As August draws near and authors gear up for a big weekend in Byron Bay, Byron Writers Festival has revealed its complete program for its 30th anniversary edition, bringing together more than 150 writers, thinkers, poets and storytellers from Australia and around the world for three days of ideas, stories and conversation on Bundjalung Country.
Presented at a moment of great global change, the festival embraces its theme of ‘sanctuary’, creating a place of solace and connection amongst some of the finest minds.
With a new home in the heart of Byron Bay, more free programming than ever, and activations including ocean bathing and beach yoga, the 2026 program brings the community together and creates new rituals of shared connection.
Leading the 2026 program, acclaimed journalist and human rights activist Antoinette Lattouf joins Louise Adler to discuss Women Who Win, Lattouf’s book about the women who refused to play by the rules.
Richard Flanagan
Joining them is Richard Flanagan, the only author to have won both the Booker Prize and the Baillie Gifford Prize, to present his new work Heresies, a dazzling collection of essays and speeches spanning two decades of subversive, humane and politically urgent writing.
Australia’s number one bestselling author Trent Dalton will be in-conversation with Richard Glover for a deeply personal exploration of the stories we want to tell the world and those we shouldn’t; plus Richard Fidler and Kári Gíslason return for a live podcast session plunging into the spectral world of Norse sagas in Viking Lives: Ghost Stories.
Rhoda Roberts Oration
The inaugural Rhoda Roberts Oration will be presented by playwright, theatre director and Chair of Creative Australia Wesley Enoch, while veteran broadcaster Kerry O’Brien leads the prestigious Thea Astley Address exploring lessons from history.
Byron Writers Festival Artistic Director and CEO Jessica Alice said the 2026 program marks a significant moment for the festival. ‘This year’s landmark 30th anniversary festival celebrates renewal, ritual and transformation at the country’s most easterly mainland point. We gather as global voices united in the specificity of this place, together creating a sanctuary for the art and role of the writer.’
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