There were more than 160 writers and speakers featured across six stages at last weekend’s Byron Writers Festival in Bangalow with close to 10,000 patrons attending the event.
‘I’m so thrilled with this year’s festival, my first as Artistic Director. It was a joy to bring some of the world’s best writers to the festival and see so many delighted readers in packed marquees, enjoying stimulating conversations and great vibes,’ said Byron Writers Festival Artistic Director Jessica Alice.
This year saw an 18 per cent increase on the previous year’s box office takings, that included 130 sessions on the festival grounds, five workshops, eight feature and satellite events, and a two-day schools program for primary and secondary students.
Enthusiastic crowds filled the marquees and historic A&I Hall for many highlight sessions. Bob Brown was a star of the festival, with a sold out evening feature event with Jan Fran, plus a packed crowd for the panel discussion ‘For The Earth’ with Richard Flanagan, David Lindenmayer, Ali Cobby Eckermann and Sue Higginson, which received a standing ovation, as did John Lyons discussing ‘Balcony Over Jerusalem’.
Food writing found its way to audience’s hearts, with Kon Karapanagiotidis’s Greek cookbook A Seat at My Table: Philoxenia selling well to overjoyed crowds, as did Bundjalung chef and restaurateur Mindy Woods’s Karkalla At Home, which shared recipes for connecting to Country in an intimate highlight event.
Bruce Pascoe’s sessions are always well-loved, and his new novel Imperial Harvest was shared with keen readers, and he spoke with great insight on literary cultural touchstones alongside Meg Keneally and Brigitta Olubas.
The effervescent Trent Dalton in conversation about Lola in the Mirror with beloved journalist Julia Baird had audiences on their feet, and the singing could be heard across Bangalow Showground as Kate Ceberano burst into song with the inimitable Mandy Nolan while discussing the power of creativity.
Irish author Caoilinn Hughes’s The Alternatives was the festival’s biggest selling book, with the acclaimed novelist in conversation with Bri Lee, and Hughes took a turn in the interviewer’s seat to discuss Nam Le’s new poetry collection 36 Ways of Writing a Vietnamese Poem.
ABC Chair Kim Williams’ wide-ranging, candid interview with Kerry O’Brien about the national broadcaster was a highlight and coup for the festival. O’Brien also chaired the standout conversation with Question 7 author and Booker Prize winner Richard Flanagan.
International guests Leo Vardiashvili and Chigozie Obioma shone light on the experiences of civil war in their homelands of Georgia and Nigeria in a moving and insightful conversation on ‘War and Brotherhood’.
Sports fans were delighted by AFL legend Nicky Winmar and Australian artistic and cultural leader Rhoda Roberts in conversation about ‘Aboriginal Sporting Heroes’, and Nicky opened up about his life and career in a conversation about his memoir My Story.
On Sunday, ‘Kids Big Day Out’ kept families entertained all morning. Despite the rain on Sunday the festival ended on a high with patrons raising their voices in harmony with Midnight Oil’s Jim Moginie and the local Shire Choir.
Top selling books
The top 10 selling books (in order) at the festival bookstore The Book Room Collective were The Alternatives by visiting Irish novelist Caoilinn Hughes, Richard Flanagan’s memoir Question 7, the reissue of John Lyon’s Balcony over Jerusalem, Nick Bryant’s The Forever War: America’s Unending Conflict with Itself, Bob Brown’s YA novel Thera, Charlotte Wood’s 2024 Booker Prize longlisted novel Stone Yard Devotional, David Lindenmayer’s The Forest Wars: The Ugly Truth About What’s Happening in Our Tall Forests, Julia Baird’s Bright Shining: How Grace Changes Everything, Suzie Miller’s Prima Facie and Rebecca Huntley’s Sassafras that was launched at the festival. Trent Dalton’s Lola In The Mirror and Chigozie Obioma’s The Road to the Country were in equal 11th place.
‘I thank the writers, our fantastic volunteers and staff, and the wonderful Northern Rivers community for coming out in droves and making the weekend truly magical,’ said Jessica.
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