenn Barkley
for an interactive exploration of zines and
artist books from his own personal stash.
Presented by the Museum of
Contemporary Art.
Free, no bookings
245 LUKE DAVIES AND MICHAEL
BRENNAN: POETRY DOUBLE LAUNCH
May 26, 2-3.30pm
Brett Whiteley Studio
David Malouf will launch Michael
Brennan’s third collection of poetry,
Autoethnographic, co-winner of the
Grace Leven Prize. Irish author Dermot
Healy will launch the long-awaited
reprint edition of Luke Davies’ first book
of poems, Four Plots for Magnets.
Free, bookings essential, email:
[email protected]
247 FOLLOWING GERTRUDE STEIN
May 26, 2.30-3.30pm
Bangarra Mezzanine
The hip, modern poetry of Jill Jones,
Toby Fitch, Astrid Lorange and Michael
Farrell playfully debates meaning. In this
panel discussion with readings, there
will be spars with high and low culture,
politics, wit and lots of energy.
Presented with Australian Poetry.
Free, no bookings
248 ALMOST FRENCH TO ALL
GOOD THINGS
May 26, 2.30-3.30pm
Pier 2/3 Main Stage
Sarah Turnbull’s eagerly anticipated
follow-up to her bestselling memoir,
Almost French, is finally here. She talks
with Moya Sayer-Jones about All Good
Things, which picks up her story after she
leaves Paris for a different kind of
paradise on earth – Tahiti.
$20/$14, bookings 9250 1988,
swf.sydneytheatre.org.au
249 ON CRAFT: WHY I WRITE AND THE
COST OF LIVING
May 26, 2.30-3.30pm
Pier 2/3 The Loft
Inspired by George Orwell’s classic
essay, Why I Write, Deborah Levy
addresses the many motivations and
inspirations behind her writing. Part of
the SWF Craft Series.
Free, no bookings
250 CANBERRA UNMASKED
May 26, 2.30-3.30pm
Sydney Dance 1
Join Shadow Treasurer Joe Hockey and
Canberra Press Gallery reporters
Chris Uhlmann and Steve Lewis as
they take a no-holds-barred (and
only slightly mischievous) look at this
election year.
Free, no bookings
251 TALES FROM THE EDITORIAL
FRONT LINE
May 26, 2.30-3.30pm
Sydney Dance 2
Eli Horowitz, Craig Taylor, Ben Ball and
Jane Palfreyman share war stories, love
stories and advice from the editorial
front line with author Matthew Condon.
Supported by Macleay College.
Free, no bookings
SUNDAY, MAY 26
255 FOOD: NEW WRITING
May 26, 2.30-3.30pm
The Bar at the End of the Wharf
Whet your appetite with readings
of new, as yet unpublished, works
around the theme of food, from
Scarlett Thomas, Pauline Nguyen
and Josephine Rowe. Chair: Amelia Lester,
Managing Editor of The New Yorker.
Free, no bookings
256 ADAPTING REALITY: THE TRUTH
IS IN THE DETAILS
May 26, 2.30-3.30pm
Wharf Theatre 2
A provocative re-examination of the death in
custody of Cameron Doomadgee, as retold in
257 UNLOCKED: POETS, POLICE
AND PRISONERS
May 26, 3-4pm
Philharmonia Studio
Experience a series of poetry readings
set in a “prison cell” and a discussion with
Anthony Lawrence, Philip Hammial, Solo,
Gareth Jenkins and Lorna Munro.
Presented by Johanna Featherstone
and The Red Room Company.
Free, no bookings
258 FRED WATSON’S JOURNEY
THROUGH TIME AND SPACE
WITH PIZZA
May 26, 3.30-5.30pm
Sydney Observatory
Astronomer Fred Watson takes you
on an adventure, exploring observatories
from ancient Peru to smashing atoms
in Switzerland, followed by planetary
twilight telescope viewing (weather
permitting) and pizza.
$55, family of 4 (including
pizza), bookings 9921 3485,
sydneyobservatory.com
259 CLOSING ADDRESS: CLAIRE
MESSUD
May 26, 4.30-5.30pm
Sydney Theatre
Claire Messud, who juggles American,
Canadian and French identities, and who
spent her formative childhood years in
Sydney, will speak about a writer’s
rootlessness in the global era, and the
underpinning importance of “imaginary
homelands” in her storytelling.
$25/$20, bookings 9250 1988,
swf.sydneytheatre.org.au
MOLLY RINGWALD
260 FINALE: MOLLY RINGWALD AND HER JAZZ BAND
May 26, 6.30-8pm
Pier 2/3 Club Stage
Join us as Molly Ringwald and her jazz
band close the Festival in style with a
homage to the great American
songbook. A performance not to be
missed from this “silk-voiced jazz
chanteuse” (Huffington Post). On May
25 (200) Molly also talks about her
new book, When It Happens To You.
$30/$25, bookings 9250 1988,
swf.sydneytheatre.org.au
Bring the whole family to the Festival
on Sunday as we celebrate storytelling
for young and old. There are free
sessions featuring bestselling authors
of books for children and young adults.
Come to The Big Top For Little People,
at Pier 2/3, an amazing activity centre
where children explore storytelling,
characters come to life, murals are
painted, dinosaurs drawn, zines made,
and much more! See scheduled events
below or at swf.org.au
With US literary agent, Barry Goldblatt.
Free, no bookings
206 FANTASTICAL TALES
May 26, 10-11am
Philharmonia Studio
Young adult fantasy is riding high. The
benefit for writers and their publishers
is that the genre crosses the
generation gap, reaching large
audiences. Kate Forsyth, S.D. Gentill
and K.B. Hoyle speak with Judith Ridge
about listening to our inner child and
our desire to read fantastical tales as
adults and children. Supported by The
Writer’s Coffee Shop (TWCS).
Free, no bookings
THE BIG TOP FOR
LITTLE PEOPLE
All events held at Pier 2/3 Big Top
207 FUN AND GAMES WITH LIBBA
AND JUSTINE
May 26, 10-11am
Pier 2/3 Club Stage
Venture inside the dark, supernatural
underbelly of 1920s New York with
Libba Bray’s The Diviners, and the
strange world of vampire dating with
Justine Larbalestier’s Team Human.
220 STORYTELLING FOR YOUNG AND
OLD: PATRICK NESS AND CARLOS
RUIZ ZAFÓN
May 26, 11.30am-12.30pm
Pier 2/3 Club Stage
Patrick Ness and Carlos Ruiz Zafón speak
with Judith Ridge about how great
storytelling transcends age.
Free, no bookings
215 FESTIVAL SHUTTERBUGGING
May 26, 10am-12pm
Time to investigate the Festival with
Sydney Story Factory! Festival-goers aged
10-15 years set out with cameras and pens
to discover a few secrets about what’s
going on down at the wharves, and then
create their own personal zine. Presented
with Sydney Story Factory.
Free, registrations essential,
9250 1988
216 DANCE WITH DINOSAURS!
May 26, 10.30-11.15am
Giraffes can’t resist the trees … I love
sandwiches … but who stole the cheese?
Go wild in a romping, stomping reading of
Dinosaurs Love Cheese, with popular
children’s author Jackie French.
Free, no bookings
227 DREAMING STORIES
May 26, 11.30am-12.30pm
The Big Top for Little People becomes a
meeting place for four stunning
storytellers. Nardi Simpson, Kaleena
Briggs, Richard Green and Lucy
Simpson share stories from the
dreaming. Children will be enchanted
and entertained.
Free, no bookings
230 THERE IS A MONSTER UNDER
MY BED WHO FARTS
May 26, 12.30-1pm
Tim Miller and Matt Stanton engage the
audience with a lively reading of their
book, There is a Monster Under My Bed
Who Farts, and demonstrate how to
draw the Fart Monster step-by-step.
Free, no bookings
231 FESTIVAL SHUTTERBUGGING
May 26, 12.30-2.30pm
Time to investigate the Festival with
Sydney Story Factory! Festival goers
aged 10-15 years set out with cameras
and pens to discover a few secrets
about what’s going on down at the
wharves, and then create their own
personal zine. Presented with Sydney
Story Factory.
Free, registrations essential, 9250 1988
243 MAKING CHARACTERS WHO DO
WHAT YOU WANT THEM TO DO!
May 26, 2-2.45pm
Nick Earls and Terry Whidborne, the
creators of the Word Hunters series,
open their bag of tricks and teach
people of all ages how to bring
characters to life!
Free, no bookings
P&D-4014-4/2013
253 SWF SHORTS: THE ONE
THOUSAND AND ONE NIGHTS
May 26, 2.30-3.30pm
Sydney Theatre
A Middle Eastern storytelling adventure,
The Thousand and One Nights delivers a
series of stories straight from the bazaar.
These readings will be directed by STC
Resident Director Kip Williams, and feature
some of Sydney’s finest actors. Presented
with Sydney Theatre Company.
$20/$14, bookings 9250 1988,
swf.sydneytheatre.org.au
The Tall Man. With Tony Kravitz, Darren Dale
and Chloe Hooper discussing the adaptation
with Ross Grayson Bell. Presented with AFTRS.
Free, no bookings
Photo: Getty Images
252 WORDS COLLIDE: KATE TEMPEST
AND ANIS MOJGANI
May 26, 2.30-3.30pm
Sydney Dance Lounge
Performance poets Kate Tempest and
Anis Mojgani are both described as
“fierce” and “genius” – a potent
combination. Here in Sydney their worlds
and words collide. Also featuring
Q-poets, hosted by Miles Merrill.
Presented with Word Travels. Supported
by Belgiovane Williams Mackay.
Free, no bookings
swf.org.au 19
Currently showing:
60 intriguing objects from the
Sir William Dixson collection
An exciting space of changing objects
and revealing stories from the Library’s
amazing collections.
FREE ENTRY
STATE LIBRARY OF NSW MACQUARIE ST SYDNEY 2000 (02) 9273 1414 WWW.SL.NSW.GOV.AU
1HERSA1 S019
20 swf.org.au
WORKSHOPS
SATURDAY, MAY 18 – SATURDAY, MAY 25
into what publishers are looking for, what
drives editors crazy, and how to present
your work for publication.
$85/$75
Sydney Writers’ Festival workshops are
led by acclaimed local and international
authors. The workshops kick off Saturday,
May 18, and run for a week. Workshops for
children take place between Sunday,
May 19, and Tuesday, May 21.
All workshops are held at Sydney’s
State Library of New South Wales,
Macquarie Street. Tickets can be booked
through Sydney Theatre Box Office,
9250 1988 or swf.sydneytheatre.org.au,
unless otherwise stated.
The Sydney Writers’ Festival
workshop program is supported by
Pantera Press.
W1 DAVID M. HENLEY: SCI-FI AND
ESCAPING THE KNOWN WORLD
May 18, 9.30am-12.30pm
David M. Henley discusses the history
of science fiction, challenges for
contemporary authors to stay relevant
in the face of technological changes, and
techniques for writing in the genre.
$85/$75
W2 TOMMY MURPHY:
DRAMATIC ACTION
May 18, 9.30am-12.30pm
A practical introduction to playwriting led
by Tommy Murphy. Develop your skills in
dialogue and dramatic structure, and
discover techniques and tips of the trade.
$85/$75
W3 REBECCA HUNTLEY: RESEARCH
AND CREATIVE NARRATIVE IN MEMOIR
May 18, 1.30-4.30pm
Social researcher and writer Rebecca
Huntley explores the ways in which
the research process itself might be
incorporated into memoir writing.
$85/$75
W4 WILL SWANTON: SPORTS AS LIFE
May 18, 1.30-4.30pm
Learn how to write about the real meaning
of sport: the life lessons. Sport is hope,
glory, disappointment and triumph.
$85/$75
W5 NEIL JAMES:
THE GENTLE ART OF PERSUASION
May 19, 10am-4.30pm
What makes one text compelling and
another pedestrian? Whether you are
writing fiction or for the web, learn from
Neil James how to supercharge your text.
Supported by the Plain English Foundation.
$150/$140
W6 GABRIEL CLARK: MAKING
COMICS – CLARITY, CLOSURE AND
SEQUENTIAL ART
May 19, 10am-4.30pm
Learn the tools to help you communicate
in the language of comics.
$150/$140
1HERSA1 S020
MELANIE TAIT
W20 LEARNING LIVE
STORYTELLING
May 23, 10am-4.30pm
State Library of NSW
Live storytelling is fast becoming the
most popular way to spend a night out.
ABC Radio National’s Now Hear This
host Melanie Tait explains what makes a
good story and how to become a great
storyteller. Supported by Pantera Press.
$150/$140, bookings 9250 1988,
swf.sydneytheatre.org.au
W7 CBCA JUNIOR MASTERCLASS:
JACQUELINE HARVEY
May 19, 10am-4.30pm
Share your writing ideas with Jacqueline
Harvey and learn new, interesting ways
to show your characters’ personalities,
build exciting scenes and write riveting
endings. For young writers aged 9-13 years.
Presented by the Children’s Book Council
of Australia (NSW).
$70/$70
W8 B. MICHAEL RADBURN:
WRITING A SUCCESSFUL THRILLER
May 19, 1.30-4.30pm
B. Michael Radburn will fill your literary
toolbox with the skills you need to write
the best thriller you can.
$85/$75
W9 CBCA JUNIOR MASTERCLASS:
OLIVER PHOMMAVANH
May 20, 9am-3.30pm
Oliver Phommavanh shares the secrets of
writing comedy. Create crazy characters,
weird plots and get ideas for funnier
stories. Things will get strange! For young
writers aged 9-13 years. Presented by the
Children’s Book Council of Australia (NSW).
$70/$70
W10 ANN CURTHOYS: WRITING HISTORY
May 20, 10am-4.30pm
Ann Curthoys leads writing exercises
and class discussion of issues related to
writing history. Bring a project description.
$150/$140
W11 ANNA MAGUIRE: USING AND
UNDERSTANDING CROWDFUNDING
May 20, 1.30-4.30pm
Find out how to maximise your chance
of success through crowdfunding. Anna
Maguire examines choosing your platform,
planning your project, communication, how
to engage support and more.
$85/$75
W12 CBCA JUNIOR MASTERCLASS:
SUE WHITING
May 21, 9am-3.30pm
Author and editor Sue Whiting shows how
to create sizzling starts to your stories,
dramatic details and page-turning plots.
For young writers aged 9-13 years.
Presented by the Children’s Book Council
of Australia (NSW).
$70/$70
W13 BENJAMIN LAW:
FREELANCE WRITING FOR MAGAZINES
May 22, 9.30am-12.30pm
Freelance writer Benjamin Law (Good
Weekend, frankie, Qweekend, The
Monthly) teaches the skills necessary to
write the stories that magazines want.
$85/$75
W14 JULIENNE VAN LOON:
REVIVING THE NOVELLA
May 22, 10am-4.30pm
Has the digital age ushered in a new
opportunity for this most rewarding of
forms? Bring along a single-page synopsis
for your yet-to-be-written novella and talk
strategy and form with Julienne van Loon.
$150/$140
W15 ASHLEY HAY: WHEN ‘WHERE’
BECOMES ‘WHO’
May 22, 1.30-4.30pm
A vivid location can cement a story’s
truth and power in non-fiction and fiction,
rendering place a character in its own right.
Explore how and why with Ashley Hay.
$85/$75
W16 KILLING YOUR DARLINGS:
INTENSIVE EDITING WORKSHOP
WITH REBECCA STARFORD
May 22, 1.30-4.30pm
Editor and publisher Rebecca Starford
teaches you the mechanics of editing
and drafting (including plot, structure,
character and voice) and offers insight
W17 STEPHANIE CLIFFORD-SMITH:
MAKE YOUR FOOD WRITING STAND OUT
May 23, 9.30am-12.30pm
Stephanie Clifford-Smith looks at key
ingredients in the descriptive language
of flavour, texture and aroma, and what
makes the best food writers stand out
from the crowd.
$85/$75
W18 MATTHEW CONDON:
WRITING CREATIVE NON-FICTION
May 23, 9.30am-12.30pm
With creative non-fiction being one of
the most popular genres in Australia,
Matthew Condon shows how real life
events can spark creativity, and how
you can develop a story for a variety of
narrative directions.
$85/$75
W19 FOREST FOR THE TREES:
WRITERS & PUBLISHING IN 2013
May 23, 10am-4.30pm,
Metcalfe Auditorium
A one-day seminar looking at the current
state of publishing for Australian writers.
The seminar brings together writers,
publishers, marketers and agents to
discuss what is happening in 2013.
Presented in association with the NSW
Writers’ Centre.
$45/$35, bookings 9555 9757,
nswwc.org.au
W24 CATHERINE DEVENY:
WRITING THE FUNNY SIDE OF LIFE
May 24, 10am-4.30pm
Catherine Deveny shares her tips for
finding your voice and writing with
humour, no matter what life throws at
you. She will cover comedy, non-fiction,
columns and social media.
$150/$140
W25 JESSE BLACKADDER:
WRITING HISTORICAL FICTION
May 24, 1.30-4.30pm
Jesse Blackadder explores how to write
dramatic historical fiction. You’ll learn
about using real characters and events;
how truth and fiction enrich each other;
and uses of language.
$85/$75
W26 STEPHEN SCOURFIELD:
TRAVEL IN WORDS AND PICTURES
May 24, 1.30-4.30pm
Stephen Scourfield focuses on technical
and creative aspects of travel writing
and photography: research, observation
and writing techniques, as well as
photographic equipment, techniques
and composition.
$85/$75
W27 SCARLETT THOMAS:
BEGINNING A NOVEL
May 25, 9.30am-12.30pm
Novelist Scarlett Thomas shows you how
to come up with original, exciting ideas
and then develop writing plans for that
successful novel.
$85/$75
W21 KRISSY KNEEN:
WRITING THE EROTIC
May 23, 1.30-4.30pm
How can you avoid winning the Bad Sex
Award whilst writing sensual prose? Join
critically acclaimed writer of erotic sex,
Krissy Kneen, and explore the art and craft
of sex writing.
$85/$75
W28 BRIAN FALKNER:
TO KILL A MOCKINGJAY
May 25, 10am-4.30pm
Bestselling YA author Brian Falkner cracks
the code of The Hunger Games series,
examining what made the books such
a huge success and looking at common
writing techniques in YA blockbusters.
$150/$140
W22 ANGELA MEYER:
BLOGGING FOR BEGINNERS
May 23, 1.30-4.30pm
Long-term literary blogger Angela Meyer
teaches you everything you need to know:
why do it, how to get started, how to make
your blog engaging, and more.
$85/$75
W29 ALAN WEARNE: THE SEARCH FOR
THE GROUP VILLANELLE
May 25, 10am-4.30pm
A fun, collaborative poetry workshop.
Participants submit poems to tutor Alan
Wearne in advance of the workshop for
comment. You will be taught how to
construct an elaborate villanelle poem.
$150/$140
W23 ASHLEY HAY’S PEP SESSION:
DODGING THE DUMPS, THE BLOCKS,
BLACK HOLES AND DEAD ENDS
May 24, 9.30am-12.30pm
Ashley Hay tenders tools and tricks for
getting back on track or on the page in
those times when your project hits the
slumps and sloughs.
$85/$75
W30 SALLY RIPPIN: WHAT IT TAKES
TO WRITE GREAT KIDS’ BOOKS
May 25, 1.30-4.30pm
What does it take to write a great kids’
book? Join children’s author Sally Rippin
for a fun and practical workshop on
writing books for younger readers.
$85/$75
SUBURBAN & REGIONAL
SATURDAY, MAY 18 – SUNDAY, MAY 26
ASHFIELD
SR16 MATTHEW CONDON: THE TOE
TAG QUINTET
May 22, 6.30-7.30pm
Ashfield Civic Centre
Matthew Condon discusses his latest crime
novel, The Toe Tag Quintet, which follows
the adventures of a retired Sydney
detective. Presented with Ashfield Library.
Free, bookings essential, 9716 1810,
eventbrite.com.au
AUBURN
SR17 COLOURS IN WAITING ...
CAN’T WAIT!
May 24, 4-5pm
Australia Post, Auburn
Join Auburn Poets and Writers Group as they
join queues across Auburn, turning mindless
waiting into entertainment with spoken-word
performances. Presented by Auburn Poets
and Writers Group and supported by the
University of Western Sydney.
Free, group meeting point is outside the
Australia Post Office, G2 Level, Auburn
Central, 57 Queen St, Auburn
BELROSE
SR18 REBECCA HUNTLEY: THE ITALIAN
GIRL
May 22, 11am-12pm
Glen Street Theatre
Rebecca Huntley shares her search for the
truth about her family in The Italian Girl, and
their lives as migrants in pre-World War II
Australia. Presented with Glen Street Theatre.
$7.50, bookings essential, 9975 1455,
glenstreet.com.au
SR19 SHEHAN KARUNATILAKA:
CHINAMAN
May 22, 2-3pm
Glen Street Theatre
2012 Commonwealth Book Prize winner
Shehan Karunatilaka speaks with P.M.
Newtown about his novel, Chinaman, the
story of a retired sportswriter’s quest to
find a Sri Lankan cricket legend. Presented
with Glen Street Theatre.
$7.50, bookings essential, 9975 1455,
glenstreet.com.au
BLACKTOWN
SR20 DAWN BARKER: FRACTURED
May 22, 7-8pm
Blacktown Library
Dawn Barker reflects on her heartbreaking
novel, Fractured, the story of a new mother
struggling to cope. Presented with
Blacktown City Library and supported by
the University of Western Sydney.
Free, bookings essential, 9839 6620
the intersections between literature,
spoken word and music. Presented by
Campbelltown Arts Centre and supported
by the University of Western Sydney.
$5, bookings 4645 4100,
campbelltownartscentre.com.au
CASTLE HILL
SR24 AN EVENING WITH RACHAEL
TREASURE
May 23, 7-8pm
Castle Hill Library
Rachael Treasure speaks about her new book,
The Farmer’s Wife, and her previous novels.
Presented with The Hills Shire Library Service.
$10, bookings essential, available from
22 April thehills.nsw.gov.au/library
CASULA
SR25 TIM SOUTPHOMMASANE: DON’T
GO BACK TO WHERE YOU CAME FROM
May 26, 2-3pm
Casula Powerhouse
Tim Soutphommasane makes the case for
the success of Australian multiculturalism.
Presented with Casula Powerhouse Arts
Centre and the University of Western Sydney.
Free, bookings essential, 9824 1121
CHATSWOOD
SR26 KATE ATKINSON: CRIMINAL
TENDENCIES
May 26, 2-3pm
The Concourse Theatre
Kate Atkinson speaks to Linda Morris about
writing crime, Case Histories and what the
future holds in store for Brodie.
$16/$10, bookings 9250 1988l or
swf.sydneytheatre.org.au or
theconcourse.com.au
HORNSBY
SR27 KATE FORSYTH: THE BROTHERS
GRIMM AND THE WILD GIRL
May 22, 6.30-7.30pm
Hornsby Library
Kate Forsyth’s new novel, The Wild Girl,
tells the love story of Dortchen Wild and
Wilhelm Grimm. Presented with Hornsby
Central Library.
Free, bookings essential, 9847 6614,
email [email protected]
SR28 GOOD MORNING, MR SARRA
May 23, 6.30-7.30pm
Hornsby Library
Chris Sarra has spent his life working for a
better future for our children. He discusses
his book, Good Morning, Mr Sarra.
Presented with Hornsby Central Library.
Free, bookings essential, 9847 6614,
email [email protected]
HURSTVILLE
SR21 INTERCULTURAL DIALOGUES:
LOVE UNBOUND
May 24, 7-8pm
Blacktown Arts Centre
An evening of conversation, music and art,
with Kooshyar Karimi, Majok Tulba and
Nakkiah Lui. Presented by Blacktown Arts
Centre with WestWords, and supported by
the University of Western Sydney.
Free, bookings essential, 9389 6558
SR29 TIM BOWDEN: THE CHANGI
CAMERA
May 23, 7-8pm
Hurstville Library
Tim Bowden tells the stories of brave
Australian soldiers in The Changi Camera.
Presented with Hurstville Library.
Free, bookings essential, 9330 6142
CAMDEN
SR30 CATHERINE DEVENY: THE
HAPPINESS SHOW
May 23, 7-8pm
Ingleburn Library
Catherine Deveny discusses her novel, The
Happiness Show, a story of love, fidelity
and messy second chances. Presented with
Campbelltown Library and supported by
the University of Western Sydney.
Free, bookings essential 4645 4444
SR22 EDWARD RUTHERFURD: PARIS
May 22, 6-8pm
Camden Civic Centre
Edward Rutherfurd presents Paris, with
readings and discussion about the history of
this magical city. Presented with Camden
Council Library Service and supported by
the University of Western Sydney.
$10, including refreshments, bookings
essential, trybooking.com/CPSN.
Phone Camden Council Library Service
4654 7951 or 4645 5039
CAMPBELLTOWN
SR23 SIMON BARKER: INTERSECTIONS
May 25, 4-6pm
Campbelltown Arts Centre
Simon Barker’s Intersections is a new
performance work developed with local
writing groups and musicians, exploring
INGLEBURN
KENSINGTON
SR31 ANIS MOJGANI: SPOKEN WORD
ARTIST, POET
May 23, 6.30-7.30pm
Io Myers Studio, UNSW
International poetry slam champion Anis
Mojgani takes to the stage for a special
performance event of his words and
rhymes. Presented with UNSWriting.
Free, bookings essential,
sam.arts.unsw.edu.au/unswriting/
The Blue Mountains program is
presented with Varuna, the Writers’
House. Book tickets online at varuna.
com.au unless otherwise stated.
SR1 BOOK LAUNCH: MARK O’FLYNN
May 18, 4-5pm
Blue Mountains Cultural Centre
Join Mark O’Flynn for the launch of his
novel, The Forgotten World.
Free, no bookings
SR2 FESTIVAL LAUNCH: WITH
JOYFUL STRAINS
May 18, 5.30-7.30pm
Blue Mountains Cultural Centre
Roanna Gonsalaves, Malla Nunn, Catherine
Rey and Hsu-Ming Teo share their
personal experiences of migration with Ali
Lemer, editor of the anthology, Joyful
Strains: Making Australia Home.
Free, no bookings
SR3 Poetry in the Caves
May 19, 3.30-5.30pm
Jenolan Caves
A poetry reading in Cathedral Cave,
hosted by David Brooks, with Ireland’s
Dermot Healy alongside Robert Adamson,
Kate Fagan and Lionel Fogarty.
$60 ($75 including bus from Katoomba
station return), bookings 1300 763 311
The following events are all held at
the Carrington Hotel, 15/47
Katoomba Street, Katoomba. All-day
passes cost $60/$50 concession, and
two-day passes $90 (no concessions).
Tickets to single sessions can be
purchased on the day at the door for
$15, subject to availability.
SR4 MICHELLE DE KRETSER IN
CONVERSATION
May 20, 10-11am
Ali Lemer speaks with Michelle de Kretser
about her latest novel, Questions of Travel.
SR5 MISSING IN ACTION: AUSTRALIA’S
LITERARY PAST
May 20, 11.30am-12.30pm
Australian literary critic Geordie Williamson
speaks with Tegan Bennett Daylight about his
new book, The Burning Library.
SR6 LANDSCAPES OF LOVE AND LOSS
May 20, 1.30-2.30pm
New Australian talents Jessie Cole, Berndt
Sellheim and Yvette Walker explore themes of
love and loss, and discuss their debut novels.
SR7 MADELEINE ST JOHN: A
WRITER’S LIFE
May 20, 3-4pm
Helen Trinca discusses her new book,
Madeleine: A Life of Madeleine St John,
with Geordie Williamson.
SR8 WILD: STORIES FROM THE TRAIL
May 20, 4.30-5.30pm
Cheryl Strayed, author of bestseller, Wild,
shares the incredible story of her 1100-mile
solo hike on the Pacific Crest Trail. In
conversation with Cate Kennedy.
SR9 THE DR DARK MEMORIAL
LECTURE - THE GOOD LIFE: WHAT
MAKES A LIFE WORTH LIVING?
May 20, 6-7pm
Hugh Mackay shares his answer to the
ultimate question: What makes a life
worth living?
$15/$10, bookings varuna.com.au
SR32 JOHN CANTWELL: EXIT WOUNDS
May 23, 7-8pm
Kogarah Library
John Cantwell shares the realities of the
battlefield and post-traumatic stress in Exit
Wounds. Presented with Kogarah Library.
Free, bookings essential, 9330 9528,
kogarahlibrary.eventbrite.com.au
SR36 DANIEL MORDEN: DARK TALES
FROM THE WOODS
May 25, 5-6pm
Riverside Theatre
Award-winning storyteller Daniel Morden
tells haunting gypsy tales from the woods
of Wales. They are certainly not for the
faint of heart. Supported by the University of
Western Sydney and Parramatta City Council.
$10, bookings 8839 3399, for ages 8-80
PARRAMATTA
PENRITH
SR33 SO YOU WANT TO BE A WRITER?
May 19, 3-4.30pm
Information and Cultural Exchange
Experts offer practical advice on publishing.
Featuring Sophie Hamley, Shiela Pham, Alice
Grundy, Peter Polites, Mohammed Ahmad and
Felicity Castagna. Presented with Parramatta
City Council, the University of Western
Sydney Writing and Society Research Centre
and the Information and Cultural Exchange.
Free, bookings essential, 9897 5744,
email [email protected]
SR37 SYLVIA NASAR: GRAND PURSUIT
May 22, 6.30-7.30pm
Penrith Library
Internationally bestselling author of A
Beautiful Mind, Sylvia Nasar, discusses her
new book, Grand Pursuit, an epic story of
the making of modern economics and those
who have shaped modern history. Presented
with Penrith City Library and supported by
the University of Western Sydney.
$5, including light refreshments,
bookings essential, 4732 7891
SR34 THE RUMBLE - YOUTH SLAM
May 25, 1-2pm
Riverside Theatre
Young poets from Western Sydney battle it
out. Featuring DJ/Poet Scott Sandwich, Jo
Sri and Miles Merrill. Presented with Word
Travels and supported by the University of
Western Sydney, Arts NSW and Parramatta
City Council.
Free, bookings 8839 3399
SR38 WILLIAM MCINNES: THE
LAUGHING CLOWNS
May 23, 6.30-7.30pm
Penrith Library
An evening with William McInnes, who
shares his new novel, The Laughter of
Clowns, about the power of family and
discovering what’s important in life by
returning home. Presented with Penrith
City Library and supported by the
University of Western Sydney.
$5, including light refreshments,
bookings essential, 4732 7891
KOGARAH
SR35 KATE TEMPEST AND ANIS
MOJGANI
May 25, 2.30-3.30pm
Riverside Theatre
Words collide with performance poets Kate
Tempest and Anis Mojgani, both described
as “fierce” and “genius”. Presented with
Word Travels and supported by the
University of Western Sydney and
Parramatta City Council.
Free, bookings 8839 3399
RANDWICK
SR39 ARNOLD ZABLE: A WRITER’S
JOURNEY
May 22, 6-7pm
Randwick Library
Acclaimed author, storyteller and human
rights advocate Arnold Zable, known for
writing stories set both in Australia and
swf.org.au 21
SR10 SEXISM, AUSTRALIAN STYLE
May 21, 10-11am
Leading journalist, writer and feminist
Anne Summers discusses her book, The
Misogyny Factor, with author Tara Moss.
SR11 PLACES OF DARKNESS AND
LIGHT: NEW AUSTRALIAN FICTION
May 21, 11.30am-12.30pm
Jesse Blackadder (Chasing the Light),
Mark O’Flynn (The Forgotten World) and
Julienne van Loon (Harmless) discuss
their new books with Carol Major.
SR12 A READER’S GUIDE TO LIFE
May 21, 1.30-2.30pm
Ramona Koval’s By the Book has been
described as a “love letter to the act of
reading”. She talks with Geordie Williamson
about how books shape our lives.
SR13 DERMOT HEALY IN
CONVERSATION
May 21, 3-4pm
Ireland’s Dermot Healy discusses his new
book, Long Time, No See, with fellow
writer Kate Fagan.
SR14 THE ART OF THE SHORT STORY
May 21, 4.30-5.30pm
Join three of Australia’s finest short
story writers, Georgia Blain, Cate
Kennedy and Josephine Rowe, as they
discuss their new collections with fellow
writer Tegan Bennett Daylight.
SR15 BOOK LAUNCH: JANE
SKELTON - LIVES OF THE DEAD
May 21, 6-7pm
Universal Heart Book Club’s co-founder
Walter Mason launches Lives of the
Dead, the debut short fiction collection
by Blue Mountains writer and Varuna
alumna Jane Skelton.
Free, no bookings
overseas that weave together family tales,
speaks about his most recent collection,
Violin Lessons, and his life as a writer.
Presented with Randwick City Library Service.
Free, bookings essential, 9399 6966,
email [email protected]
RYDE
SR40 MICHAEL BRISSENDEN:
AMERICAN STORIES OF HOPE
AND ANGER
May 22, 6.30-7.30pm
Ryde Library
In American Stories, ABC current affairs
correspondent Michael Brissenden shares
the stories of hope and anger around
America that he collected while following
Obama’s re-election campaign.
Presented with Ryde Library Service.
$5, bookings 9952 8352
WOLLONGONG
SR41 ROCKET READINGS
May 19, 1.30-3.30pm
Wollongong City Gallery
A lively afternoon of readings celebrating
the prose poem, with special guests
Joanne Burns, Peter Lach-Newinsky, Ron
Pretty and Linda Godfrey. Presented by
South Coast Writers Centre and supported
by Arts NSW and Wollongong City Gallery.
Free, no bookings
SR42 CELEBRATING THE VOICE
WRITERS’ NIGHT
May 23, 6.30-8.30pm
Wollongong City Gallery
Aunty Barbara Nicholson, Simon Luckhurst,
John Muk Muk Burke and Bruce Pascoe
launch Dreamings Inside, writings by
Aboriginal inmates, at the 13th Celebrating
the Voice Indigenous Writers’ Night.
Presented by South Coast Writers Centre
and supported by Arts NSW and
Wollongong City Gallery.
Free, bookings essential, 4228 0151,
email [email protected]
1HERSA1 S021
A-Z OF PARTICIPANTS
22 swf.org.au
See swf.org.au for biographies
of all participants.
KEY:
nInternational writer
W prefix = workshop, see page 20
SR prefix = Suburban & Regional
Event, see page 21
SD = School Days event, see page 19.
A
Antoinette Abboud 115
Yassmin Abdel-Magied 42, 161
Phillip Adams 26, 41, 128
Robert Adamson 19, SR3
Debra Adelaide 132, 177
Louise Adler 249
Michael Mohammed Ahmad SR33
Adam Aitken 19, 121
Jordie Albiston 4
Stephanie Alexander 53, 108
n Khadim Ali 152
Elizabeth Allen 187
Chris Allen W19
Waleed Aly 238
David Astle 43, 91
Elsa Atkin 232
n Kate Atkinson 193, SR26
Monica Attard 106, 181
n Tash Aw 158, 181
B
Sunil Badami 157, 185, 236
Julia Baird 122, 175, 192
Ben Ball 166, 251
Simon Barker SR23
Dawn Barker 63, 108, 129, SR20
Glenn Barkley 36, 244
Annette Barlow 28
Caroline Baum 24, 57, 116, 169, 193
Richard Beasley 144
Deborah Beck 98
Jean Bedford 134
Tegan Bennett Daylight 20, 194,
221, SR5, SR14
Linton Besser 224
n Lauren Beukes 22, 39, 61, 81, 102,
126, 156, 202
Jonathan Biggins 60
Deborah Bird Rose 49
Jemma Birrell 259
Stephanie Bishop 154
Jesse Blackadder 48, SR11, W25
Georgia Blain 147, 178, SR14
Alastair Blanshard 170
Kim Cheng Boey 121
Frank Bongiorno 142
Rachel Botsman 57, 150, 168
Tim Bowden 182, SR29
CJ Bowerbird 125, 140, 229
n Helen Boyle 90
James Bradley 156
Margaret Bradstock 38
n Libba Bray 207, SD
Joseph Brennan 39
n Michael Brennan 187, 245
Kaleena Briggs 227
Katharine Brisbane 161
Michael Brissenden 77, 128, SR39
David Brooks 56, 97, 170, SR3
Kerry Brown 64
Bob Brown 190
Nick Bryant 47
Stuart Buchanan 112
Robbie Buck 160
John Muk Muk Burke SR42
Joanne Burns SR41
Caroline Butler-Bowdon 37, 98
James Button 54, 128, 239
Jennifer Byrne 102, 151
C
Jane Cadzow 132
Michelle Cahill 121, 187
Peter John Cantrill 16
John Cantwell 32, 223, SR32
Amanda Card 6
John Carey 38
Mike Carlton 96, 182
Jane Caro 210
Felicity Castagna SR33
Nick Cater 47, 192
Michael Cathcart 22, 87, 158
n Shami Chakrabarti 149, 179, 203
Claudia Chan Shaw 103
Christopher Cheng 2
1HERSA1 S022
Neil Chenoweth 171
Julie Chevalier 134
Feng Chongji 64
Natasha Cica 211
Gabriel Clark W6
n Erin Clarke 166
Kirstie Clements 46, 213
Stephanie Clifford-Smith W17
Jessie Cole SR6
Courtney Collins 40, 76, 100, 163, 176
Mark Colvin 199
Matthew Condon 107, 126, 184, 251,
SR16, W18
Sam Cooney 114, 146
Mark Corcoran 32
Peter Corris 134
Katerina Cosgrove 86
Miriam Cosic 55
Sibella Court 36, 80
Brendan Cowell 130
Deb Cox 145
Annabel Crabb 239
Andrew Croome 129
David Cunningham 202
Sophie Cunningham 70, 95, 178, 219
Ann Curthoys W10
D
n Faramerz Dabhoiwala 13, 34,
55, 142
Darren Dale 256
n William Dalrymple 45, 88, 240
Mark Dapin 85
Robyn Davidson 101, 205
n Luke Davies 19, 81, 118, 148, 187,
226, 245
Robin de Crespigny 218
Michelle de Kretser 27, SR4
Bob Debus SR9
Mary Delahunty 42
Quentin Dempster 23
Andrew Denton 140
n Anita Desai 69, 154, 194
Catherine Deveny 13, 165, 210,
SR30, W24
Anne Deveson 26, 63
n Janine di Giovanni 13, 78, 96, 151
Robert Drewe 49, 81, 174
n Suzy Duffy 31
Susan Duncan 109
n Kirsty Dunseath 105
Teya Dusseldorp 177
Monica Dux 21, 147, 178, 210
E
Nick Earls SD, 7, 205, 243
Jill Eddington 17, 233
Lorraine Elliott 53, 82
Amy Espeseth 17, 176
Robyn Ewing 177
F
Kate Fagan 148, 187, SR3, SR13
Delia Falconer W19
Brian Falkner SD, W28
Michael Farrell 247
Elizabeth Farrelly 10
Johanna Featherstone 257
Marc Fennell 29, 195, 205
Richard Fidler 92, 123, 189
Toby Fitch 247
Lionel Fogarty 119, 187, SR3
Andrew Ford 124, 148
n Mark Forsyth 43, 76, 82, 185
Kate Forsyth 206, SR27
David Foster 111
n David Francis 36, 99, 130
Mia Freedman 162, 203
Jackie French SD, 216
n Michael Fried 152
Solo (from Horrorshow) 202, 257
Susannah Fullerton 221
Michael Fullilove 88, 122, 239
Linda Funnell 134
G
n Steven Gale 56, 65, 110, 164, 176, 254
Mobo Gao 64
Celeste Geer 23
Joe Gelonesi 97
Sulari Gentill 206
Ross Gibson 136
Rebecca Giggs 197
Richard Gill 51, 108, 124, 170
Bates Gill 64
Jane Gleeson-White 20, 200, 212, 218
Lucinda Gleeson 13
Libby Gleeson 177
Richard Glover 34, 85, 109, 133,
144, 168
Linda Godfrey 134, SR41
n Ben Goldacre 143, 235
n Barry Goldblatt 207
Anna Goldsworthy 21, 54
Roanna Gonsalves SR2
Dave Graney 76, 124
Pat Grant 192, 202
Ross Grayson Bell 256
Alison Green W19
John M. Green 129
Richard Green 227
n Robert Greene 65, 150, 170,
202, 204
Don Groves 199
Alice Grundy 114, 197, SR33, W19
H
Gideon Haigh 122, 237
Sophie Hamley SR33, W19
Philip Hammial 257, SR3
Chris Hanley 62, 153
Darren Hanlon 73
Fiona Harari 159, 218
David Hardaker 96
Marieke Hardy 68, 102
Wendy Harmer 106, SD
Martin Harrison 19, 155
Jacqueline Harvey W7
Ashley Hay 17, 52, 233, W15, W23
Amanda Hayward 39
Noni Hazlehurst 76
n Dermot Healy 52, 118, 140, 154,
245, SR3, SR13
Jim Hearn 86
Sally Heath 81
Genevieve Hegney 214
David M Henley 156, W1
n Sheila Heti 61, 157, 228
Sue Hines 166
Michael Hing 13
Joe Hockey 250
Sandy Holmes SR3
Lucy Holt 187
Huon Hooke 25
Chloe Hooper 100, 166, 256
Amanda Hooton 31, 221
Barbara Horgan 33
n Eli Horowitz 112, 140, 146, 251
n K.B. Hoyle 206
Rebecca Huntley 213, SR18, W3
I
Ian Innes 58
J
Eleanor Jackson 140, 229
Neil James 112, 191, 239, W5
James Jeffrey 60
Ben Jenkins 76, 197
Gareth Jenkins 257
Diana Jenkins 198
n Devin Johnston SR3
Elizabeth Johnstone 117, 180, 213
Justin Jones 153
Jill Jones 247
Nicholas Jose 121
K
Michaela Kalowski 40, 131
Kooshyar Karimi 93, 240, SR21
n Shehan Karunatilaka 150, 237,
SR19
Claudia Karvan 84, 130, 163
Danny Katz SD
n Jackie Kay 54, 123, 180, 198
n Jude Kelly 14, 149, 161, 179, 196,
203
Cate Kennedy 130, 147, 178, 194, 219
SR8, SR14
Rachel Kent 72, 83, 152
Hannah Kent 55, 222
Jacqueline Kent 109
Fenella Kernebone 16
Andrew Khedoori 73
Gretel Killeen 85
Krissy Kneen 100, 146, 176, W21
Dominic Knight 75
Malcolm Knox 44, 174
Ramona Koval 51, 233, SR12
n Lawrence Krauss 120, 198
Tony Kravitz 256
Anna Krien 89, 184
n Aleksandra Krotoski 29, 76,
168, 234
Ambelin Kwaymullina SD
L
Peter Lach-Newinsky SR41
Benjamin Laird 171
Margo Lanagan 178
Jeff Lang 148, 202
Justine Larbalestier 207
David Large 39
Max Lavergne 140
Benjamin Law 54, 76, 142, 181, 189, W13
Anthony Lawrence 257
Neil Lawrence 135, 150
Suzanne Leal 18, 183, 218
Jeanine Leane 119
Mark Ledbury 6
Christopher Lee 145
Ali Lemer SR2, SR4
n Amelia Lester 13, 15, 198, 255
Connie Levett 6
Tanya Levin 213
Tim Levinson (Urthboy) 198
n Deborah Levy 69, 127, 194, 249
Steve Lewis 60, 250
James Ley 70, 95, 197
Adam Liaw 186
Sophie Lieberman 103
Dionne Lister W19
Amanda Lohrey 89, 132, 154, 190
Skye Loneragan 252
Astrid Lorange 247
Angelo Loukakis 85
Lenny Ann Low SD
n Benjamin Lowy 152
Melissa Lucashenko 44, 66, 119, 161
Simon Luckhurst SR42
Nakkiah Lui SR21
M
Sarah Macdonald 165
Hugh Mackay 208, SR9
Anna Maguire 7, 112, W11, W19
Emily Maguire 83, 100, 165, W19
Carol Major SR11
David Malouf 19, 245
Robert Manne 115
Kristi Mansfield 161
n Diego Marani 155, 191
Kathy Marks 211
Simon Marnie 199
David Marr 223
Lauren Martin 94
Shona Martyn W19
Walter Mason 33, 66, SR15
Chris Masters 32
Karen McCartney 80
Kate McClymont 224
Alasdair McGregor 48
Russell McGregor 98
Michaela McGuire 68
William McInnes 111, 130, 159,
233, SR38
Jacqueline McKenzie 130
Maxine McKew 35, 108
Jeff McMullen 241
Ross McMullin 32, 48, 182
Rick McPhee 23
Gillian Mears 225
George Megalogenis 9, 11
Miles Merrill 1, 3, 125, 140, 229, 252,
SR34, SR35
n Claire Messud 116, 147, 259
Angela Meyer 70, 82, W22
David Michôd 226
Kate Middleton 197
Richard Miles 45
Kate Miller-Heidke 76, 133, 148
Tim Miller 230
Claire Miller W19
Christine Milne 210
Peter Minter 119
n Pankaj Mishra 67, 88, 181
Natasha Mitchell 142, 149
n Anis Mojgani 125, 140, 229, 252,
SR31, SR35
Tony Moore 10
Matthew Moore 214
n Daniel Morden 8, 59, 209, 240, SR36
Mark Mordue 124, 197
Linda Morris SR26
Julian Morrow 13, 30, 67, 76, 137,
140, 202
Tara Moss 46, 82, 126, SR10
n Kate Mosse 84, 110, 149, 198
Linda Mottram 79
Peter Mould 37
Stephen Muecke 49
n Stephen Muller 77, 195
Kate Mulvany 189, 219
Lorna Munro 257
Tommy Murphy W2
Joanna Murray-Smith 131
Lisa Murray 37
David Musgrave 4, 38, 111
n Wangechi Mutu 72, 83
N
Joel Naoum W19
n Sylvia Nasar 168, 212, SR37
Haylee Nash W19
Melodie Nelson 202
n Patrick Ness 61, 164, 220
P.M. Newton 44, 184, 237, SR19
John Newton 53
Pauline Nguyen 53, 93, 255
Barbara Nicholson SR42
Sherrill Nixon 15, 78, 143, 204
Zoe Norton Lodge 202
Malla Nunn SR2
O
Judith O’Callaghan 58
Mark O’Flynn SR1, SR11
Sarah Oakes 234
Brett Osmond W19
Debra Oswald 145, 219
n Karl Ove Knausgaard 155, 176, 254
Caroline Overington 28, 63, 107
P
Jane Palfreyman 225, 251
Bruce Pascoe 225, SR42
Steve Pennells 224
Shiela Pham SR33
Oliver Phommavanh W9
Charles Pickett 58
Ailsa Piper 24
n Frederique Polet 28
Peter Polites SR33
Nicholas Pounder 36
Ron Pretty SR41
Jenna Price 210
Lisa Pryor 235
John Purcell 33
R
B. Michael Radburn W8
Morag Ramsay 23
Scott Rankin 211
Catherine Rey SR2
Hannah Richell 107
Matt Richell 105
Judith Ridge SD, 206, 220
n Molly Ringwald 200, 260
Sally Rippin SD, W30
Ruth Ritchie 145
Jamila Rizvi 203
Archie Roach 241
Michael Robotham 44, 126
Stephen Romei 70
n Joe Rospars 9, 77, 135
Nicolas Rothwell 61, 104
Josephine Rowe 40, 146, 178,
255, SR14
James Roy SD
Arne Rubinstein 144
n Carlos Ruiz Zafón 102, 183, 220
n Grazia Rusticali 105
n Edward Rutherfurd 55, 99, SR22
Juanita Ruys 83, 240
S
Helen Sage 63
Leigh Sales 135
n Michael Sandel 11, 30
Scott Sandwich 1, 3, SR34
Sally Sara 13, 189
Chris Sarra 108, SR28
Margot Saville 35, 199
Moya Sayer-Jones 50, 150, 248
n Quintin Schevernels 112
Julianne Schultz 25, 42, 86
Stephen Scourfield 17, 49, W26
Berndt Sellheim SR6
Eddie Sharp 13, 76, 140, 202
Paul Sharrad SR42
Peter Shergold AC 208
Emile Sherman 101
n David Shrigley 242
Annette Shun Wah 12, 61, 74, 138,
201, 246
Craig Silvey 144, 166, 214
n Sylvie Simmons 76, 122, 160
Lucy Simpson 227
Nardi Simpson 227
Graeme Simsion 159, 202, 205
Jane Skelton SR15
Morgan Smith 33
Pip Smith 197
Tim Soutphommasane 93, 192, SR25
Jeff Sparrow 115, 171
Dale Spender 203
Jo Sri 229, SR34
Matt Stanton 230
Rebecca Starford 114, W16
Jason Steger 102
Elisabeth Storrs W19
n Cheryl Strayed 24, 92, 140,
236, SR8
Katrina Strickland 25
Omeima Sukkarieh SR17
Anne Summers 42, 106, 175, SR10
Will Swanton W4
Swimwear 76
T
Melanie Tait 189, W20
Chris Taylor 13, 76, 140, 202
n Craig Taylor 50, 114, 167, 228, 251
Mark Tedeschi 184, 232
n Hilary Teeman 28
n Kate Tempest 125, 140, 252, SR35
Hsu-Ming Teo SR2
Mark Textor 135
Philip Thalis 16
Catherine Therese SR6
n Scarlett Thomas 97, 117, 255, W27
Simon Thomsen 199
Holly Throsby 73
Tom Tilley 13
Kate Torney 94
Rachael Treasure 31, 169, SR24
Anne Treasure W19
Helen Trinca 122, SR7
Aviva Tuffield 84
Majok Tulba 93, SR21
Sarah Turnbull 213, 248
Malcolm Turnbull 239
U
Chris Uhlmann 250
Andrew Upton 131, 141
Tom Uren AC 182
V
James Valentine 113
Julienne van Loon 86, 107, SR11, W14
W
Louise Wakeling 38
Jeremy Walker 115
Yvette Walker SR6
Chris Wallace 42
Sally Warhaft 21, 101, 178
Christopher Warren 94, 224
Fred Watson 258
n Ruby Wax 14, 203
Alan Wearne 111, W29
Adina West W19
Scott Westerfeld 156
Terry Whidborne SD, 243
Sue Whiting W12
n Paul Whitlatch 166
Les Wicks 38
Jessica L. Wilkinson 187
Kip Williams 253
Robyn Williams 120
Geordie Williamson 20, 104, SR5,
SR7, SR12
Asher Wolf 171
n Naomi Wolf 83, 142, 162
n James Wood 20, 95, 173
Sue Woolfe 66, 155
Tom Wright 129
Susan Wyndham 27, 61, 95, 173,
188, 222
Elisabeth Wynhausen 106
Y
Willliam Yang 12, 74, 138, 201, 246
n Chris Ying 186
Damon Young 62, 97, 127, 221
Z
Arnold Zable 40, 61, 93, 165, SR40
n Michael Zollner 105
FESTIVAL INFORMATION
INFORMATION
BOOKINGS
Sydney Writers’ Festival presents both free
and ticketed events.
Seats cannot be booked for free events
in the Walsh Bay Precinct. These events fill
quickly, so we recommend you arrive early.
All venues must be vacated at the end of
each event.
The majority of ticketed events can
be booked through the Sydney Theatre
Company box office, either online at
swf.sydneytheatre.org.au, by phone on
9250 1988, or in person at 22 Hickson Road,
Walsh Bay. Satellite box offices will also
operate at Pier 2/3 and Sydney Town Hall for
ticket purchases on event days.
For bookings not taken by Sydney
Theatre, 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.
ACCESSIBILITY
All venues are wheelchair accessible with
the exception of Bangarra Mezzanine. After
the Festival, some events will be available
on our website as video or audio files.
HEARING LOOP
The following venues are fitted with a hearing
loop: Sydney Theatre, Wharf Theatre 2,
City Recital Hall Angel Place, Sydney Opera
House and Sydney Town Hall.
ENQUIRIES (EXCLUDING BOOKINGS)
For general Festival enquiries, please
contact Sydney Writers’ Festival either
by phone on 9252 7729, or by email on
[email protected]
swf.org.au 23
Club Stage (capacity 250)
The Loft (capacity 300)
The Big Top For Little People (capacity 100)
Wharf Restaurant (capacity 160)
TRAVELLING TO THE WALSH
BAY PRECINCT
TRAIN AND FERRY
The closest train station and ferry terminal
is Circular Quay. It is approximately a
15-minute walk to Walsh Bay. From Circular
Quay, walk down George Street and turn
right on Hickson Road. Follow Hickson Road
under the Harbour Bridge and around past
Sebel Pier One to the Festival precinct.
BUS
Millers Point bus services 431 and 433
depart from QVB, travel down George
Street, through The Rocks to Millers Point.
It’s a 10-minute walk from Millers Point to
the Walsh Bay precinct.
The 433 Balmain and Glebe Point bus
to Millers Point extends its route down
Hickson Road from 6.15-11.30pm nightly.
Buses run approximately every 20 minutes
during these times and there’s a bus stop
outside Pier 4/5.
Route 998 runs from 9pm to 4.30am
every Friday and Saturday night linking
Hickson Road with Town Hall Station via
Wynyard. Buses run every 30 minutes and
there’s a bus stop outside Pier 4/5.
SYDNEY WRITERS’ FESTIVAL
SHUTTLE BUS
From Thursday, May 23, to Sunday, May 26,
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. The
first stop is opposite Sydney Theatre, and
the second stop is outside Pier 4/5. Buses
then return directly to Circular Quay.
The last scheduled return service to Circular
Quay departs from Walsh Bay at 6.15pm.
Cost is $2 for a Circular Quay return
ticket on the SWF shuttle bus.
As this is a charter service, one-way
tickets, Travel10s, concession cards and
pensioner day tickets will not be accepted.
BICYCLES
Bicycle parking is provided under the
awning on Pier 2.
PARKING
The closest paid parking is at InterPark
on 26 Hickson Road (next to Sydney
Theatre) and Wilson Carpark at Towns
Place, near the junction of Hickson Road
and Towns Place. Limited metered parking
is available on Hickson Road.
WALSH BAY VENUES
Sydney Theatre
22 Hickson Road, Walsh Bay
Sydney Theatre (capacity 850)
Richard Wherrett Studio (capacity 100)
Pier 4/5
Hickson Road, Walsh Bay
Bangarra Mezzanine (capacity 100)
Sydney Dance 1 (capacity 400)
Sydney Dance 2 (capacity 160)
Sydney Dance Studio (Capacity 40)
Sydney Dance Café (capacity 80)
Philharmonia Studio (capacity 100)
Wharf Theatre 2 (capacity 200)
The Bar at the End of The Wharf (capacity 100)
Pier 2/3
Hickson Road, Walsh Bay
Main Stage (capacity 400)
OTHER CITY VENUES
City Recital Hall Angel Place
Angel Place, Sydney
Sydney Opera House
Joan Sutherland Theatre
Bennelong Point, Sydney
Sydney Town Hall
483 George Street, Sydney
Carriageworks
245 Wilson Street, Eveleigh
ABC Studios
700 Harris Street, Ultimo
Brett Whiteley Studio
2 Raper Street, Surry Hills
Customs House Reading Room
31 Alfred Street, Circular Quay
Museum of Contemporary Art
140 George Street, The Rocks
Powerhouse Museum
500 Harris Street, Ultimo
State Library of NSW
Macquarie Street, Sydney
Sydney Observatory
Watson Road, Observatory Hill,
The Rocks
The Four Seasons Hotel
Grain Bar and Grand Ballroom,
199 George Street, Sydney
The Mint
10 Macquarie Street, Sydney
Macleay Museum, University of Sydney
Gosper Lane (off Science Road),
University of Sydney
The Rocks Square
Playfair Street, The Rocks
The Green Room Lounge
156 Enmore Road, Enmore
Setting Agendas,
Creating Culture
WRITING THEORY
AND PRACTICE AT UWS
The School of Humanities and Communication Arts
and the Writing and Society Research Centre are leaders
in the fields of literary studies and performing arts
and creative writing. Our research in these fields has
consistently been ranked as above world standard*.
We not only think about culture, we create culture:
we are home to Giramondo Publishing, a major
independent publisher of Australian poetry and fiction,
and to the Sydney Review of Books, Australia’s premier
literary review site.
We are pleased to continue our long-standing
association with the Sydney Writers’ Festival.
For further information please visit
www.uws.edu.au/writing or www.uws.edu.au/hca
*ERA Ranking 2010 & 2012
University of Western Sydney
sydneyreviewofbooks.com
1HERSA1 S023
CREATIVE
CITY
SYDNEY
Does an
interest-free
arts loan
sound
like poetry
to you?
Tell us what creative life
you want for Sydney.
sydneyyoursay.com.au/creativecity
#creativecitysyd