Sydney Writers' Festival
Sydney Writers' Festival
Playlist by Sydney Writers' FestivalAustralia's largest celebration of literature, stories and ideas. Bringing together the world's best authors, leading public intellectuals, scientists, journalists and more. Subscribe to our channel f…Follow the podcast:
770 clip(s) in playlist
An Evening with Patrick Radden Keefe
His deeply researched and intricately crafted non-fiction has captivated the world. Award-winning staff writer at The New Yorker and bestselling author Patrick Radden Keefe is known for his international bestsellers, including the Baillie Gifford Prize–winning Empire of Pain and National Book Crit…
59:05
Yann Martel: Son of Nobody
The story of the Trojan War, like so many wars real and imagined, is a story most often told by the victors, the princes and the powerful. In this new imagining of the ancient legend, Son of Nobody, Yann Martel tells the familiar tale from an unheard perspective: that of a commoner and goatherd wh…
54:52
Amitav Ghosh in Conversation
An incomparable storyteller, lucid analyst and eloquent polemicist, acclaimed writer Amitav Ghosh’s rich body of fiction and non-fiction work has shaped our contemporary understanding of history and the environment. Listen in as Amitav reflects on his career and range of bestselling books includin…
55:26
Florence Knapp: The Names
[Content warning: Family violence] Instant bestseller and “best debut novel in years” (The Sunday Times) starts in a literal and metaphorical storm. While registering her son’s birth, Cora faces a decision that could change his life: what will she name him? Her options – Bear, Julian or Gordon – …
53:02
David Szalay: Flesh
In a novel, the words on the page are our entrance into another’s mind. But sometimes it’s the space between the lines that define a character. In David Szalay’s 2025 Booker Prize–winning Flesh, István is caught between the boundaries of Hungary and England, his teenage years and adulthood, his bo…
55:24
Lyse Doucet: The Finest Hotel in Kabul
The history of the Kabul Inter-Continental Hotel is the history of a nation. Built in 1969, it has stood through Soviet occupation, multiple coups, a civil war, a US invasion and waves of Taliban control. Legendary international war correspondent Lyse Doucet arrived at the ‘Inter-Con’ for the firs…
58:34
Mick Herron in Conversation
In the latest instalment of Mick Herron’s internationally bestselling series, palms are itching among Jackson Lamb’s cohort of misfit spies. A legendary former spy’s missing book, a state secret and some mischievous blackmail: which underhanded action will rock the carefully calibrated boat of Slo…
58:17
2026 Program Announcement: Yumi Stynes and Ann Mossop
Join Yumi Stynes and Artistic Director Ann Mossop as they discuss the 2026 Sydney Writers’ Festival program. The pair talk about the 2026 Festival theme, Show Me The Truth, and how fiction, poetry and creative writing and bring us closer to the truth. Unpack the program and get a glimpse behind th…
42:18
A.C. Grayling on Cancel Culture
‘Cancel culture’ may seem like a 21st century invention sparked by contemporary politics and stoked by social media, sometimes with deadly consequences. However, as philosopher A.C. Grayling illustrates in Discriminations: Making Peace in the Culture Wars, disagreement and public shaming are ancie…
52:28
Ian Rankin: Master of Crime
Detective Inspector John Rebus first hit bookshelves in 1987 as a witty Scottish crime fighter but now the legendary detective is behind bars himself, living a literal locked-room mystery. Midnight and Blue is Ian Rankin at his tense and thrilling best, mixing the police procedural genre with a l…
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