The 2022 Adelaide Writers’ Week, the fourth and final from Director Jo Dyer, features some of Australia’s most interesting and erudite minds – including a few Zooming in from afar – who all come ready to contribute their most insightful and provocative ideas to think not just of the bigger picture, but of A Better Picture.
Running from Saturday 5 to Thursday 10 March as part of the Adelaide Festival, the award-winning Adelaide Writers’ Week will bring together a diverse range of contemporary writers and thinkers. Gathering together in person and via real-time digital livestream to discuss subjects of survival, leadership, courage, Indigenous themes, political strife, personal transformations, fiction, memoir, poetry and pathways to a better future.
79 local and international authors have confirmed for the program to date. Scroll down for their full bios.
Appearing in the Gardens:
Writers’ Week is delighted to partner with Monash University Publishing on their In the National Interest series to present some of Australia’s most incisive thinkers exploring the critical issues facing Australia today. With writers including Samantha Crompvoets (Blood Lust, Trust and Blame), Martin Parkinson (A Decade of Drift) and Kevin Rudd (The Case for Courage), this wide-ranging series is making a vital contribution to Australia’s contemporary debate. Head to the Gardens every day from 12pm for the In the National Interest series.
International literary superstar Liane Moriarty makes her Adelaide Writers’ Week debut with her latest bestseller, Apples Never Fall.
Two time-winner of the Miles Franklin Award, Michelle de Kretser’s new novel Scary Monsters is a dazzling playful account of a bygone Paris and a near future Melbourne that turns the novel upside down. Literally.
Appearing via livestream:
The youngest ever occupant of one of Oxford University’s most prestigious Chairs, the Chichele Professorship in Social and Political Theory, Amia Srinivasan is the breakout superstar of the latest wave of feminism, with her new book The Right to Sex heralded as a thrilling instant classic.
Sri Lankan author Anuk Arudpragasam’s new novel, A Passage North, is short-listed for the Booker Prize. His first novel, The Story of a Brief Marriage, was shortlisted for the Dylan Thomas Prize and the DSC Prize for South Asian Literature.
One of Europe’s most lauded writers, Colm Tóibín is an award-winning author, essayist and critic. His new novel The Magician imagines the life of Nobel laureate Thomas Mann.
In her fourth and final year as Director of Adelaide Writers’ Week, Jo Dyer maintains her strong dedication to creating a challenging and thought-provoking program for audiences. “It’s been another surreal year in this era of COVID and, oddly, after being the first major literary festival to take place in person after the Great Lockdowns of 2020, we will claim that honour again in 2022. We’ll use our Festival, and the great minds of our guests, to ponder how we can apply the lessons we learned in this tumultuous, challenging time to build a better post-pandemic community, as we dive into literature, inspiring and immersive, to both escape from and make sense of the world around us.”
The Plane Tree Stage comes alive all week with discussions both pertinent and profound. On Monday it’s about The China Question, delving into the history and culture of our most enigmatic neighbour as experts ponder how we can best manage our vexed relationship with Beijing. On Tuesday an array of wonderful writers are invited to Tell Me Your Story, showcasing the illuminating memoir and autofiction published in the last 12 months. Both days conclude with poetry readings and a revamped Twilight Talks – beautiful ways to end the day – before Sonya Feldhoff and ABC Adelaide take over on Wednesday and Thursday.
The much-loved Kids’ Day (ages 2-11) returns on Saturday 5 March for a magical day of stories, performance and hands-on fun as writers, performers and illustrators take over the Torrens Stage to enliven and excite our youngest readers. The opening weekend kicks off early (at sunrise!) as Patricia Piccinini’s extraordinary Skywhales float high into the sky for a brief time. Crane your neck and marvel at these works of art, or join Patricia in the Kids’ Tent later in the day with her new book Every Heart Sings. Also featured are a stellar line-up of Australia’s biggest names in children’s books including Remy Lai (Pawcasso), Andrew McDonald and Ben Wood (Real Pigeons series), Mem Fox (The Tiny Star, Possum Magic) and Felice Arena (Specky Magee series, Fearless Frederic). It’s a jam-packed program of free activities, so come join the fun with terrific activities specially designed for the under 12 crowd.
Middle Grade & YA Day (ages 12+) brings the big names of the Australian Middle Grade and YA scene to Adelaide. This year all-time favourites John Flanagan (Ranger’s Apprentice series), Katrina Nannestad (We are Wolves), Matt Okine (Being Black ‘n Chicken, and Chips) and debut South Australian YA writer Lyndall Clipstone (Lakesedge), are on the bill. Rounding out the day are performances from Australia’s best Spoken Word poets on the Plane Tree Stage with the return of Hear Me Roar! Teens and tweens can relax and enjoy author conversations, panels and spoken word when the bright stars of contemporary literature light up the stage.
The Curated Dozen will return in 2022, streaming live from our place to yours, with a varied array of the program’s most provocative and potent events. Perfect for those living outside Adelaide or who have difficulties making it to the Gardens. Handy, too, if you miss an event because it clashes with something equally compelling on the day! Curated from the Writers’ Week international and Australian line-up, across fiction and non-fiction, there will be 12 events the full details of which will be released in January. Tickets available on a Pay What You Can basis.
With the support of Office for Ageing Well and Seniors Card, Writers’ Week will be livestreaming the East Stage sessions from Monday 7 March to Thursday 10 March to schools, libraries, community centres and retirement villages around South Australia to ensure as many members of the community have access to the event as possible.
Full program will be announced January 2022.
Adelaide Writers’ Week has been made possible by the generous support of Channel 9.
ADELAIDE WRITERS’ WEEK 2022
Pioneer Women’s Memorial Garden, King William Road, Adelaide
Saturday 5 – Thursday 10 March
FREE – scanning will be required for COVID-tracing prior to entry to the Gardens. Pre-registration will be possible for expedited entry.
For Younger Readers
Kids’ Day: Saturday 5 March, 9.30am – 3.30pm
A Day for Middle and YA Readers (Tweens and Teens): Sunday 6 March, 10am – 4.30pm
FREE – scanning required prior to entry
Plane Tree Stage
The China Question: Monday 7 March, 10:45am – 3:30pm
Tell Me Your Story: Tuesday 8 March, 10:45am – 3:30pm
Poetry Readings: Monday 7 – Tuesday 8 March, 3:45pm
A Better Picture: Monday 7 March, 5pm
Authorial Voice: Tuesday 8 March, 5pm
FREE – scanning required prior to entry
FIRST LIST OF GUESTS ANNOUNCED OCTOBER 26, 2021
Michael Mohammed Ahmad’s debut novel, The Tribe, won the 2015 Sydney Morning Herald Best Young Novelists of the Year Award and his second, The Lebs, was shortlisted for the 2019 Miles Franklin Literary Award. Mohammed is the founding director of Sweatshop Literacy Movement. His most recent novel is The Other Half of You.
Isabel Allende was born in Peru and raised in Chile and is the author of twenty-four bestselling and critically acclaimed books, including The House of the Spirits, Daughter of Fortune, and A Long Petal of the Sea. Her most recent novel, Violeta, will be published in January 2022. Isabel lives in California where she devotes much of her time to human rights causes.
Miles Allinson is a writer and an artist, and the author of the multi award-winning novel Fever of Animals. His new novel is In Moonland. He lives in Melbourne.
Felice Arena is the author and creator of many popular and award-winning children’s books for all ages, including the acclaimed historical adventures The Boy and the Spy, Fearless Frederic and The Great Escape, the bestselling Specky Magee books and the popular Andy Roid and Sporty Kids series.
Anuk Arudpragasam is from Colombo, Sri Lanka, and is currently completing a dissertation in philosophy at Columbia University. He writes in Tamil and English. His first novel, The Story of a Brief Marriage, was shortlisted for the Dylan Thomas Prize and the DSC Prize for South Asian Literature. His new novel is A Passage North and is short-listed for the Booker Prize.
Larissa Behrendt is the author of two previous novels, Home and Legacy, and numerous books on Indigenous legal issues. She has written and produced award-winning films including Maralinga Tjarutja and After the Apology, is the host of Speaking Out on ABC Radio, and is Distinguished Professor at the Jumbunna Institute at the University of Technology. After Story is her third novel.
Hannah Bent was born and raised in Hong Kong and completed her Bachelor of Arts in Fine Art and Film from Central Saint Martins School of Art and Design in London before undertaking further study in directing and screenwriting at the Australian Film and Television and Radio School and Creative Writing at the University of Technology Sydney. When Things Are Alive They Hum is her first novel.
Emily Bitto is a Melbourne-based writer of fiction, poetry and non-fiction. Her debut novel, The Strays, was the winner of the 2015 Stella Prize and her fiction, poetry and non-fiction has appeared in publications including Meanjin, The Age, The Monthly and The Saturday Paper. Wild Abandon is her second novel. Emily is also the co-owner of Carlton wine bar Heartattack and Vine.
Michael Bradley is a lawyer, writer, Managing Partner of Marque Lawyers, a commercial firm with a strong human rights interest, and a regular columnist for Crikey. His first book, Coniston, detailed the last massacre of Aboriginal people, and his second, System Failure, explores how our current justice system fails survivors of sexual assault.
Bernadette Brennan is an author, critic and researcher of contemporary Australian writing. Her recent award-winning work, A Writing Life: Helen Garner and Her Work, was a literary portrait of one of Australia’s best-loved author, and her latest, Leaping into Waterfalls, explores the life of Gillian Mears, considered one of the most significant Australian writers of the last forty years.
Jacqueline ‘Rock’ Bublitz is a writer, feminist, and arachnophobe. She wrote her debut novel Before You Knew My Name after spending a summer in New York, where she hung around morgues and the dark corners of city parks (and the human psyche) far too often.
Lyndall Clipstone is an Adelaide author. A former youth librarian, Lakesedge is Lyndall’s debut novel, with its sequel, Forestfall, scheduled for release in 2022.
Claire G. Coleman is a Noongar woman and writer of fiction, essays, poetry and art writing. Her debut novel, Terra Nullius, won the black&write! Indigenous Writing Fellowship and was listed for 8 awards including a shortlisting for the Stella Prize. Her latest book is Lies, Damned Lies.
Annabel Crabb is one of Australia’s most popular political commentators, a Walkley-award-winning writer, and the host and creator of ABC shows including Kitchen Cabinet, The House with Annabel Crabb, and Ms Represented. Her books include The Wife Drought, two cookbooks written with childhood friend Wendy Sharpe and, most recently, Well Hello, written with her co-host of the wildly popular podcast Chat 10 Looks 3, Leigh Sales.
Dr Samantha Crompvoets is a sociologist with over twenty years’ experience in the design, implementation, analysis and reporting of strategic and applied academic research, with expertise in military contexts. She is Chair of the Australian Centre for Excellence in Post-Traumatic Stress and sits on several advisory boards across the defence and security sector. Blood Lust, Trust & Blame is her first book.
John Daley was Chief Executive of the Grattan Institute for eleven years. He has published extensively on economic reform priorities, budget policy, tax reform, housing affordability, and generational inequality. In his storied career he has worked across law, public policy, strategy, and finance for institutions including the University of Oxford, the Victorian Department of Premier and Cabinet, McKinsey and Co and ANZ Bank.
Michelle de Kretser is a writer born in Sri Lanka who lives in Sydney. Her fiction has won many prestigious awards, including the Commonwealth Prize and the NSW Premier’s Book of the Year, and she is a two-time winner of the Miles Franklin Award. Her most recent novel is Scary Monsters.
Robin DiAngelo is an American academic, lecturer, and author working in the fields of critical discourse analysis and whiteness studies. She is known for her work pertaining to white fragility, a term which she coined in 2011, and which became the title for her 2018 bestselling book. Her follow-up book is Nice Racism.
Professor Peter Doherty shared the 1996 Nobel Prize in Medicine or Physiology for discovering the nature of the cellular immune defence. His books include the bestselling The Beginner’s Guide to Winning the Nobel Prize and, most recently, An Insider’s Plague Year.
Briohny Doyle is a writer and author whose work has appeared in The Monthly, Meanjin, Overland, The Griffith Review, The Good Weekend, The Guardian, and the Sunday Times. She is a lecturer in writing and literature at Deakin University and a 2020 Fulbright Scholar. Echolalia is her second novel.
Rachel Doyle SC is a barrister practising in Melbourne specialising in industrial and employment law, discrimination law, class actions and negligence. She was associate to Justice Daryl Dawson of the High Court from 1994 to 1996. Power & Consent is her first book.
Delia Falconer is the author of two novels, The Service of Clouds and The Lost Thoughts of Soldiers, which have been shortlisted for international and national awards, including the Miles Franklin, and Sydney, a personal history of her hometown. Her most recent book is Signs and Wonders.
John Flanagan Ranger’s Apprentice and Brotherband adventure series have sold more than fifteen million copies worldwide. His books are available in more than one hundred countries, are regularly on the New York Times bestseller list, and have had multiple award shortlistings and wins in Australia and overseas.
Mem Fox has written more than 40 books for children, including the bestselling and much-loved picture books Possum Magic and Where is the Green Sheep?. She has been presented with an array of book awards and was awarded an AM for services to the cultural life of Australia.
Veronica Gorrie is a Gunai/Kurnai woman who lives and writes in Victoria. Black and Blue, a memoir of her childhood and the decade she spent in the police force, is her first book.
Stan Grant is a Wiradjuri and Kamilaroi man. A journalist since 1987, he has worked for the ABC, SBS, the Seven Network, Sky News Australia and CNN and has received a string of prestigious international and Australian awards for his reporting. His bestselling book Talking to My Country won the Walkley Book Award, and his most recent book is With the Falling of the Dusk.
Gideon Haigh has contributed to more than 100 newspapers and magazines and published more than 40 books. He has won Premier’s Literary Awards in three states, two Waverley Library Prizes and a Ned Kelly Award for True Crime.
Kerryn Goldsworthy is an Adelaide writer and critic, former lecturer in literature, and winner of the 2013 Pascall Prize and the 2017 Horne Prize. Her most recent book is Adelaide.
Zakiya Dalila Harris spent nearly three years in editorial at Knopf/Doubleday before leaving to write her debut novel The Other Black Girl. Her essays and book reviews have appeared in publications including Cosmopolitan, Guernica, and The Rumpus. She lives in Brooklyn.
Dr Anita Heiss is an award-winning author of non-fiction, historical fiction, commercial women’s fiction, children’s novels and blogs, Professor of Communications at the University of Queensland, and a proud member of the Wiradjuri Nation of central New South Wales.
Dr Kathryn Heyman is an award-winning author of six novels and, most recently, Fury, the memoir of a year in her life after a traumatic sexual assault trial when she found salvation and hope working as a deckhand on a fishing trawler in the Timor Sea. Kathryn taught creative writing for the University of Oxford and is now Conjoint Professor in Humanities at the University of Newcastle.
Brandon Jack is a writer and singer/musician who played for the Sydney Swans for five years. He is currently studying Sociology and Psychology. 28 is his first book.
Linda Jaivin has been studying Chinese politics, language and culture for more than forty years. She has been a foreign correspondent in China, and is co-editor of the China Story Yearbook, an associate of the Australian Centre on China in the World at the Australian National University and the author of twelve books.
Terri Janke is an author and Indigenous lawyer of Meriam and Wuthathi heritage. In 2000 she set up a law firm, Terri Janke and Company, focusing on Indigenous Cultural and Intellectual Property law and commercial law. Her most recent book is True Tracks: Respecting Indigenous knowledge and culture.
Barry Jones was a Labor member of the Victorian and Commonwealth parliaments, led the campaign to abolish the death penalty, and became Australia’s longest-serving Minister for Science from 1983 to 1990. His books include Sleepers, Wake!, A Thinking Reed, Dictionary of World Biography, and The Shock of Recognition.
Patrick Radden Keefe is an award-winning staff writer at The New Yorker and is the author of books including the Orwell Prize-winning Say Nothing: A True Story of Murder and Memory in Northern Ireland and, most recently, Empire of Pain. He grew up in Boston and now lives in New York.
Thomas Keneally began his writing career in 1964 and has published thirty-three novels since, most recently Corporal Hitler’s Pistol. Among his many honours, he has been shortlisted for the Booker Prize four times, winning with Schindler’s List. He has also written several works of nonfiction, including his three-volume series Australians, and his recent memoir, A Bloody Good Rant.
Paul Kennedy is an ABC television presenter with twenty-five years’ journalistic experience. His four previous books include Hell on the Way to Heaven (co-authored with Chrissie Foster), which contributed to the establishment of the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sex Abuse. His most recent book is Funkytown.
Hannah Kent is an author and screenwriter. Her first novel, the international bestseller Burial Rites, was translated into over 30 languages, won many awards, and is to be adapted for film by Sony TriStar. Hannah’s second novel, The Good People was also translated into many languages and is currently being adapted for film by Aquarius Productions. Her most recent book is Devotion.
Remy Lai writes and draws for kids. She was born in Indonesia, grew up in Singapore, and currently lives in Brisbane, she is the author-illustrator of Pie in the Sky, Fly on the Wall, and Pawcasso.
Benjamin Law is the author of the memoir The Family Law, which he adapted for SBS TV, Gaysia, and a Quarterly Essay: Moral Panic 101. A columnist for Fairfax’s Good Weekend magazine, Benjamin has also written for over 50 publications internationally and is a co-host on ABC Radio National’s Stop Everything.
Jason Yat-Sen Li is Chairman of investment group Vantage Asia and Managing Director of corporate advisory firm YSA and serves in roles including Pro-Chancellor of the University of Sydney, Fellow of the University of Sydney Senate, President of the Chinese Australian Forum and Director of Asialink. Jason previously worked as an international lawyer for the United Nations International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia in the Hague.
Professor Ian Lowe AO is an academic who has had a long career in universities, research councils and advisory groups. He is the author of several books, including the recent Long Half-Life: The Nuclear Industry in Australia.
Scott Ludlam was a Senator representing WA from 2008 to 2017 and served as deputy leader of the Australian Greens. He has also worked as a filmmaker, artist and graphic designer. Full Circle is his first book, the fruit of a life of activism, study and travel.
Campbell Mattinson is a writer, editor, photographer and wine critic. He won the Best Australian Sports Writing Award in 1996 for a story that became the basis of his first novel, We Were Not Men.
Charlotte McConaghy has been writing from a young age, working in script development for film and television and as an author of speculative fiction books. The Last Migration was her first literary novel and her most recent book is Once There Were Wolves. She lives in Sydney.
Andrew McDonald is the author of the bestselling Real Pigeons series. His books have been shortlisted for the Readings Children’s Book Prize and the Australian Book Industry Awards. Andrew lives in Melbourne and loves writing stories that make kids laugh, wonder and leap into the air with surprise.
Fiona McLeod AO SC is recognised as a leader of the legal profession for having helmed the peak national legal bodies, including the Law Council of Australia. She is the Chair of the Accountability Round Table, a body committed to improving integrity in public office, and was an inaugural recipient of the Commonwealth Anti-Slavery Award.
Jennifer Mills is the author of novels including Dyschronia, which was shortlisted for the Miles Franklin Literary Award. Her fiction, essays and criticism have been widely published, including in Best Australian Essays, the Guardian, Meanjin, The Saturday Paper and the Washington Post. Her new book is The Airways.
Liane Moriarty is the author of eight internationally bestselling novels including the number one New York Times bestsellers, Big Little Lies and Nine Perfect Strangers, which were adapted into award-winning television series starring Nicole Kidman. Liane’s books have sold over twenty million copies worldwide, including three million in Australia and New Zealand. Her new book is Apples Never Fall.
Jeremy Moss is Professor of political philosophy at the University of New South Wales. His books include Reassessing Egalitarianism, Climate Justice Beyond the State and Climate Change and Justice and, most recently, Carbon Justice. He is the recipient of the Eureka Prize for Ethics and the Australasia Association of Philosophy Media Prize.
John Mullan is a Professor in the English department at University College London. He writes the regular ‘Guardian Book Club’ column on fiction in The Guardian and frequently appears on the BBC’s The Review Show. He was a judge of the ‘Best of the Booker Prize’ in 2008 and a judge of the Man Booker Prize itself in 2009. His most recent book is The Artful Dickens.
Fiona Murphy is a Deaf poet and essayist. Her work has been published in publications including Kill Your Darlings, Overland, Griffith Review and The Big Issue and in 2019 she was awarded the Overland Fair Australia Essay Prize. Her memoir The Shape of Sound is her first book.
Abbas Nazari and his family were resettled as refugees in New Zealand after being rescued by the MV Tampa in 2001 after their boat capsized on the high seas. In 2019, Abbas was awarded a Fulbright scholarship to the United States, where he attained a Masters in Security Studies from Georgetown University. After the Tampa is his first book.
Katrina Nannestad is an award-winning Australian author. Her books include We Are Wolves, The Girl Who Brought Mischief, The Girl, the Dog and the Writer series, the Olive of Groves series, the Red Dirt Diaries series, the Lottie Perkins series and Bungaloo Creek.
Angela O’Keeffe grew up on a farm in Southeast Queensland and now lives in Sydney. She completed a Master of Arts in Writing at UTS and has had short stories published in literary journals. Night Blue is her first book.
Matt Okine is an author, comedian, actor and presenter. His award-winning semi-autobiographical stand-up show was adapted into a TV series, The Other Guy, which he co-wrote and starred in and is currently streaming in Australia and North America, with a second season under commission. Being Black ‘n Chicken, & Chips, first released in 2019, is his debut novel.
Dr Martin Parkinson AC PSM served in Commonwealth Government leadership positions on all facets of economic, social, foreign, defence and national security policies for almost forty years. During his tenure, Martin led Australia’s key public sector organisations – including the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet and Treasury – through a period of considerable political uncertainty, serving under five different prime ministers.
Patricia Piccinini is one of Australia’s most successful contemporary artists. The creator of the famous skywhales, Patricia’s practice explores the relationship with our natural and artificial worlds. Her new children’s book is Every Heart Sings.
Michael Pollan is the author of five previous books, including the number one New York Times bestsellers In Defence of Food and How to Change Your Mind. A long-time contributor to the New York Times Magazine, Michael is also the Knight Professor of Journalism at the University of California at Berkeley. His new book is This is Your Mind on Plants.
J.P. Pomare is an award-winning writer whose work has been published widely. He has hosted the On Writing podcast since 2015 featuring bestselling authors from around the globe. J.P.’s first novel, Call Me Evie, won the Ngaio Marsh Award for Best First Novel and his most recent book is The Last Guests.
Alice Pung is an award-winning writer based in Melbourne. She is the bestselling author of the two memoirs and an essay collection, as well as the editor of the anthologies Growing Up Asian in Australia and My First Lesson. Her first novel, Laurinda, is being adapted into a play for Melbourne Theatre Company and her second is One Hundred Days.
Dr Yves Rees is an award-winning writer and historian, a Lecturer in History at La Trobe University and co-host of Archive Fever podcast. Their writing has featured in publications including the Sydney Review of Books, The Age, Guardian Australia, Meanjin, Australian Book Review and The Conversation. Yves was the recipient of the 2020 Calibre Essay Prize, awarded for their essay Reading the Mess Backwards, which formed the genesis of their first book, the memoir All About Yves.
Alle Richards’ short fiction has been published widely in Australian literary magazines and anthologies, including Kill Your Darlings, The Best Australian Stories, New Australian Fiction, The Lifted Brow and Australian Book Review. Small Joys of Real Life is her first novel.
Kevin Rudd is a former Foreign Minister and Prime Minister of Australia. Since leaving office in 2013, he has served as a Senior Fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School and President of the Asia Society Policy Institute in New York. He also serves as Chair of the International Peace Institute, Sanitation and Water for All, and the National Apology Foundation.
Julianne Schultz AM is an author and was the founding editor of Griffith Review. She is a Professor in the Griffith Centre for Cultural Research, a member of the boards of the ABC and the Grattan Institute, and chair of the Queensland Design Council.
Amia Srinivasan teaches philosophy at St John’s College, Oxford. Her writing has appeared in the London Review of Books (where she is a contributing editor), The New York Review of Books, The Nation, The Times Literary Supplement, The New York Times, and elsewhere. The Right to Sex: Feminism in the Twenty-First Century is her first book.
Norman Swan trained in paediatrics and was one of the first medically qualified journalists in Australia, with a broadcast career spanning more than 30 years. He currently hosts Radio National’s The Health Report and co-hosts Coronacast. So You Think You Know What’s Good for You is his first book.
Lisa Taddeo is a journalist, two-time recipient of the Pushcart Prize and the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Three Women, which won the Best Non-Fiction prize at the British Book Awards. Her writing has featured in publications including New York magazine, Esquire, Elle and Glamour, as well as the anthologies Best American Political Writing and Best American Sports Writing. Animal is her first novel.
Claire Thomas is a Melbourne writer. Her acclaimed first novel was Fugitive Blue, which won the Dobbie Award for women writers, and was longlisted for the Miles Franklin Literary Award. The Performance is her second novel.
Colm Tóibín is the author of ten novels including The Master, Brooklyn, The Testament of Mary, Nora Webster and most recently The Magician. His work has been shortlisted for the Booker Prize three times, has won the Costa Novel Award and the International Dublin Literary Award. He has also published two collections of stories and many works of nonfiction. He lives in Dublin.
Christos Tsiolkas is a playwright, essayist, screen writer and the author of eight novels, including Loaded, The Slap, Damascus and, most recently, 7 ½. His books have been recognised with awards including the Commonwealth Writers’ Prize, ABIA Book of the Year and the Victorian Premier’s Literary Award for Fiction, as well as being shortlisted for the Miles Franklin Award, longlisted the Booker, and adapted into celebrated films and television series.
Malcolm Turnbull served as Australia’s Prime Minister from 2015 – 2018. Prior to entering politics in 2004, he enjoyed successful careers in journalism, law and business.
Michael Warner is an award-winning investigative journalist with Melbourne’s Herald Sun newspaper. Michael is a member of 3AW radio’s top-rating football team, a contributor to Macquarie Sports Radio in Sydney and Brisbane and panellist on Channel Seven’s iconic Talking Footy program. The Boys Club: Power, Politics and the AFL is his first book.
Christian White is an Australian author and screenwriter. His first book, The Nowhere Child was one of Australia’s highest selling debut novels, and his follow-up, The Wife and the Widow, was also a best. Clickbait, a television series Christian co-created with Tony Ayres (The Slap), is now airing on Netflix, and he wrote the screenplay for Relic, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival. His new book is Wild Thing.
Mark Willacy has been a journalist for more than 25 years and has reported for the ABC from more than 30 countries. A seven-time Walkley Award winner, in 2020 Mark was awarded Australia’s highest honour in journalism, the Gold Walkley, for exposing alleged Australian SAS war crimes in Afghanistan. That story led to his book, Rogue Forces.
Laura Elizabeth Woollett is the author of a short story collection, The Love of a Bad Man, shortlisted for Victorian Premier’s Literary Award for Fiction, and two novels, Beautiful Revolutionary, shortlisted for the 2019 Prime Minister’s Literary Award for Fiction, and the recently released The Newcomer.
Ben Wood is the illustrator of the bestselling Real Pigeons junior fiction series by Andrew McDonald, being adapted into a film and television series by Nickelodeon. He has illustrated over 30 books for children.
Charlotte Wood is the prizewinning author of six novels and two books of non-fiction. Her most recent novel, The Weekend, told of friendship and growing older and her latest non-fiction book, The Luminous Solution, explores creativity, resilience and the inner life.
More News
