Byron Writers Festival has announced the lineup of 140 writers, thinkers and commentators who will be delivering three days of talks, readings, debates and seminars from 3 – 5 Aug.
Unfolding across six stages, the three-day event will also feature diverse writers’ workshops and an evening program, taking place in Byron Bay and the wider Northern Rivers region.
Highlights include talks by You Am I frontman Tim Rogers and Powderfinger's Bernard Fanning, who will be offering a rare glimpse at their songwriting process. Comedian Kitty Flanagan will also be discussing her book Bridge Burning And Other Hobbies, and acclaimed Australian artist Tracey Moffatt will be talking about her inspirations and artistic practice.
Also headlining the fest will be presentations by Big Little Lies author Liane Moriarty, award-winning Congolese playwright Future D Fidel who will be discussing his debut novel, and the Booker Prize-winning author of Schindler’s Ark (which went on to become the Oscar Winning Spielberg masterpiece Schindler’s List), Tom Keneally. Genre lovers are also well served, with crime writers Candice Fox, Dervia McTiernan and Jane Harper, and romance best-sellers Rachael Jones, Victoria Purman and Christine Wells also set to appear.
International guests including the award-winning author of The Reader, Bernhard Schlink, and the global best-selling North Korean defector Hyeonseo Lee.
In addition to the roster of novelists, there will also be heartbreak and hope on offer in the festival’s storytellers program, which promises to touch on some of the most important and urgent topics currently in the public consciousness. Speakers will include Saudi activist Manal al-Sharif, Bri Lee whose recently released memoir Eggshell Skull recounts her journey through Australia’s legal system as a survivor of sexual assault, and Eddie Ayres, the author of Danger Music, a powerful chronicle of his experiences teaching the cello to children in war-torn Afghanistan.
Byron Writers Festival takes place 3 — 5 Aug. Full details of the program are available on the Festival website.
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