Byron Writers Festival is inviting audiences to experience a weekend of ideas, storytelling and conversation centred around this year’s theme ‘Wild Imagination’ at the beautiful Bangalow Showgrounds. On arrival to the festival, guests are encouraged to be guided by their mood and interests when exploring five themed venues, each presenting a range of stimulating conversations and panel discussions.
The Deep Dives marquee will be a place for reflective one-on-one conversations; where you can dive head first into a world of extraordinary and emotive topics that leave you yearning to discover more. If you love hearing from the authors of this year’s biggest and most compelling books and better still, meeting them in person afterwards, read on for a taste of what to expect.
After a tragedy in Tasmania struck at age twelve, Heather Rose was catapulted on a new course to explore life through four lenses – her relationship with nature, wild spiritual adventures, the bonds of family and the lessons of pain. Nothing Bad Ever Happens Here is a deeply personal memoir filled with reflections on love, death, creativity and healing. The multi-award-winning writer will be interviewed by Jill Eddington.
Festival favourite, Richard Fidler will return this year to discuss The Book of Roads and Kingdoms, a tale of mediaeval wanderers who travelled out to the edges of the known world during Islam’s fabled Golden Age. Fidler weaves together beautiful and thrilling pictures of a dazzling lost land with the story of an empire’s rise and utterly devastating fall. A perfect session for those obsessed with travel, knowledge and adventure.
A new book exploring First Nations knowledge around plants, celebrates their cultural significance and points to possible ways to navigate through the climate crisis to a more sustainable future. Barkandji writer, curator and researcher, Zena Cumpston, author of Plants: Past, Present and Future, will share her deep knowledge and understanding with Rhianna Patrick.
The Seven Skins of Esther Wilding is a beautiful and profoundly moving novel written by Holly Ringland. After Esther Wilding’s beloved older sister disappears and her family struggles to live with their loss, Esther sets off on a reluctant journey following the trail of the stories Aura left behind. Ringland will be joining Jemma Birrell to discuss her brilliant latest novel about the far-reaches of sisterly love, the power of wearing your heart on your skin, and the ways life can transform when we find the courage to feel the fullness of both grief and joy.
Dubbed by Geraldine Brooks as ‘Simply, a masterpiece’, Anna Funder’s Wifedom shines a spotlight on George Orwell’s wife Eileen O’Shaughnessy. Known as the literary brilliance who shaped Orwell’s work, Funder raises the question, why – and how – was she written out of his story? Funder will join Sarah Kanowski, host of ABC’s Conversations, at the Deep Dives marquee to explore a breathtakingly intimate view of one of the most important literary marriages of the 20th century.
In a completely different vein, Gabriel Krauze’s autobiographic fiction masterpiece, Who They Was, is a first-hand account of a young man who lived a life of violent crime in South Kilburn, London. Krauze was heavily involved in gangs, drugs and robbery – all while completing an English degree at Queen Mary College, London. His story reveals a deep understanding of ‘toxic masculinity’ and the way class and capitalism can shape young lives.
Another brilliant author who explores class and gender in her writing is Pip Williams – best known for the international bestseller, The Dictionary of Lost Words. Williams welcomes readers back into the richly drawn world of her latest novel, The Bookbinder of Jericho, which delves into another slice of history seen through women’s eyes. In this compelling conversation Williams and Ashley Hay will explore the concept of knowledge – who makes it, who can access it, and what is lost when it is withheld – raising questions that remain relevant today.
The above sessions are just a hint of the incredible lineup and brilliant conversations on the table at Byron Writers Festival 2023. Explore the program further at byronwritersfestival.com/festival.
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