Melbourne Writers Festival

When an artist does something that appals us – politically, legally or ethically – does that mean we should turn our backs on their art? Is it ever possible to separate the art from the artist? And more pressingly – is it right to? Journalist Osman Faruqi, philosopher A. C. Grayling and cultural critic Tara Kenny debate one of the most divisive issues of our time: how we should respond to great artists who do bad things. Listen to this lively debate with three sharp thinkers as they consider legacy, celebrity, transgression and accountability, with host Beejay Silcox.

Award-winning author and musician Jimmy Barnes recounts the twists and turns of his larger-than-life adventures live on stage. With his trademark candour, humour, and distinctive voice, Barnes shares anecdotes, lessons, and cracking good yarns: from unearthing shattering family secrets in Glasgow to encountering charismatic and not-so-endearing superstars, to confronting his own mortality. Featuring humorous tangents, wild characters, and the occasional tall tale, hear from the beloved star and maverick as he celebrates heritage, family, friends, music and the adventure of a grand life with host Brian Nankervis.

The extraordinary writers and editors behind Someone Like Me: An Anthology of Non-fiction by Autistic Writers come together for this panel discussion exploring identity, creativity and culture. This expansive anthology of creative non-fiction, memoir, graphic storytelling and more features a stellar line-up of Autistic gender-diverse and women writers, exploring topics such as sex, religion and the natural world. Co-editors Jo Case and Clem Bastow, and contributors Jess Ho, Marlee Jane Ward and Caitlin McGregor appear in conversation. Enjoy their wide-ranging discussion on belonging, connection, social interaction, meaning and joy. Recorded live at Melbourne Writers Festival.

Samantha Harvey discusses her 2024 Booker Prize-winning novel, Orbital – a profound meditation on deep space, our environment, the meaning of life and the nature of humanity itself. Taking place over a single day – with sixteen sunrises and sixteen sunsets – Orbital tells the story of six astronauts as they observe the planet Earth from the vantage point of the International Space Station. The fragility of human life fills their conversations, their fears, their dreams. They are there to do vital work, but slowly they begin to wonder: what is life without Earth? What is Earth without humanity? Hosted by Kate Mildenhall. Recorded live at Melbourne Writers Festival.

What does it mean for a writer to bear witness? How do writers reject or subvert the constraints of traditional structures and institutions, such as media and academia, to depict the stories of their families, their communities and themselves with autonomy and integrity? With host Evelyn Araluen, authors Hasib Hourani (rock flight), Amy McQuire (Black Witness: The Power of Indigenous Media) and Micaela Sahhar (Find me at the Jaffa Gate: An encyclopaedia of a Palestinian family) consider these questions through the lens of their recent books of essays, memoir and poetry. This event was presented in partnership with Overland and supported by City of Melbourne. Recorded live at Melbourne Writers Festival. 

Writer Kaliane Bradley discusses her debut novel, The Ministry of Time, a propulsive tale of time travel, spies and the potential for love to change it all.     In the near future, a jaded civil servant is offered a job in a mysterious government ministry gathering ‘expats’ from across history to test the limits of time-travel. Tasked to work as a 'bridge’ assisting and monitoring Commander Graham Gore—a dangerously handsome Arctic explorer from the 1840s—she soon finds herself entangled in more than just history.   Bradley is joined by host Claire Nichols to discuss the literary and historical sources that inspired her novel, writing sexy sex scenes and throwing out the rulebook for genre fiction. This event was supported by ARA Group. Recorded live at Melbourne Writers Festival.

Rumaan Alam's latest novel, Entitlement, follows a 33-year-old Black woman named Brooke Orr, who lands a job as a program manager at 83-year-old white billionaire Asher Jaffee’s charitable foundation and quickly becomes his protégé. What follows is a searing portrait of need and worth, race and privilege, and the seductive, corrupting lure of extreme wealth. Alam sits down with ABC Radio National's Claire Nichols to discuss class, desire and what happens when we are driven by want rather than need. Recorded live at Melbourne Writers Festival

Hear internationally bestselling author Jessica Townsend discuss the latest book in her phenomenally popular Nevermoor series, Silverborn: The Mystery of Morrigan Crow, with host Rachael King.  Townsend’s book is an enchanting, page-turning adventure that takes readers deeper into the world of Nevermoor, where Morrigan Crow must untangle the mystery of who she is, uncover the secrets of her destiny and align herself with someone very dangerous to learn more of the Wundrous Arts. You’ll learn all about the magic of Nevermoor, the importance of identity and chosen families, and the world of creative writing. Recorded live at Melbourne Writers Festival

Irish poet Pádraig Ó Tuama takes a deep dive into the state of poetry for the annual Peter Steele Conversation. He explores poetry’s power across mediums and provides a taste of his Poetry Unbound podcast. With host Izzy Roberts-Orr and an introduction by University of Melbourne Poet in Residence Maxine Beneba Clarke.  Supported by the Faculty of Arts, University of Melbourne

Is adversity the key to making great art? Must we sink to rock bottom to write the perfect break-up album or a life-changing guidebook to recovery? Can hostile political conditions be a fulcrum for progressive social change? Is conservatism the kryptonite we need to stoke the fire in our bellies? In this special session curated and hosted by MWF First Nations Curator Daniel Browning, writers and thinkers Brook Garru Andrew, Nayuka Gorrie and Bebe Oliver come together to look at the intersections of art and adversity, and consider whether personal, political and social ruptures offer the necessary impetus to the creation of great works of art.

Writers, friends and co-authors Jamila Rizvi and Rosie Waterland discuss brain health – the physical and the mental – through their intertwined experiences. Together with host Clare Bowditch, they consider illness, resilience and friendship in this raw and insightful conversation on their new book, Broken Brains. Supported by Readings. Recorded live at Melbourne Writers Festival 2025.

Argentine author Mariana Enríquez joins partners in writing and life Mikaella Clements and Onjuli Datta to discuss queer horror, monstrous femmes and the themes that haunt their writing. With host Maeve Marsden they unpack their works of fiction, delving into the macabre, the uncanny and the deeply political, exploring queerness, violence and horror.

How do we live meaningfully in an era of unprecedented social, political and environmental collapse? Sarah Wilson discusses finding meaning, beauty and humanity amid global crises, with host Carody Culver. Having spent the past four years interviewing leading global thinkers on crisis and transformation, Wilson gives a brave, nuanced and ultimately hopeful guide for anyone who feels overwhelmed by the state of the world. Recorded live at Melbourne Writers Festival 2025.

Dutch author Yael van der Wouden unpacks her Booker Prize-shortlisted debut novel The Safekeep. Van der Wouden sits down to discuss her masterful, genre-defying work with Tali Lavi.  Supported by ARA. Recorded live at Melbourne Writers Festival 2025.

Booker Prize-winning novelist Paul Lynch discusses his propulsive and lyrically rendered cautionary fable with Michael Williams.   Prophet Song is a fearless portrait of Irish society on the brink of tyranny and a mother’s battle to save her family. Throwing into sharp relief the social and political anxieties of our times, it has been hailed as ‘a literary manifesto for empathy for those in need and a brilliant, haunting novel that should be placed into the hands of policymakers everywhere’ (Observer).     Supported by the Embassy of Ireland.  Recorded live at Melbourne Writers Festival 2024.  

Bri Lee and Liam Pieper discuss their scathingly funny novels that reveal the tensions of money, power and love in the arts, with Sarah L’Estrange.   Lee's debut novel, The Work, delves into the volatile world of modern art, exposing it as a bedfellow to high finance. Pieper’s Appreciation is an outrageous satire that sets its sights on questions of authenticity in a time when image trumps talent and narcissism rules.   Supported by the Copyright Agency’s Cultural Fund and in partnership with ABC RN.  Recorded live at Melbourne Writers Festival 2024.  

Ghost stories are everywhere. In fairytales, folklore, Gothic novels and modern fiction alike. There are the ghosts that plague our minds – old flames, past wrongs and regrets that come to us in the dead of night – and those that haunt history itself, restless spirits that refuse to rest in peace.     Gather round our metaphorical campfire and hear Viet Thanh Nguyen (A Man of Two Faces), share his moving and revealing piece of original work, responding to the theme ‘Ghosts’.  Recorded live at Melbourne Writers Festival 2024. 

First Nations peoples are some of the oldest innovators in the world.   Hear from authors Ian J McNiven and Lynette Russell in conversation with Larissa Behrendt as they share insight into ingenuity that spans millennia, including body shaping, building artificial reefs for oyster farms, repurposing glass from Europeans into spearheads, and novel economic responses to colonisation.  Recorded live at Melbourne Writers Festival 2024. 

Irish novelist Paul Murray and American author Bryan Washington have penned two of the best ghost stories, of sorts, in living memory. Murray’s The Bee Sting is a sprawling tragicomedy of a family haunted by the ghosts of past trauma. Washington’s tender exploration of lust, love and grief, Family Meal, features the spectre of a lost lover and the phantoms of opportunities ignored. Together they discuss their novels’ shared interest in real and figurative ghosts, in conversation with Toni Jordan. Supported by the United States Consulate Melbourne.  Recorded live at Melbourne Writers Festival 2024. 

Ghost stories are everywhere. In fairytales, folklore, Gothic novels and modern fiction alike. There are the ghosts that plague our minds – old flames, past wrongs and regrets that come to us in the dead of night – and those that haunt history itself, restless spirits that refuse to rest in peace.   Gather round our metaphorical campfire and hear Louise Milligan (Pheasant’s Nest), share her moving and revealing piece of original work, responding to the theme ‘Ghosts’.  Recorded live at Melbourne Writers Festival 2024. 

It’s little wonder books have been censored, banned and burned throughout history, given their power to shape thought, challenge belief and open whole wide worlds inside us.   Beloved novelists Tony Birch, Lauren Groff and Ann Patchett reveal the ‘inappropriate’ texts of their early reading lives and the books they’d encourage readers of all ages to pick up.   Birch shares insight as a long-time advocate of diversifying reading lists and as a writing teacher at Preston High School, and Groff and Patchett shed light on opening bookstores in America amid growing book bans, which have included some of their own novels in certain school districts.   Hosted by Community Engagement and Programming Manager at Readings, Christine Gordon.    The United States Consulate Melbourne supported the appearances of US authors at MWF. Recorded live at Melbourne Writers Festival 2024. 

From bestselling Dark Emu author Bruce Pascoe and his partner, editor Lyn Harwood, comes Black Duck, a deeply personal story of the consequences for changing Australian history.   Pascoe and Harwood speak with Paul Barclay about living in harmony with Country based on very old practices, and why 'sometimes you need to repeat something a hundred times before a bell rings in the colony'.     Supported by ARA. Recorded live at Melbourne Writers Festival 2024.

Ghost stories are everywhere. In fairytales, folklore, Gothic novels and modern fiction alike. There are the ghosts that plague our minds – old flames, past wrongs and regrets that come to us in the dead of night – and those that haunt history itself, restless spirits that refuse to rest in peace.   Gather round our metaphorical campfire and hear Leslie Jamison (Splinters), share her moving and revealing piece of original work, responding to the theme ‘Ghosts’.  Recorded live at Melbourne Writers Festival 2024. 

As AI advances and outstrips our notions of its limits and potential, could it capture that essential, undefinable human quality of great art? And if so, how might we preserve the rights of artists?   Leading AI experts Marek Kowalkiewicz (The Economy of Algorithms), Toby Walsh (Machines Behaving Badly) and Professor Margaret Cameron, Head of the School of Historical and Philosophical Studies at University of Melbourne, speak with Paul Barclay.      Recorded live at Melbourne Writers Festival 2024. 

Ghost stories are everywhere. In fairytales, folklore, Gothic novels and modern fiction alike. There are the ghosts that plague our minds – old flames, past wrongs and regrets that come to us in the dead of night – and those that haunt history itself, restless spirits that refuse to rest in peace. Gather round our metaphorical campfire and hear Sinéad Gleeson (Hagstone), share her moving and revealing piece of original work, responding to the theme ‘Ghosts’. 

The Boisbouvier Chair in Australian Literature Tony Birch discusses his award-winning novel, Women and Children, with Bec Kavanagh.    With tender yet forthright prose, Birch unravels the trauma of violence and the power of family in 1960s Fitzroy, writing ‘convincingly on power and the blinding nature of its corruptive forces’ (Sydney Morning Herald).   Supported by the Faculty of Arts, University of Melbourne Recorded live at Melbourne Writers Festival 2024.

Following the runaway success of Mayflies, three-time Booker nominee Andrew O’Hagan penned another magnificent portrayal of male friendship in his latest book, Caledonian Road. He joins Michael Williams to discuss his biting portrait of British class, politics and money.  Supported by ARA. Recorded live at Melbourne Writers Festival 2024. 

Join eminent philosopher A.C. Grayling as he delivers an address that draws on a lifetime of thinking and writing about the biggest question of all: how should I live my life?  Inspired by his work Philosophy and Life, he brings together the ideas of a fantastically eclectic range of writers and thinkers – including Confucius, Nietzsche, Shakespeare and Ursula Le Guin – to examine matters of love, death, courage and wisdom, inviting us to consider for ourselves what constitutes a life truly worth living.    Supported by the Faculty of Arts, University of Melbourne. Recorded live at Melbourne Writers Festival 2024.

David Marr was shocked to discover that members of his family were officers in the Queensland Native Police, an armed force believed to have massacred some 40,000 First Nations people during the 19th century.    Killing for Country is his relentless exposé of those forebears and the greed, hatred and violence they let loose. Bringing together his experience as a former lawyer, Marr reveals the brutal fight for possession of a country.    Marr speaks with host Sally Warhaft about the ghosts of the unresolved frontier wars that haunt us today.   Recorded live at Melbourne Writers Festival 2024. 

Resisting cynicism or despair, Festival Curator Mykaela Saunders celebrates the forward-thinking wisdom of ancestors in Always Will Be – a book that “writes Aboriginal people, dreams, radical hope and love into the future” (Natalie Harkin).   Saunders speaks with Jeanine Leane about imagining a future of sovereignty and self-determination for Goori people in her brilliant collection of speculative fiction.  Recorded live at Melbourne Writers Festival 2024. 

Irish novelist Paul Murray discusses the buzziest word-of-mouth hit of the past year, The Bee Sting.  Murray's dazzling tragicomedy charts the undoing of a once-prosperous Irish family haunted by the ghosts of the past through the perspective of multiple characters and has been hailed as ‘a 650-page soap opera with a clockwork plot whose delicate mechanism you can’t hear tick’ (Guardian).   In conversation with Michael Williams, Murray introduces his wise, witty and heart-punching saga to Australia.      Supported by the Embassy of Ireland.  Recorded live at Melbourne Writers Festival 2024. 

Content note: This episode contains discussion of suicide.   After 235 years of colonisation, who truly gets to be human in so-called Australia?     Join Wik and South Sea Islander rapper and 2024 Festival Curator Ziggy Ramo, Munanjahli and South Sea Islander author Chelsea Watego, and Egyptian-Australian writer Lamisse Hamouda, with host Osman Faruqi as they read original work, considering who gets to be human in today’s world and how we can confront the past to finally move forward.     Recorded live at Melbourne Writers Festival 2024.  If you need assistance, you can learn more and seek advice via the following resources -   Lifeline: 13 11 14   Kids Helpline: 1800 551 800   Suicide Call Back Service: 1300 659 467   Beyond Blue: 1300 22 46 36   Headspace: 1800 650 890   

Internationally bestselling author Ann Patchett (Tom Lake) speaks with Ailsa Piper to lift the veil on the unwritten novels of her past, the manuscripts discarded at the bottom of a drawer and the books read long ago that have stayed as spectres in her literary imagination ever since. The United States Consulate Melbourne supported the appearances of US authors at MWF. Recorded live at Melbourne Writers Festival 2024.

Two of the most perceptive storytellers of our time, Leslie Jamison (Splinters) and Nam Le (36 Ways of Writing a Vietnamese Poem) became close friends after meeting at the storied Iowa Writers’ Workshop many years ago.  In a fascinating conversation about their crafts, they come together with Sophie Black to compare genre-switching bodies of work that range from poetry to memoir and fiction in their search for truths about family, society, memory and identity.  The United States Consulate Melbourne supported the appearances of US authors at MWF. Recorded live at Melbourne Writers Festival 2024. 

With scorching wit and formal inventiveness, Viet Thanh Nguyen rewinds the story of his life in A Man of Two Faces, in conversation with André Dao.  This triumphant and hugely entertaining memoir takes readers from his success as the author of novels including the Pulitzer Prize-winning The Sympathizer, to migrating to California as a young refugee from the Vietnam War. A Man of Two Faces reckons with the ghosts of imperialism, family, memory and identity. United States Consulate Melbourne supported the appearances of US authors at MWF. Supported by ARA. Recorded live at Melbourne Writers Festival 2024.

Why have public conversations become so fraught? We seem to have lost the art not just of civil discourse but of having any semblance of a robust and nuanced debate. Over a career spanning nearly 40 years, journalist Laura Tingle has been in the unusual position of being both a reporter and a commentator. In the 2024 John Button Oration, she examines the quality of our national debate. Supported by the Melbourne School of Government and the Faculty of Arts, University of Melbourne. Recorded live at Melbourne Writers Festival 2024. 

Award-winning storytellers Christos Tsiolkas (The In-Between) and Bryan Washington (Family Meal) have each penned acclaimed new novels that tenderly depict the triumphs and obstacles of love. They join Maeve Marsden for an insightful conversation about putting romance to the page and love’s power to change us (for better or worse). Supported by the Faculty of Arts, University of Melbourne. Recorded live at Melbourne Writers Festival 2024.

In a special meeting of literary minds, bestselling American author Lauren Groff (The Vaster Wilds) and acclaimed Australian writer Charlotte Wood (Stone Yard Devotional) join Ailsa Piper to discuss their stories of solitude.    How does a writer bring colour to the silence, contemplation, pleasure and melancholy of solitude? Groff’s thrilling The Vaster Wilds follows a spirited girl trying to survive alone in the wilderness, while Wood’s mesmerising Stone Yard Devotional depicts a woman holed up in a small religious community hidden in the stark plains of the Monaro, NSW.   Please note there are some minor audio issues in the first five minutes of the recording. Rest assured these were resolved and the rest of the episode audio is unaffected. United States Consulate Melbourne supported the appearances of US authors at MWF. Supported by ARA. Recorded live at Melbourne Writers Festival 2024.

Globally acclaimed, Miles Franklin–winning novelist Alexis Wright (Carpentaria, The Swan Book) discusses her influential body of work and newest masterwork, Praiseworthy, with 2024 Festival Curator Mykaela Saunders. Wright has long been recognised for the scale of her writing, which combines mythical, political, surreal and comic elements to forge a mode of Aboriginal epic entirely her own. She speaks with Saunders about how she has challenged literary traditions and language to illuminate the contemporary and timeless perspectives of storytelling, spirituality and sovereignty. Supported by the Copyright Agency’s Cultural Fund. Recorded live at Melbourne Writers Festival 2024.

[Content warning: Sensitive themes] Listen to former Australian of the Year Grace Tame as she talks about The Ninth Life of a Diamond Miner, her sharply intelligent, deeply felt and at times blisteringly funny memoir that shares her story – in her own words and on her own terms. In conversation with Abigail Ulman, Tame talks about the hard-won journey to finding her voice, what her experience reveals about a culture of abuse in our society and institutions, the writing and editing process behind her memoir, and the values and passions that have helped her become a leading advocate for survivors of childhood sexual abuse who has inspired countless people from all walks of life. Recorded live at Melbourne Writers Festival 2023 Please note, this conversation explores sensitive topics including child sexual abuse and domestic violence. 

A world-renowned expert in American literature and culture, Sarah Churchwell (The Wrath to Come: Gone with the Wind and the Lies America Tells) delivers the 2023 John Button Oration. Examining one of the most popular stories of all time, Gone with the Wind, Churchwell shows how histories of mythmaking have informed America’s racial and gender politics, the resurgence of white nationalism, the Black Lives Matter movement, the enduring power of the American dream, and the violence of Trumpism. Recorded live at Melbourne Writers Festival 2023  This event was proudly supported by the John Button Fund, Melbourne School of Government and the Faculty of Arts, The University of Melbourne

"You can’t really interview a ghost." – Shehan Karunatilaka Sri Lankan author Shehan Karunatilaka won the 2022 Booker Prize for his dazzling magic-realist satire The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida. Set during his homeland’s long civil war, the story follows its title character, a self-described photographer, gambler and ‘closet queen’, who wakes up as a ghost with a week to discover who killed him. One of the great literary voices of our times, Karunatilaka joins ABC RN’s Kate Evans (The Bookshelf) to discuss the novel's genesis and international success, the ethics of photography, and how Sri Lanka's history and culture informed the novel – with some cricket and daddy issues thrown in.   Recorded live at Melbourne Writers Festival 2023  This event was proudly supported by ARA Group This event was presented in partnership with ABC RN This event was supported through the Melbourne City Revitalisation Fund – a $200 million partnership of the Victorian Government and the City of Melbourne.

Which stories made you 'different'? What makes writing queer? And what books brought about a break up with the gender binary?  Join a stellar group of queer writers as they share heartfelt (and hilarious) insights into the stories that shaped how they think and write about sexuality and gender, from J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Ringsto Adrienne Rich's TheDream of a Common Language to Ellen van Neerven's Throat. Dipping into the queer canon are Noongar writer Claire G. Coleman (Enclave, Terra Nullius); author of Dreyer’s English (and Twitter's most loved grammar expert) Benjamin Dreyer; photographer and writer Bill Hayes (Insomniac City); writer of poetry, fiction and memoir Kris Kneen (Fat Girl Dancing, The Three Burials of Lotty Kneen); proud Gunai woman and multidisciplinary artist Kirli Saunders (Kindred); and host Maeve Marsden (Queerstories).  Recorded live at Melbourne Writers Festival 2023 

For millennia, reciprocal relationships with plants have provided both sustenance to First Nations communities and many of the materials needed to produce a complex array of technologies. In this wide-ranging discussion, learn more about this fascinating relationship and how it forms the basis of everything – respect, connection and our future survival. Featuring co-authors of Plants: Past, Present and Future – Barkandji researcher and storyteller Zena Cumpston, Wiradjuri geographer and scientist Michael-Shawn Fletcher, and geographer Lesley Head – and prize-winning Yuin, Bunurong and Tasmanian writer Bruce Pascoe, with Sally Warhaft. “If we don’t learn to relate to each other, we’ll continue to destroy the earth.” – Bruce Pascoe

The 2023 Boisbouvier Conversation The Writers on Writers series is an indispensable fixture in the literary calendar, with leading authors penning their reflections on Australian writers who have inspired and influenced them. In one of the most loved sessions of the festival, enjoy this discussion about the importance of having generous and compassionate conversations; what readers gain from having fresh light shone on past treasures; and the future of Australian literature – and what literature is for. Featuring Black Inc publisher Chris Feik; contributor to the series, Nam Le (On David Malouf); and ABC Radio National’s The Bookshelf host Kate Evans as they speak with the Boisbouvier Chair in Australian Literature, author Tony Birch. Recorded live at Melbourne Writers Festival 2023  This event was proudly supported by the Faculty of Arts, The University of Melbourne

Enjoy listening to two of 2023's most talked about novelists – and possibly the only two people to have ever become friends over Zoom – Emma Straub (This Time Tomorrow) and Gabrielle Zevin (Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow). With Brodie Lancaster, they discuss their approaches to crafting fiction, writing a different kind of love story and the idea of wanting to hit restart.  From the geeky committee that informed Emma Straub’s rules of time travel and why she dedicated her book to Peter Straub’s ‘nemesis’ to Gabrielle Zevin’s Emily Dickinson–inspired video game and why she chose to set her novel in the 90s, this is a brilliant conversation between two wildly talented friends.   Recorded live at Melbourne Writers Festival 2023  This event was proudly supported by United States Consulate Melbourne

Hear from New York Times–bestselling author and millennial food icon Alison Roman as she joins Benjamin Law to discuss her career, recipes and latest cookbook, Sweet Enough. Roman shares her journey from working as a chef in professional kitchens and becoming a much-discussed food writer at Bon Appétit and The New York Times to eventually freeing her voice from mastheads in a creative move that would change her life – as well as her readers. She is now renowned for unfussy, flavourful dishes – exemplified by hit recipes like her Caramelised Shallot Pasta and #TheStew – that tap into the culinary zeitgeist for studied imperfection over aspirationally haute cuisine.  Recorded live at Melbourne Writers Festival 2023  This event was supported through the Melbourne City Revitalisation Fund – a $200 million partnership of the Victorian Government and the City of Melbourne.

Authors Tracey Lien (All That’s Left Unsaid) and Nina Wan (The Albatross) gripped readers across the country with their spectacular debut novels on family, love and identity. Listen in as ABC RN’s Sarah L’Estrange (The Book Show) joins Lien and Wan for a wide-ranging conversation on the craft of storytelling and power of representation. Together, they discuss early influences on their writing (The Baby-sitters Club, Dolly Magazine and Judge Judy, to name a few); what it means to have 'conditional citizenship'; the poetry of golf; and the need for more Asian thirst traps.  “I wanted to make a point to readers that we are just like everyone else. Which is to say, we are just as complicated as anyone else. Within a community, we’re just as wonderful and petty and stubborn and flawed. We’re just as capable of success as we are of failure. And if you realise we are just like you, whoever you are, then how can you justify treating us differently?” – Tracey Lien  Recorded live at Melbourne Writers Festival 2023  This event was presented in partnership with ABC RN This event was proudly supported by the Copyright Agency’s Cultural Fund

Casting fresh light on Australia's colonial past, the latest novels by award-winning journalist Paul Daley (Jesustown) and acclaimed author Fiona McFarlane (The Sun Walks Down) tell stories that upend the usual depictions in history books. Listen in as they speak to bestselling author and First Nations Curator Tony Birch about their approach to writing narratives that probe the enduring myths and brutal realities of settler-colonial life, the importance of place in their storytelling, and how they explore relationships between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people in their novels. Recorded live at Melbourne Writers Festival 2023  Content warning: Please note, this discussion includes references to sensitive topics including colonial massacres of First Nations peoples and frontier violence.  This event was proudly supported by the Copyright Agency’s Cultural Fund

"A few months before he died at 82…Oliver [Sacks] looked up from his notepad one evening in our apartment and said to me: 'The most we can do is to write – intelligently, creatively, critically, evocatively – about what it is like living in the world at this time.' So, I did." – Bill Hayes  The last few years have changed us all in profound ways. How have we been surprised, unsettled and enlivened as we return to once-familiar relationships, routines and realities? How are storytellers making sense of how life has changed? For our Opening Night event, some of the most remarkable writers in the world delivered their unique takes on the 2023 Festival theme: ‘I’ve been away for a while’. Listen to author and photographer Bill Hayes (Insomniac City, Sweat) as he shares his experiences of living in New York City throughout the pandemic, and how our cities are like our bodies. He also shares a note he received from a reader in a remote part of Australia that illuminated the power of stories to leap across time and space to connect strangers, intimately and empathetically.  Recorded live at Melbourne Writers Festival 2023  This event was supported through the Melbourne City Revitalisation Fund – a $200 million partnership of the Victorian Government and the City of Melbourne.