Best of the Festivals

What does the Australian country town of Gundagai make you think of? The statue of the "dog on the tuckerbox"? The old folksong, Along the road to Gundagai? Or do you think of the great flood of 1852 – the deadliest in our history - and the remarkable heroism of two Aboriginal men who saved over 60 people, using their bark canoes. Writer, Anita Heiss, a Wiradjuri woman, talks to Paul Barclay about her new book, Bila Yarrudhanggalangdhuray, which celebrates unsung Aboriginal heroes, and the Wiradjuri language.

What it is like to be a feminist in the public eye? A discussion from the 2021 Sydney Writers Festival with Laurie Penny author of Bitch Doctrine: Essays for Dissenting Adults addresses, Journalist Virginia Trioli, who has published a revised version of her book Generation F: Why We Still Struggle With Sex and Power, and the host is author and feminist Sisonke Msimang.

Opinions trump facts and truth is no longer absolute. Science is under attack in a world where misinformation thrives, fake news can go viral and conspiracy theories are more popular than ever. How have we arrived at this place of mistrust and what can we do to stand up for science? Why should we trust scientists? Or perhaps more tellingly, what does it mean if we can't?

From the 2021 Sydney Writers Festival Annabel Crabbe in conversation with Rachel Cusk - the author of the Outline trilogy (Outline, Transit, Kudos); the essay collection Coventry; the memoirs A Life's Work, The Last Supper and Aftermath; and several other works.

A conversation with the renowned author Ruth Ozeki, speaking to Kate Evans. We hear about some of the characters that inhabit The Book of Form & Emptiness. About the integral role of objects in Ozeki's latest novel, and the books within books. This talk was for the Wheeler Centres series Postcards from Abroad in 2021.

Uluru is a spiritual place for indigenous people and it looms large in the national imagination. Historian Mark McKenna uncovered a hidden truth about an infamous frontier killing at Uluru in the 1930's. Indigenous campaigner, Thomas Mayor, believes the “Statement from the Heart” could only have come from Uluru.  Paul Barclay speaks to Mark and Thomas about Uluru, history, truth telling, and the importance of the Uluru statement. 

Brit Bennett recently joined Claire Nichols in front of live audience at His Majesty's Theatre as part of the Perth Festival of Literature and Ideas. Together they discussed latest book The Vanishing Half, the complexities of race relations in America, her writing process and making the cover of Time Magazine.

From the 2021 Sydney Writers Festival, a conversation between journalist and writer Rick Morton, and the celebrated essayist, speech writer and author Don Watson - best known for his books Recollections of a Bleeding Heart, Bush & Watsonia.

It's difficult to initiate social change - not only to make people understand that change is needed, but to get them to alter their behaviour and maybe even to get them to give up some things. Two young activists discuss strategies of how to motivate crowds and the power of taking action.

Presented by the Wheeler Centre, the Byron Writers Festival and the Newcastle Writers Festival — author Jonathan Franzen, with Sarah Kanowski, about his latest book Crossroads, his approach to religion, and how he's now being kinder to his characters.

From the 2021 Sydney Writers Festival Paul Kelly in conversation with journalist and presenter Stan Grant. A memorable discussion about the role of literature and poetry in both their lives and the power of a story sung well.

Filmmakers Leah Purcell (The Drover's Wife: The Legend of Molly Johnson), Tony Ayres (Barracuda, The Slap, Seven Shades of Ambiguity) and Sarah Lambert (The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart) talk to Benjamin Law (co-host, Stop Everything!) about the joys and perils of adapting books for screen.

A session from the 2021 Sydney Writers Festival in which we are doing the sort of traveling that we have all became familiar with during the pandemic – the journey of the imagination that books give us — transporting us in time and place. Guests: Tegan Bennett Daylight, Richard Fidler, Heather Rose and Maxine Beneba Clarke in conversation with RN's Kate Evans.

Following the first light to the dawn of the cosmos. New technology allows us to glimpse more of the earliest beginnings of the universe and with that it helps us to predict the future. Join a constellation of astrophysicists as they explore what the first stars looked like, the nature of dark energy and how the acceleration of the universe might end.

Two times booker Prize winning author Peter Carey is beaming in from his home in New York City, speaking about his life and in particular his award-winning book True History of the Kelly Gang. And he's in conversation with author Sarah Krasnostein at the 2021 Sydney Writers Festival.

Andrew Ford, host of The Music Show, speaks to Andrew O'Hagan (Mayflies) and David Mitchell (Utopia Avenue) about music in their stories, how shared lyrics make friendships, and all the emotions that music, and great writing, allow us to feel.

A 2021 Sydney Writers Festival session with a great panel of Australia's leading crime writers. This discussion reveals how fiction can sometimes get you closer to the truth and asks ‘why do we take such delight in reading about crime? Guests: Sulari Gentill author of the Roland Sinclair mysteries. Chris Hammer author of Scrublands. Candice Fox, known for the Archer & Bennett series of books. chaired by crime writer Tim Ayliffe.

It's difficult to initiate social change - not only to make people understand that change is needed, but to get them to alter their behaviour and maybe even to get them to give up some things. Two young activists discuss strategies of how to motivate crowds and the power of taking action.

Richard Flannagan is best known for his catalogue of popular novels, but this year he published Toxic - which examines the salmon farming industry in Tasmania. The book makes some disturbing accusations, but the industry has responded that the book includes selective claims, some of them wrong and many made without sufficient context.  Guests: Richard Flanagan in conversation with Laura Tingle

Claire Nichols, host of The Book Show, speaks with Craig Silvey (Honeybee, Jasper Jones) about his life as a writer, and optimism in fiction, in front of a live audience at ABC Perth.

We have ten years to halve global greenhouse gas emissions, and move toward zero emissions. Failure to do so will lead to environmental catastrophe.  So believes Christiana Figueres, former head of the UN convention on climate change, who helped deliver the Paris agreement. She explains to Paul Barclay why she is optimistic.

Omani writer, Jokha Alharthi's record breaking career, fantasy author Lian Hearn's retirement and the longest running book club in Australia.

Imaging not knowing whether you can pay the next electricity bill, cutting down on food to make it last or not being able to buy your child a birthday present. That's the reality of living in poverty. Journalist Rick Morton talks about growing up poor in Australia and he provides a condemning account of the class system in this country

English writer Bernardine Evaristo's Girl, Woman, Other intertwines the lives of 12 women, without full stops and with great verve and energy. She speaks to Kate Evans about her writing, about representation, and about her own reading and influences.

Brit Bennett's The Vanishing Half explores race and identity through a pair of twins whose lives diverge. She speaks to Kate Evans about the role of lynching in the narrative, about transformation, and about the importance of telling this a story such as this.

Jan Fran campaigns for the power of girls. Why is it that girls are still less likely to work and learn than boys? Why are girls still expected to adapt and keep the peace instead of speaking out? A major factor that empowers girls, is it to give them self-confidence at an early age and to tell them that the world is theirs to conquer.

Deborah Feldman, author of the memoir Unorthodox, speaks with Sarah Kanowski about growing up in an ultra-orthodox community, how she ultimately left it, and about self-determination and life now.

Kevin Kwan's hit satirical novel Crazy Rich Asians is loosely based on his own Singaporean family and the lavish lifestyle he experienced as a child. He speaks to Claire Nichols about cross-cultural identity and what happens when we demystify culture.

In her debut novel Let's Hope for the Best, Swedish writer Carolina Setterwall brilliantly interweaves the delights of falling in love and the searing grief of losing a partner.

Christos Tsiolkas is known for his fearless and uncompromising writing: from Loaded to The Slap and Damascus. In this conversation with Sarah L'Estrange, he reflects on his writing life and shares his insights on craft.

Malcolm Turnbull reflects on his time on politics, his achievements and the challenges he has faced during his time as 29th prime minister. In the past decade of climate and energy warfare in Australian federal politics, Malcolm Turnbull is the only leader to have lost his job over the issue twice. He talks with Annabelle Crabb about his new memoir A Bigger Picture.

In a moment where the world has had to pause, Julia Baird, author of Phosphorescence, and Trent Dalton, author of Boy Swallows Universe, speak to Meredith Lake about how we can learn to pay attention to the things that matter to us.

English writer Hilary Mantel, best known for her historical Wolf Hall series on the life of Thomas Cromwell, tells Kate Evans why she wrote the execution of her hero first.

Tony Birch and Tara June Winch tell Michael Cathcart about their latest novels: potent stories of survival and hope, which, along the way, reveal the transformative power of Indigenous languages.

Lawrence Wright on his novel The End of October about a pandemic that starts in Asia and sweeps the world in 2020.

Elizabeth Gilbert tells Geraldine Doogue about her depictions of women and women's agency, shame and scandal, and how City of Girls brings the history of New York to bristling, colourful life.

While the summer's bushfires raged, Dark Emu author Bruce Pascoe was caught in a continuing culture war over his Aboriginal identity. He tells Jonathan Green about the experience.

When adversity strikes, it is often a bolt out of the blue. So how do you bounce back from an unexpected trauma or tragedy?

Does evil exist in our world, or is it an excuse for the worst of human behaviour?

Crime is one of the most popular genres of popular fiction. So who is your favourite fictional detective?

Can LSD be used to help with post traumatic stress and depression?

The lines between the private and the workplace are getting blurred, especially in the areas of free speech and what we say on social media.

What are the ingredients of great teaching and great schools?

Sarah Perry is the renowned author of the Essex Serpent, and Melmoth is her new book. She is in conversation at the Ubud Writers and Readers Festival in Bali.

Claire L Evans's challenges the assumption that the history of computing is a story of men and their machines.

The Electric Hotel tells the story of a man's doomed obsession, as he crosses paths with many of the greats of early cinema in Hollywood.

Defamation is being by powerful people to control the media, and other individuals are pushing politcal agendas. So do the laws need to be changed, especially in the age of social media?

At the Ubud Writers and Readers Festival in Bali, historian Lucy Inglis talks about her book on all things opium - Milk of Paradise. Opium is commodity without rival. It's renewable, easy to extract and there's an insatiable global demand.

What to do with all our waste? From the personal, to the tonnes that we throw away every day?

Extreme voter patterns in rural areas of Australia is bringing about some interesting and unexpected results.