Newcastle Writers Festival
In 2024, Newcastle Writers Festival will bring together 140 writers from across Australia for the festival program, which will be held from 5 to 7 April. The program will be launched on 16 February and tickets go on sale the same day. The festival champions a culture of writing and reading. To keep updated about upcoming events, please subscribe to our newsletter by scrolling to the bottom our website https://www.newcastlewritersfestival.org.au/
Lucia Osborne-Crowley: The Trial of Ghislaine Maxwell
Friday 28 February 2025
Australian-trained lawyer and journalist Lucia Osborne-Crowley was one of only four court reporters admitted daily into the blockbuster criminal trial of Ghislaine Maxwell, where she bore witness to the extensive evidence brought against Maxwell for sex-trafficking minors and abetting Jeffrey Epstein’s abuses.
Maxwell’s trial and ultimate conviction is carefully detailed in Lucia's book The Lasting Harm, which amplifies the voices of the victims and serves as a critique of a legal system ill-equipped to deliver justice for abuse survivors.
Lucia will speak to Newcastle Writers Festival director Rosemarie Milsom about the impact of the Maxwell trial, our age-old appetitie for crime and punishment and a new blueprint for meaningful reparative justice.
Recommended for audiences aged 18 and older. Please note, this event may include references to sexual abuse and assault.
This event is supported by the University of Newcastle and Allen & Unwin.
Newcastle Conservatorium Concert Hall - (Updated 26/6/23)
Marie Curie's Legacy: An Afternoon with Dava Sobel
Sunday 9 March 2025
The acclaimed Pulitzer Prize finalist and New York Times bestselling author, Dava Sobel, has written a luminous chronicle of the life and work of Marie Curie, the most famous woman in the history of science, and the untold story of the many young women trained in her laboratory and were launched into stellar scientific careers of their own.
"Even now, nearly a century after her death, Marie Curie remains the only female scientist most people can name," writes Sobel. And yet, she makes clear, as brilliant and creative as she was in the laboratory, Marie Curie was equally passionate outside it.
This event is a collaboration with Adelaide Writers Week with support from HarperCollins and the University of Newcastle.
Newcastle Conservatorium Concert Hall - (Updated 26/6/23)
Historical Fiction Masterclass for Primary Students
Wednesday 2 April 2025
Join the festival’s dynamic Story Hunter program for an all-day workshop at Newcastle Museum.
Students will interact with museum objects and learn how to blend historical settings with their own imagination to create a short story. This workshop is designed for high potential and passionate young writers in Stage 3 (Years 5 and 6).
Schools are encouraged to send a small group with a supervising teacher.
Newcastle Museum Theatrette
Lessons I've Learnt: An Afternoon with Kasey Chambers
Saturday 2 November 2024
Join us to celebrate the release of Kasey Chambers' memoir Just Don't Be a D**khead and Other Profound Things I've Learnt! The acclaimed country music artist will discuss her extraordinary career and life with friend Danni Carr. Kasey will also perform.
From her childhood in the Australian outback to the heights of her chart-topping international success as a singer/songwriter, Kasey has trusted her gut, stuck to her values and learned some hard truths, always while trying to live by the best advice she’s ever received: just don’t be a dickhead.
MacLean's Booksellers will have copies of Kasey's book for sale and she will sign copies after the event.
This event is presented in partnership with The University of Newcastle Conservatorium of Music and supported by Hardie Grant.
Accessibility information: The venue is accessible for wheelchair users.
The Festival is part of the Companion Card program. Please email us when booking your ticket so we can assist.
Newcastle Conservatorium Concert Hall - (Updated 26/6/23)
An Evening with Tim Winton
Saturday 19 October 2024
We are thrilled to announce a special event with award-winning Australian writer Tim Winton who will speak about his new novel Juice with Newcastle Writers Festival director Rosemarie Milsom. This will be Tim's first Newcastle event and is supported by the University of Newcastle.
Juice centres on two fugitives, a man and a child, who drive all night across a stony desert. As dawn breaks, they roll into an abandoned mine site. As a refuge, this is the most promising place they’ve seen. The child peers at the field of desolation. The man thinks to himself, this could work. The problem is, they’re not alone. So begins a searing, propulsive journey about survival, and how to maintain human decency as everyone around you falls ever further into barbarism.
MacLean's Booksellers is supporting the event and Tim will be signing books on the night. Please arrive by 5.30pm for a 6.00pm start. There will be limited door sales.
University of Newcastle Great Hall
Writing Place - Creative Writing Short Course
Saturday 13 April 2024
Newcastle Writers Festival and The University of Newcastle’s School of Humanties, Creative Industries and Social Sciences are collaborating to offer a month-long intensive creative writing short course. Getting place right is more than having a backdrop or setting for your writing and in this course you will learn ways to engage with place as a narrative or poetic trigger. The course is suitable for anyone who wants to explore the ‘place of place’ across the genres of poetry, fiction and creative nonfiction (memoir/travelogue/essay).
The course will be led by Dr Keri Glastonbury and includes special guests Amy Lovat, Kim Mahood, and Charlotte Wood. It is for experienced writers as well as readers who want to make the transition to becoming writers and are happy to read the three books mentioned and hear from the authors. Guest writers will participate via Zoom.
For a full course outline visit https://www.newcastlewritersfestival.org.au/writing-course/
University of Newcastle Nuspace Building
Poetics and Practice: Jazz Money in Conversation
Sunday 7 April 2024
Jazz Money is a nationally acclaimed Wiradjuri poet and artist. With a practice centred in poetics, their work has been published internationally and exhibited around Australia as art installations, digital interventions, and film.
Join Jazz in conversation with Peter Johnson as they speak about their poetry and multidisciplinary practice.
Presented with Newcastle Art Gallery.
NUspace X321, The University of Newcastle
Best Wishes: Richard Glover in Conversation
Sunday 7 April 2024
Described by Trent Dalton as ‘a soaring tribute to the power of wishful thinking’, Richard Glover’s most recent book, Best Wishes, centres on his hopes for making the world a better – less annoying – place for all. We’re thrilled to welcome Richard Glover back to the festival for what will be a heartful and hilarious conversation with Dan Cox.
Newcastle Conservatorium Concert Hall
Biting Back: Hannah Ferguson in Conversation
Sunday 7 April 2024
Hannah Ferguson co-founded an independent news commentary platform at a time when the world needed it most. In 2020, Cheek Media Co. quickly established itself as the go-to platform for daring feminist opinions and progressive perspectives on everything from right-wing politics to overcoming taboos around sex and pleasure. The mission? To provoke conversation and inspire meaningful social change. In Hannah’s memoir, Bite Back, she tells the whole story – and more. Hosted by Maddison Connaughton.
NUspace X101, The University of Newcastle
Blurring Genre, Building Worlds
Sunday 7 April 2024
Sharlene Allsopp, Kate Mildenhall and Shelley Parker-Chan have redefined world-building in their new fiction – weaving together the past and the present to disrupt the stories we’ve always told ourselves. Listen to how these authors build new worlds, break down old ones, and create characters pulsing with heart. Hosted by Chris Flynn.
NUspace X321, The University of Newcastle
Laugh or You’ll Cry: Writing for Page, Stage and Screen
Sunday 7 April 2024
From exploring debilitating grief on the page, to creating a heartwarming rom-com, and rewriting colonial history from a new perspective, Nadine J Cohen, James Colley and Jane Harrison laugh in the face of misery, drawing on dark humour and comedy in their recent works. Hosted by Nick Milligan.
NUspace X320, The University of Newcastle
Book Launch: The Silver River by Jim Moginie
Sunday 7 April 2024
Celebrate the launch of The Silver River: A Memoir of a Family Lost, Made and Found by one of the founding members of legendary band Midnight Oil, Jim Moginie. Hosted by Nick Milligan.
This event is free, but bookings are required.
Watt Space Gallery
Boy Conquers Universe
Sunday 7 April 2024
The screen adaptation of Trent Dalton's much-loved novel Boy Swallows Universe has been applauded by the book's loyal fans since its January release on Netflix, but no one could have predicted its international success. Meet the Newcastle-based BAFTA and Emmy-nominated director, Bharat Nalluri, who helped bring this very Australian story to life for a global audience. Hosted by Rosemarie Milsom.
NUspace X301, The University of Newcastle
Bright Shining: Julia Baird in Conversation
Sunday 7 April 2024
From the religious to the secular, wonder to mystery, humanity to the natural world, grace can be found everywhere – and, according to Julia Baird, it changes everything. In conversation with Cath Keenan, Julia shares the popular sociology of grace, how it can make us healthier as a society, and that which can’t be measured by science.
Newcastle Conservatorium Concert Hall
Life, Interrupted
Sunday 7 April 2024
What happens when all we know about our lives is lost? How do we recover when trust is broken? Steph Lentz concealed her sexuality from her church community for many years. Ben Mckelvey’s active life took a turn when he suffered debilitating health issues in his 20s. And Jeanne Ryckmans discovered the hard truth about a beloved partner when it was almost too late. They speak with Anna Downes about writing what lies beneath the surface, and what it takes to rebuild.
NUspace X321, The University of Newcastle
Rage and Resistance
Sunday 7 April 2024
‘...Art sustains life … showing people things they otherwise might not see’, observes a protagonist in Sara M Saleh’s Songs for the Dead and the Living. In fiction and in life, where do we go when words fail us and language isn’t enough? How can art tell stories that we need the world to understand? Daniel Browning, Sara M Saleh and Lucy Treloar discuss drawing on rage and resistance to write hard truths. Hosted by Jackie Dent.
NUspace X320, The University of Newcastle
An Affair to Remember
Sunday 7 April 2024
Three young queer writers navigate power, morality, and sexuality in their debut novels. Maeve Marsden speaks with Anna Kate Blair, Madeleine Gray and Amy Lovat about millennial mess, the ethics of love, and writing between the lines of relationships.
NUspace X320, The University of Newcastle
Lies My Mirror Told Me: Wendy Harmer in Conversation
Sunday 7 April 2024
In Lies My Mirror Told Me, Wendy Harmer reflects on her life as one of Australia’s most versatile entertainers. Author, journalist, stage performer and more – prepare to hear an unlikely success story told from a frank, funny, and fearless perspective. Hosted by Jane Caro.
Newcastle Conservatorium Concert Hall
The Love Language of Food
Sunday 7 April 2024
After twice appearing on Masterchef and reaching the top five, Reece Hignell now runs the popular Newcastle bakery, Cakeboi. Linda Marigliano’s memoir Love Language covers family, music and pasta, to uncover her people-pleasing in relationships. In her cookbook-memoir Heartbake, Charlotte Ree writes about learning to cook, and in turn learning to love again. Join them in conversation with Yumi Stynes about the delicious marriage of food and love.
NUspace X321, The University of Newcastle
Things We Don’t Speak About: Mental illness
Sunday 7 April 2024
In this new series of conversations about issues we don’t speak about, we invite authors to share how they interrogate tough topics in their writing lives.
Elfy Scott, Jessie Stephens and Nick Wasiliev discuss representing mental illness in both fiction and non-fiction. Hosted by Maddison Connaughton.
NUspace X207, The University of Newcastle
Workshop: Short Stories in Cyanotype
Sunday 7 April 2024
In collaboration with WH!P Collective’s exhibition, photomedia artist Clare Weeks is leading this workshop. Cyanotype is a photographic printing process that produces a cyan-blue print. It’s safe, simple, and easy to use. Participants will create a photographic image utilising this process. All you need is your imagination and light.
Free but bookings essential.
Watt Space Gallery
36 Ways of Writing a Vietnamese Poem: Nam Le in Conversation
Sunday 7 April 2024
Fifteen years after his award-winning debut The Boat, Nam Le brings us 36 Ways of Writing a Vietnamese Poem, an explosive, devastating book of poetry with praise from Nick Cave, David Malouf and Barbara Tran. He speaks with Michele Seminara about reckoning with identity, diaspora and displacement, and exploding the poetic form.
NUspace X320, The University of Newcastle
Earth, Sea and Sky
Sunday 7 April 2024
When the world feels like it’s falling apart, how do we find hope? Can we still feel wonder and awe, even as temperatures rise and forests burn? Kirsten Bradley, Krystal de Napoli, and Duane Hamacher discuss grounding through earth, sea and sky, finding joy, and connecting with nature in tough times. Hosted by Amy Sambrooke.
NUspace X207, The University of Newcastle
Finding it in the Family
Sunday 7 April 2024
When stories are passed through generations, how does that shape the ones we tell ourselves? These novels use memory and lore to blend the real with the imagined. Tony Birch, Andre Dao and Laura Elizabeth Woollett share how family history helped inform their fiction. Hosted by Bernadette Brennan.
NUspace X301, The University of Newcastle
The Last Daughter: Brenda Matthews in Conversation
Sunday 7 April 2024
At two years old, Brenda Matthews and her siblings were taken from their parents. For five years, she lived happily as a much-loved daughter within a white family, before being swiftly reunited with the birth family she barely remembered. Decades later, Brenda searched for her foster family and learned the truth about her past. Brenda appears in conversation with Melissa Lucashenko about her memoir and Netflix documentary, The Last Daughter.
NUspace X101, The University of Newcastle
The James Fletcher Hospital Site: Sounds of the Past
Sunday 7 April 2024
Join historians and writers Cathy Coleborne, Jude Conway, Nancy Cushing, Mark Dunn, Helen English, Keri Glastonbury, Ann Hardy, and Adam Manning as they share historical, cultural and poetic insights about the James Fletcher Hospital site, including its past use for Awabakal ceremony, coal mining, concerts and an industrial school for girls, as well as its early years as a centre of mental health care.
James Fletcher Hospital
Words & Music
Saturday 6 April 2024
‘Music is the shorthand of emotion.’ - Leo Tolstoy
This special event returns for its second year and celebrates music, literature and the nature of inspiration. Drawing on the work of influential writers, an eclectic lineup of songwriters and musicians will transform words from the page to the stage.
Curated by Nick Milligan.
Featuring Elijah Moss, Piper Butcher, Deborah Conway, Natalie Damjanovich-Napoleon, Jim Moginie, Adam Newling, Nina Romeru, Lachlan X Morris and Bray Porter.
Newcastle Conservatorium Concert Hall
Giyi Para - the Convening of a Gathering
Saturday 6 April 2024
For thousands of generations First People in our country have gathered in a continuing practice of coming together to share knowledge, celebrate country, and strengthen ongoing relationships.
In the spirit of this continued gathering practice, The Wollotuka Institute, in partnership with Newcastle Writers Festival, invites you to an evening of community, corroboree and celebration.
Tickets $10 / Free for those who identify as Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander, but booking is required for catering purposes.
5.00pm to 5.30pm The Way of the Ancestors with Wonnarua elder Uncle Warren Taggart.
5.40pm to 5.50pm A performance by poet and storyteller Rob Waters.
5.55pm to 6.40pm The Last Daughter (Brenda Matthews)
6.40pm to 7.00pm BBQ (Food available at no cost)
7.00pm to 7.45pm Big Sky
7.45pm to 8.15pm
The Wollotuka Institute, The University of Newcastle
Book Launch: Wear Next, Fashioning the Future by Clare Press
Saturday 6 April 2024
Celebrate the launch of Wear Next, Fashioning the Future by Clare Press at Momo Wholefood, 227 Hunter Street.
What will you be wearing in 10 years? Will your jacket have been grown in a lab, or your jeans coloured using bacteria?
Clare Press’ new book explores the factors that are likely to shape our fashion futures, from conscious, fair, slow and upcycled to bio-intelligent and digital. She’ll speak to Rowena Foong about fascinating innovators around the globe who are redesigning fashion from the ground up and changing it in the most fundamental ways.
Momo Wholefood Cafe
Life on the Page
Saturday 6 April 2024
Jessica Kirkness grew up close to her grandparents, who were deaf in a hearing world. Sophie Matterson walked across Australia with her beloved camels. Ben Mckelvey experienced a sudden stroke, and then a heart attack, in his twenties. Eye-opening and honest, all three lay bare some of the most intimate and vulnerable moments in their lives. They speak to Fiona Murphy about what compelled them to share their stories.
NUspace X321, The University of Newcastle
On Art and Desire
Saturday 6 April 2024
‘There’s art, and then there’s everything else,’ declares Lally in Bri Lee’s first book of fiction, The Work. Bri joins Anna Kate Blair and Kylie Needham for a discussion about the tension between art and desire, family and privilege, ambition and seduction. Hosted by Amy Sambrooke.
NUspace X207, The University of Newcastle
Poetry Salon
Saturday 6 April 2024
Join us for an evening of poetry readings. Featuring Richard James Allen, Susie Anderson, Deborah Conway, Natalie Damjanovich-Napoleon, Yvette Henry Holt, Kirli Saunders, and Ellen Shelley. Hosted by Michele Seminara.
Watt Space Gallery
The Teacher’s Pet: Hedley Thomas in Conversation
Saturday 6 April 2024
Thought you knew the story of The Teacher’s Pet? Walkley Award-winning journalist Hedley Thomas shares insights from behind the scenes of one of the most intriguing Australian murder cases of our time. He will speak with Richard Glover about what prompted him to explore the disappearance of Lynette Dawson, how he created the #1 podcast, and his involvement in the trial that ultimately convicted Chris Dawson of murder.
Newcastle Conservatorium Concert Hall
The Teacher’s Pet: Hedley Thomas in Conversation Livestream
Saturday 6 April 2024
Thought you knew the story of The Teacher’s Pet? Walkley Award-winning journalist Hedley Thomas shares insights from behind the scenes of one of the most intriguing Australian murder cases of our time. He will speak with Richard Glover about what prompted him to explore the disappearance of Lynette Dawson, how he created the #1 podcast, and his involvement in the trial that ultimately convicted Chris Dawson of murder.
This event will be live streamed. Details for the Zoom event will be emailed to you after 8.00am AEST on the day of the event. If you have not received this information prior to the event please check your spam folder.
Haunted by the Past
Saturday 6 April 2024
To be human is to be haunted by the past: the narratives of our collective and subjective worlds. Three authors grapple with colonial, personal, and family history in their recent fiction, blurring the lines of fantasy and reality and creating characters who ask, ‘Can we lay these ghosts to rest?’ With Winnie Dunn, Mirandi Riwoe and Lucy Treloar. Hosted by Cath Keenan.
NUspace X207, The University of Newcastle
The Case Against Marriage: Clementine Ford in Conversation
Saturday 6 April 2024
In Clementine Ford’s most controversial book to date, she argues an impassioned case against the institution of marriage. I Don’t reveals the capitalist, patriarchal structures that work to maintain control over women’s agency, ambitions, and autonomy. Clementine speaks with Maeve Marsden about the history of marriage, the illusions of feminism, and what the world could look like if women were truly free.
Newcastle Conservatorium Concert Hall
The Case Against Marriage: Clementine Ford Livestream
Saturday 6 April 2024
In Clementine Ford’s most controversial book to date, she argues an impassioned case against the institution of marriage. I Don’t reveals the capitalist, patriarchal structures that work to maintain control over women’s agency, ambitions, and autonomy. Clementine speaks with Maeve Marsden about the history of marriage, the illusions of feminism, and what the world could look like if women were truly free.
This event will be live streamed. Details for the Zoom event will be emailed to you after 8.00am AEST on the day of the event. If you have not received this information prior to the event please check your spam folder.
The Long Haul
Saturday 6 April 2024
In three years, ‘Long Covid’ has become one of our most significant health conditions, estimated to have affected about one million Australians – and that number is rising. Until now, the lack of understanding and information about the condition has meant that people have largely endured in silence. Join clinician Dr Steven Faux, author of Long Covid, and journalist Tracey Spicer, who has become a vocal advocate for sufferers since her diagnosis, as they unpack the myths and misunderstanding that plague this chronic illness. Hosted by Rosemarie Milsom.
NUspace X321, The University of Newcastle
The Palestine Laboratory: Antony Loewenstein in Conversation
Saturday 6 April 2024
Israel’s spying technology and defence hardware is being used by despots and democracies around the world – from the Pegasus software that hacked Jamal Khashoggi’s phones, and the weapons sold to the Myanmar army that killed thousands of Rohingyas, to the drones being used by the European Union to monitor refugees in the Mediterranean. Independent journalist Antony Loewenstein discusses how Israel became a leader in the development of weaponry and surveillance technology. Hosted by Matt Bevan.
NUspace X101, The University of Newcastle
2023 Miles Franklin Winner Shankari Chandran in Conversation
Saturday 6 April 2024
From being told her books ‘weren’t Australian enough’, to winning the 2023 Miles Franklin Literary Award for her third novel Chai Time at Cinnamon Gardens, Shankari Chandran’s writing journey has been anything but linear. She speaks with Ailsa Piper about family and memory, and the stories that shape who we become.
NUspace X320, The University of Newcastle
Dark Places: Chris Hammer and Louise Milligan
Saturday 6 April 2024
After decades working as journalists, it might seem a natural progression for Chris Hammer and Louise Milligan to turn their attention to crime fiction. Chris covered international affairs and federal politics for more than 30 years, and Louise’s investigative journalism has most notably included high-profile child sexual abuse cases, such as the trial of Cardinal George Pell. They speak with Dan Cox about how their careers have influenced their fiction writing, and the dark places they draw from.
Newcastle Conservatorium Concert Hall
Dark Places: Chris Hammer and Louise Milligan Livestream
Saturday 6 April 2024
After decades working as journalists, it might seem a natural progression for Chris Hammer and Louise Milligan to turn their attention to crime fiction. Chris covered international affairs and federal politics for more than 30 years, and Louise’s investigative journalism has most notably included high-profile child sexual abuse cases, such as the trial of Cardinal George Pell. They speak with Dan Cox about how their careers have influenced their fiction writing, and the dark places they draw from.
This event will be live streamed. Details for the Zoom event will be emailed to you after 8.00am AEST on the day of the event. If you have not received this information prior to the event please check your spam folder.
The In-Between: Christos Tsiolkas in Conversation
Saturday 6 April 2024
Can we meet each other halfway? This is one of the central questions in Christos Tsiolkas’ new novel The In-Between, which follows two heartbroken men in their early 50s who meet on a dating app. It’s a quiet, tender love story with faint echoes of the boldness and carnal desire that distinguished his debut, Loaded, almost 30 years ago. Hosted by David Marr.
NUspace X101, The University of Newcastle
The Responsibilities of Women
Saturday 6 April 2024
In Emily Perkins’ book Lioness, protagonist Therese Thorne asks, ‘Who are you if you’re not looking after someone?’ But what happens when women’s ambitions clash with responsibilities? Can we love other people’s children as if they were our own? Will the mental load ever be shared equally between the sexes? Kate Mildenhall, Kylie Needham and Emily Perkins explore these questions and more in their recent fiction. They interrogate womanhood, motherhood, and ‘otherhood’ with Anna Downes.
NUspace X207, The University of Newcastle
Author, Academic, Activist: Bri Lee in Conversation
Saturday 6 April 2024
'If you're doing work that you feel is important, it will be impossible to have everybody like you.’ Bri Lee first captured the literary world’s attention with her debut memoir Eggshell Skull, a compassionate and unforgettable interrogation of the injustices experienced by survivors of sexual assault. She’s since penned two more books and been shortlisted for a Walkley Award for her investigative journalism. Now, she’s turned her attention to fiction. Bri talks with Bridie Jabour about her novel, The Work, a story of love, vulnerability, and privilege in the world of art, set between Sydney and New York.
NUspace X101, The University of Newcastle
Crime Writer in Pink: Sally Hepworth in Conversation
Saturday 6 April 2024
Making her first festival appearance, New York Times bestselling author Sally Hepworth will speak about her stellar career, from writing her first novel on maternity leave and gaining interest from Hollywood heavyweights, to recently publishing her ninth novel, Darling Girls. Hosted by Amy Lovat.
Newcastle Conservatorium Concert Hall
Crime Writer in Pink: Sally Hepworth Livestream
Saturday 6 April 2024
Making her first festival appearance, New York Times bestselling author Sally Hepworth will speak about her stellar career, from writing her first novel on maternity leave and gaining interest from Hollywood heavyweights, to recently publishing her ninth novel, Darling Girls. Hosted by Amy Lovat.
This event will be live streamed. Details for the Zoom event will be emailed to you after 8.00am AEST on the day of the event. If you have not received this information prior to the event please check your spam folder.
Writing the Lives of Writers
Saturday 6 April 2024
Bernadette Brennan, Catharine Lumby and Brigitta Olubas have recently written books about Helen Garner, Frank Moorhouse and Shirley Hazzard, respectively. They speak with Susan Wyndham about the challenges of literary biography and the extraordinary privilege of diving into the often-secret lives of writers.
NUspace X207, The University of Newcastle
Book of Life: Deborah Conway in Conversation
Saturday 6 April 2024
In 1991, Deborah Conway sang ‘It’s only the beginning / But I’ve already gone and lost my mind’, in a joyous anthem that belted from Australian radios. She won awards and charted in the top 20 across the world several times. Then a few short years later, she was off the radar – but not by her own choosing. Deborah talks to Linda Marigliano about her memoir, Book of Life, which dives into those iconic moments, sharing behind-the-scenes of the Australian music industry, and the rise, fall, and rise again of her epic career.
Room X201 NUspace, The University of Newcastle
Coming of Age in Middle Age
Saturday 6 April 2024
In their recent fiction, Emily Perkins, Megan Rogers and Christos Tsiolkas created characters at a crossroads, disrupting the traditional narrative of ‘coming of age’ as an experience of youth. They discuss belonging, change, and the perennial journey of ‘growing up’ with Ashley Hay.
NUspace X320, The University of Newcastle
Stop the Press
Saturday 6 April 2024
In an era when newsrooms are confronted with continuously evolving challenges in the face of dwindling resources and the demands of the 24-hour digital news cycle, have traditional media organisations lost their legitimacy? Daniel Browning, Antony Loewenstein, and Louise Milligan discuss the key issues shaping the way news is reported and received by audiences. Hosted by Kylie Morris.
NUspace X321, The University of Newcastle
Sustainable Living for a Kinder Future
Saturday 6 April 2024
What could our future look like if we reconnected with communities, found conscious ways to shop, cultivated resilient ecosystems, and made the effort to live like it matters? Permaculturist Kirsten Bradley, campaigner of climate solutions Claire O’Rourke, and Thanh ‘Fruit Nerd’ Truong chat with Dan Cox about taking small (or not!) steps towards big changes for our planet.
NUspace X301, The University of Newcastle
Workshop: Crafting Narrative Drive Ashley Kalagian Blunt
Friday 5 April 2024
Tension on every page is the key to narrative drive, whether you’re writing fiction, memoir or any narrative work. In this practical workshop, participants will learn why narrative drive is essential to storytelling and discover how properly structured, tension-filled scenes create story momentum. Participants will also have the opportunity to practice through a series of exercises, giving them the confidence to begin applying their new skills right away, whether they’re starting a first draft or in the midst of revisions.
There will be writing exercises in this workshop, so bring something to write on - either a laptop or paper.
Tickets $165.00. Limited to 15 places. Snacks provided.
Q Building 211, The University of Newcastle
Entanglement: A Storymaking Workshop
Friday 5 April 2024
What’s your story? Join Voices of Women artistic director Lliane Clarke for an open storymaking workshop exploring storytelling through spoken word and sound. We particularly encourage women from First Nations, CALD, and LGBTQI+ communities to participate. The facilitators encourage observation, storytelling, spoken word sharing, physical games and early character development.
There will be an opportunity to record a podcast, participate in readings or develop a short film. The workshop includes a screening of the short film, Entanglement.
Free but bookings essential.
Watt Space Gallery
Workshop: Poetry with Rico Craig
Friday 5 April 2024
Workshop: The Everyday Epic - A Poetry Workshop with Rico Craig.
This world is full of epic, otherworldly moments; clouds shifting, the hunt for new earrings, people changing car tyres. These everyday moments give poetry its texture and provide poets with an endless seam of inspiration for their writing.
In this workshop we’ll sift through the seemingly mundane, searching for the experiences we can expand to epic significance. We’ll bring our poetic vision to bear on the ordinary and look at the way our own inclination toward the poetic can be used to expand a reader’s perception of the worlds we share in our poetry.
There will be writing exercises in this workshop, so bring something to write on - either a laptop or paper.
Tickets $120.00. Limited to 15 places. Snacks provided.
Q Building 210, The University of Newcastle
Workshop: Writing Rom-Com with Melanie Saward
Friday 5 April 2024
There's no denying that romantic comedy is absolutely booming right now: walk into any bookshop and you'll be confronted by a wall of fun, cute illustrative covers and cutesy titles. But despite this, publishers in Australia are lagging in the current rom com boom, which means they’re desperately seeking on-trend romance in all areas. Come and learn the rules of writing rom com and how to leverage the genre's tropes to get the attention of publishers.
There will be writing exercises in this workshop, so bring something to write on - either a laptop or paper.
Tickets $120.00. Limited to 15 places. Snacks provided.
Q Building 205, The University of Newcastle
Literary Trivia hosted by Nick Milligan
Wednesday 3 April 2024
Our literary trivia night is back! Do you know the name of the suburb where Boy Swallows Universe is set? Can you name all three Sally Rooney novels? Who is Ivan ‘Loonie’ Loon? Great ‘literary’ prizes on offer including bundles of new books and festival tickets.
Teams are limited to 8 participants and solo competitors can be accommodated.
Please note - access to this upstairs venue is via stairs only. There is no lift.
Customs House Hotel
An Evening with Matthew Reilly
Wednesday 25 October 2023
Much-loved best-selling author Matthew Reilly returns to Newcastle for the first time in seven years to speak about his new novel, the epic historical thriller Mr Einstein's Secretary. Spanning 40 years, this is the thrilling tale of a young woman propelled through history's most dangerous times.
The conversation will be hosted by ABC Newcastle's Dan Cox.
Thank you to the University of Newcastle and Pan Macmillan for supporting this Newcastle Writers Festival event.
Brennan Room, University of Newcastle
Chanel Contos in Conversation
Saturday 16 September 2023
Newcastle Writers Festival is hosting a special event on 16 September with consent activist Chanel Contos at the University of Newcastle Conservatorium of Music. She will speak to journalist Maddison Connaughton about her new book Consent Laid Bare: Sex, entitlement and the distortion of desire.
In February 2021, Chanel asked on Instagram if anyone had been sexually assaulted while at school. Within 24 hours, more than 200 people had replied ‘yes’. She then launched an online petition to make consent education mandatory in Australian schools. It attracted 45,000 signatures. One year later, education ministers from around the country unanimously agreed.
Chanel’s actions spurred a movement to end rape culture in Australia.
There will be books for sale on the night thanks to MacLean's Booksellers.
This event is supported by the University of Newcastle's Schools of Humanities, Creative Industries and Social Sciences, Pan Macmillan, and MacLean's Booksellers.
Newcastle Conservatorium Concert Hall - (Updated 26/6/23)
The Downfall of Ben Roberts-Smith
Friday 28 July 2023
Newcastle Writers Festival presents a special event with award-winning investigative journalists Chris Masters and Nick McKenzie on 28 July to launch their respective books which centre on the downfall of decorated soldier Ben Roberts-Smith.
Chris Masters (Flawed Hero: Truth, Lies and War Crimes, Allen & Unwin) and Nick McKenzie (Crossing the Line: The Inside Story of Murder, Lies and a Fallen Hero, Hachette Australia) will speak to festival director and former journalist Rosemarie Milsom about their investigations, which began in the battlefields of Afghanistan and led them to the frontlines of the Federal Court.
There will be a book signing at the conclusion of the event thanks to MacLean's Booksellers.
This event is supported by the University of Newcastle's School of Humanities, Creative Industries and Social Sciences.
Newcastle Conservatorium Concert Hall
