The annual Byron Writers Festival is Australia’s largest and leading regional celebration of storytelling, literature and ideas. This year’s festival has more than 150 sessions running 3–5 August 2018. The Festival line-up includes 140 predominantly Australian writers and thinkers who together challenge, entertain and share their stories, inspirations and insights.
Here you can find news and articles highlighting what’s on at this year’s Byron Writers Festival.
Tall tales in the sunshine
Extraordinary fables, memoirs, political analysis and tales of hope and tragedy all made for another successful Byron Writers Festival, held at the Elements of Byron resort under crisp blue winter skies.
Byron Writer’s Festival kicks off
Byron Writers Festival launched last night with a 200 strong crowd. There were a few famous faces in the crowd including Thomas Keneally author of Schindler's List.
Welcome to the 2018 Byron Writers Festival
The Festival is finally here! The small team at Byron Writers Festival works all year to create this renowned gathering, Australia’s largest regional literary festival that explores the myriad threads of our daily lives, our communities and the broader world.
The Power of Hope
We have to keep helping and we have to keep fighting, for all our sakes Byron Writers Festival guest Kon Karapanagiotidis overcame a traumatic childhood of racism, bullying and loneliness to create one of Australia’s largest human rights organisations, the Asylum...
A Life Lived by Peace and Principle
For which principles am I willing to take a stand? And if I do take a stand, am I ready to accept the consequences of my resistance? In the wake of the election of President Trump, I ask myself these questions every day writes Sarah Sentilles.
Writers festival volunteers thanked – in advance
With more than 140 international, national and local writers, thinkers and commentators about to gather at Elements of Byron for this weekend’s Byron Writers Festival, more than 200 volunteers gathered onsite last Saturday.
Brunswick celebrates kids with author Oliver Phommavanh
Celebrating kids who are ‘a little but different’ children’s author Oliver Phommavanh will be talking to local kids on Wednesday August 1 at the Brunswick Heads Scouts Hall.
Kids Big Day Out at Byron Writers Festival
Byron Writers Festival has pulled out all stops to create a day full of fun, inspiration and creativity to ignite the imaginations of children at Festival Sunday on 5 August. Eight acclaimed children’s authors (see program) will face their...
The good, the bad, the ugly
Byron Writers Festival shines light on mental health Mental health is one of the key themes running through 2018 Byron Writers Festival, with this year’s lineup designed to draw awareness to the wide spectrum of causes, effects and conditions in...
The Coal Truth: The fight to stop Adani
The Coal Truth has a simple message – stop the proposed Adani Carmichael Mine in Queensland from going ahead. Since 2012, the fight to stop the opening of the vast Galilee coal basin has emerged as an iconic crusade of...
Feature Events offer the best of the Byron Writers Festival
Byron Writers Festival Feature Events offer a curated selection of guests and interviewers, these performances and intimate conversations will have you laughing, crying and truly inspired.
The Dismissal Dossier
In The Dismissal Dossier Professor Jenny Hocking exposes the definitive story of the dismissal of Gough Whitlam’s Labor government bringing together a mixture of the unknown, the overlooked and the clandestine.
What is it like to grow up Aboriginal in Australia?
Award-winning author Anita Heiss’s powerful anthology Growing Up Aboriginal in Australia showcases many diverse voices, experiences and stories of family, country and belonging.
Imprisoned for 440 days in an Egyptian jail
When Peter Greste was arrested in Egypt, his family were shocked but not panicked. Peter had been a foreign correspondent for two decades in numerous dangerous countries, and been detained before. He was only in Egypt on temporary assignment...
Danger Music: Hong Kong to Kabul
Eddie Ayres learnt the viola as a child in England, studied in Berlin and London before playing the viola for eight years with the Hong Kong Philharmonic. As Emma Ayres, she moved from Hong Kong to Australia to present...
Hyeonseo Lee, The Girl with Seven Names
As a child growing up in North Korea, Hyeonseo Lee was one of millions trapped by a secretive and brutal regime. Her home on the border with China gave her some exposure to the world beyond the confines of...
Reformed farmer Charles Massy gives hope for the planet
Is it too late to regenerate the earth? Call of the Reed Warbler by best-selling author, long-time farmer plus PhD in social change Charles Massy shows the way forward for the future of our food supply, our Australian landscape...
Best of Byron Writers Festival picked by locals
Have you been wondering what to check out at the Byron Writers Festival? Take a look at what some other locals are looking forward to...
Ideas at forefront for written festival
After many months of careful curation, the full program for this year’s Byron Writers Festival has been released, profiling 140 writers and thinkers who will converge at the Elements of Byron resort from August 3 till 5.
Living Wild – from Goonengerry to New Zealand
Could you live in the wilderness with nothing but the clothes on your back? Two guests at Byron Writers Festival this year have each survived for years in the wilderness, although the paths that led them there are very different.
Byron Writers Festival full program released
Byron Writers Festival has just announced its complete 2018 lineup, so put down your pen and pick up a program to check out the diverse array of writers and events on offer.
Byron Writers Festival Writers on the Road
Byron Writers Festival received an $80,000 grant from the NSW government’s Regional Cultural Fund that will ensure that the Writers on the Road and StoryBoard Bus program will be able to run three tours during the up-coming 12 months.