Overcoming adversity doesn’t come with a one-size-fits-all prescription. Some of us have to look outside the box and into our creative practice and alternative therapies in an effort to better understand our own minds, have some fun, or to treat chronic pain. Join us as acclaimed author Sally Breen guides this unique discussion about what happens when you try and change your mind.
Mirandi Riwoe’s Sunbirds is a dazzling tapestry of intrigue and resilience set against the lush backdrop of colonial-era Queensland. In this richly woven narrative, Riwoe invites readers into a world where love, betrayal, and the quest for freedom intertwine. With prose as luminous as the tropical landscape it evokes, Sunbirds is a mesmerising tale that illuminates the strength of the human spirit amidst adversity. Mirandi will be joined onstage by Naima Brown.
Beloved host of the ABC’s Gardening Australia and Australia’s favourite hairy man is appearing on our main stage. Come join us for a captivating one-on-one discussion with Costa about all things weedy, buggy, planty and composty. Costa, the author of Costa’s World, Home Gardening for the Soil is a winner of a Silver Logie and an AACTA Award, and this chance to see a bona fide Australian icon shouldn’t be missed. Costa will be joined on stage by the ABC’s Angela Catterns.
Australia is at a crossroads. Our current housing disaster coupled with the climate crisis looms heavy in the headlines. It’s clear we need to change how we live, and quick. On the other hand, we are all protective of our own patch of grass, and the histories embodied in both the built and natural landscapes. So how do we transition to a more ethical society without scaring the NIMBYS?
Award-winning writer Ellen van Neerven played football from a young age, learning early on that sport can be a painful and exclusive world. The more they play, the more they realise about sport’s troubled relationship with race, gender and sexuality, and question what it means to play sport on stolen sovereign land, especially in the midst of multiple environmental crises. Ellen will be joined onstage by Grace Lucas-Pennington for a discussion about their ground-breaking examination of sport’s troubled relationship with race, gender, and sexuality, Personal Score.
Join us as one of Australia’s most beloved authors Melissa Lucashenko talks to Julianne Schultz (previously Daniel Browning, who is unfortunately no longer able to attend) about her latest novel, award-winning epic, Edenglassie.
“Australian Snake Man” Eric Worrell is best known for establishing the Australian Reptile Park on the NSW Central Coast. He was also a prolific writer, publishing 11 books (including Song of the Snake) and over 100 articles on reptiles, wildlife, Indigenous cultures and even the quirky life of sideshow alley ‘carnies.’ Join the panel as they explore Worrell’s writings and talk about The Eric Worrell Archive Project.
The Kyogle Readers and Writers is very proud to run a biennial Writer in Residence Program. This year’s applications were open to all emerging writers with a connection to Regional New South Wales with the winning recipient enjoying a week-long residency in Kyogle. Come along as they chat with members of the selection committee, Michael Burge and Jessie Cole, about what they have been up to.
First Nations writing has enjoyed a long overdue blossoming in the last decade. This genre is a vibrant tapestry of storytelling, rich with cultural connections to land and community, while embracing razor-sharp contemporary insights. This panel brings together four different perspectives to our main stage for a discussion of the best contemporary Black writing. An event not to be missed.
Ever since Yates Garden Guide was first published in 1895, Australians have had an insatiable appetite for books, magazines and, more recently, blogs on gardens and gardening. This panel gets their hands dirty as they explore the influence that ‘hort porn’ has had on Australian garden design, fashions, and trends. What’s your favourite gardening book?