Planning your big weekend at Byron Writers Festival? We take a look at the hot button topics at Australia’s largest regional writers festival this August.
Local and global politics
Now that the dust has settled on the 2025 federal election, get the analysis with an independent twist from commentator Jane Caro, Climate 200’s Simon Holmes à Court, and George Megalogenis (Minority Report) on the Sunday session Australian Election Analysis.
Guardian editor Lenore Taylor leads the Shifting Empires panel with intrepid journalists Nick Bryant (The Forever War), Walkley Award-winner Colleen Ryan, and Pulitzer Prize finalist John Vaillant (Fire Weather) to chart the geopolitical landscape from the USA and China to the Middle East.
Explore politics in fiction with multi-award-winning authors Shankari Chandran (Unfinished Business) and Malcolm Knox (The First Friend) for an exploration of their thrilling new novels, set against high-stakes backdrops of intrigue and danger in Sri Lanka and the Soviet Union in the session Political Fictions.
Environment and climate
Simon Holmes à Court also appears on festival Saturday for the ABC Big Ideas panel session Nuked, hosted by Natasha Mitchell, alongside businessman Geoff Cousins and Slick author Royce Kurmelovs. They discuss the role energy policy played in the federal election, what’s next in the transition to net zero, and attempts to establish nuclear power in Australia.
Explore the vital issue of water scarcity and climate change, from oceans to rivers, flood and drought, agriculture and industry, with Indigenous author Debra Dank (Terraglossia), climate scientist Joëlle Gergis (Highway to Hell), author Chris Hammer (The River) and SCU’s James Sippo on festival Saturday.
Corporate exposé
Lawyer John Bornstein sits down with Julianne Schultz to share his new book Working for the Brand on corporate cancel culture hot off the heels of his win representing Antoinette Lattouf. Meanwhile, former Rear Window columnist for the Australian Financial Review Joe Aston speaks with Leila McKinnon about his exposé on the machinations of Qantas and CEO Alan Joyce in his book The Chairman’s Lounge.
First Nations focus
Join Anita Heiss, the internationally published author of over 20 books including the bestselling Bila Yarrudhanggalangdhuray (River of Dreams), to discuss her groundbreaking historical novel Dirrayawadha about resistance, resilience and love set during the frontier wars, with Michael Williams on festival Friday.
And close out the festival with human rights lawyer Vanessa Turnbull-Roberts, who shares her incredible story of surviving out-of-home care in Long Yarn Short in a bid to drive positive change for First Nations youth. See her in conversation with Rhianna Patrick in the session Fighting for Reform.
Full program and tickets at: byronwritersfestival.com
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