Four waves in, the feminist fight for gender equality is far from over. This panel brings together the powerful and incendiary feminist voices of Hannah Ferguson, Sisonke Msimang and Jennifer Robinson. Hear from these leading writers and activists who between them offer daring feminist opinions on topics ranging from freedom of speech, right-wing politics, racism, xenophobia, belonging and identity, taboos around sex and pleasure, as well as the legal judgements that continue to silence and disadvantage women. Be inspired by the feminist firebrands who are fighting for meaningful social change. Hosted by the inimitable Jo Dyer, this is an important examination of the most pressing issues facing women today. This episode was recorded live in May at the 2024 Sydney Writers’ Festival. If you enjoyed this episode, please rate and follow our channel.  Sydney Writers’ Festival podcasts are available on all major podcast platforms.  After more? Follow Sydney Writers’ Festival on social media: Instagram: @sydwritersfest Facebook: @SydWritersFest X (Twitter): @SydWritersFest TikTok: @sydwritersfest

Last year, Bryan Brown interviewed Sam Neill at the Festival. This year, it was Bryan’s turn in the hot seat as Sam interviewed him about his gripping new crime novel, The Drowning. Bryan is one of the most recognisable faces on our screens with more than 80 film and television projects to his name. This sensational new thriller with his characteristic laconic style – humorous, tough and suspenseful – confirms his place as one of the great Australian storytellers. This episode was recorded live in May at the 2024 Sydney Writers’ Festival. If you enjoyed this episode, please rate and follow our channel.  Sydney Writers’ Festival podcasts are available on all major podcast platforms.  After more? Follow Sydney Writers’ Festival on social media: Instagram: @sydwritersfest Facebook: @SydWritersFest X (Twitter): @SydWritersFest TikTok: @sydwritersfest

Going deep into the historical past, Lauren Groff (The Vaster Wilds, Matrix) and Francesca de Tores (Saltblood) create memorable heroines, real and imaginary, whose stories have not been told. Their portrayals of ordinary women doing extraordinary things – a girl escaping alone into the wilderness, a pirate on the high seas – are richly detailed and vividly alive. Coming out of hiding into our imaginations, these heroines are so fierce they jump off the page. Join Lauren and Francesca in conversation with novelist and scholar Sophie Gee. This episode was recorded live in May at the 2024 Sydney Writers’ Festival. If you enjoyed this episode, please rate and follow our channel.  Sydney Writers’ Festival podcasts are available on all major podcast platforms.  After more? Follow Sydney Writers’ Festival on social media: Instagram: @sydwritersfest Facebook: @SydWritersFest X (Twitter): @SydWritersFest TikTok: @sydwritersfest

Join two of the most admired writers in Australia today, Booker Prize–winning Richard Flanagan and Miles Franklin–winning Anna Funder as they discuss writing in the margins between fiction and non-fiction, history and memoir, personal and public. Historian Clare Wright leads this conversation, examining their genre-bending masterpieces. Through a hypnotic melding of dream, history, science and memory, Question 7 traces the ripples of history through Richard’s own family and is described by Anna as holding “a life between its covers”. Wifedom is Anna’s “counterfiction”, an attempt to write Eileen O'Shaughnessy, George Orwell’s first wife, back into the narrative from which history has so carefully excised her. Not only a New York Times Notable Book of 2023, Wifedom also described by Geraldine Brooks as “Simply, a masterpiece”. Redefine genre with Richard and Anna as they discuss the craft of writing, the parts of themselves left excavated on the page and the consequences of the choices we make. This episode was recorded live in May at the 2024 Sydney Writers’ Festival. If you enjoyed this episode, please rate and follow our channel.  Sydney Writers’ Festival podcasts are available on all major podcast platforms.  After more? Follow Sydney Writers’ Festival on social media: Instagram: @sydwritersfest Facebook: @SydWritersFest X (Twitter): @SydWritersFest TikTok: @sydwritersfest

While everyone has dirty laundry in their lives, not everyone will choose to air theirs publicly. Whether on social media, in written memoir, public speaking or on television, how can sharing the ‘self’ when the story touches on family and community, still be navigated ethically? What are the consequences and ramifications of bringing the personal into the public realm? Join writers Benjamin Law, Rhys Nicholson and Amy Thunig as they unpack the fallout on the other side of publication, with host George Haddad. This episode was recorded live in May at the 2024 Sydney Writers’ Festival. If you enjoyed this episode, please rate and follow our channel.  Sydney Writers’ Festival podcasts are available on all major podcast platforms.  After more? Follow Sydney Writers’ Festival on social media: Instagram: @sydwritersfest Facebook: @SydWritersFest X (Twitter): @SydWritersFest TikTok: @sydwritersfest

Sean Turnell spent almost two years in Myanmar’s terrifying Insein Prison, accused of being a spy. Ma Thida was also incarcerated there, where, denied medical treatment, she came very close to dying. How did they survive? What hope do these important players in Myanmar’s government and politics hold for the return of democracy three years after the military seized power in a coup? In conversation with Catherine Renshaw. This event was presented in partnership with PEN Sydney and recorded live in May at the 2024 Sydney Writers' Festival.  If you enjoyed this episode, please rate and follow our channel.  Sydney Writers’ Festival podcasts are available on all major podcast platforms.  After more? Follow Sydney Writers’ Festival on social media: Instagram: @sydwritersfest Facebook: @SydWritersFest X (Twitter): @SydWritersFest TikTok: @sydwritersfest

Melissa Lucashenko describes her latest novel, Edenglassie, as her “big book” – a multigenerational epic that torches Queensland’s colonial myths and reimagines Australia’s future. Set in Brisbane and rivalling the romances of Too Much Lip and Mullumbimby, two parallel love stories play out two centuries apart. In both the colonial era and the present day, no one knows how far legacies will reach into modern lives. Sit down with this celebrated author as she is joined on stage by ABC RN’s Kate Evans to discuss her critically acclaimed novel, described by The Weekend Australian as being “as heart-warming as it is heart-breaking”. This episode was recorded live in May at the 2024 Sydney Writers’ Festival. If you enjoyed this episode, please rate and follow our channel.  Sydney Writers’ Festival podcasts are available on all major podcast platforms.  After more? Follow Sydney Writers’ Festival on social media: Instagram: @sydwritersfest Facebook: @SydWritersFest X (Twitter): @SydWritersFest TikTok: @sydwritersfest

Following broadcaster and author Julia Baird’s multi-award-winning international bestseller, Phosphorescence, comes a beautiful and timely exploration of that most mysterious but necessary human quality: grace. Bright Shining: How grace changes everything asks what grace looks like today, how we recognise it, nurture it within ourselves and express it. For Julia, grace can be found by being kinder, bigger and better with each other. Sit down with Julia to discuss this luminous work, which The Guardian described as “a book the world needs now”. In conversation with journalist Jacqueline Maley. This episode was recorded live in May at the 2024 Sydney Writers’ Festival. If you enjoyed this episode, please rate and follow our channel.  Sydney Writers’ Festival podcasts are available on all major podcast platforms.  After more? Follow Sydney Writers’ Festival on social media: Instagram: @sydwritersfest Facebook: @SydWritersFest X (Twitter): @SydWritersFest TikTok: @sydwritersfest

As conflict plays out across an unnamed region, the protagonist in Parramatta Laureate of Literature Yumna Kassab’s Politica imagines how she will later narrate her experiences: “We hadn’t spoken for years but then the war broke out...”  Sharing difficult stories is also at the heart of Miles Franklin Award winner Shankari Chandran’s Safe Haven, which follows a refugee threatened with deportation when she speaks out for other detainees. Sit down with Yumna and Shankari as they discuss their poignant and timely novels, which ask how, if possible, we can measure the cost of war and what lengths we will go to in the search for safety. With host Ashley Hay. This episode was recorded live at the 2024 Sydney Writers’ Festival.  If you enjoyed this episode, please rate and follow our channel.   Sydney Writers’ Festival podcasts are available on all major podcast platforms.   After more? Follow Sydney Writers’ Festival on social media:  Instagram: @sydwritersfest Facebook: @SydWritersFest X (Twitter): @SydWritersFest TikTok: @sydwritersfest

After smash-hit Fates and Furies, the modern-day marriage story that was Barack Obama’s book of the year in 2015, Lauren Groff’s novels have looked to the past to understand the present.  Her latest historical novel, The Vaster Wilds, is set on the edge of the New World at an unnamed British settlement in the Americas. Fleeing violence, disease and starvation, a servant girl enters the wilderness alone. This spirited survivalist story has been critically acclaimed as “exhilarating” (The Guardian), “visionary” (The Observer) and “timeless” (The Times). Join Lauren and host Melanie Kembrey as they explore this prophetic novel, which encapsulates the story of America in miniature. This episode was recorded live at the 2024 Sydney Writers’ Festival.  If you enjoyed this episode, please rate and follow our channel.   Sydney Writers’ Festival podcasts are available on all major podcast platforms.   After more? Follow Sydney Writers’ Festival on social media:  Instagram: @sydwritersfest Facebook: @SydWritersFest X (Twitter): @SydWritersFest TikTok: @sydwritersfest

Join Richard Flanagan as he discusses this hypnotic, genre-defying new book which entwines memoir, biography, autofiction and history through a daisy chain of stories both intimate and collective. Opening with his father as a prisoner of war, the book leads readers through a literary love affair into nuclear physics of the 1930s and 40s and finally towards a young Richard fighting for his life in Tasmanian river rapids in a rumination on life’s choices and their intergenerational chain reactions. Richard speaks with Kerry O’Brien. This episode was recorded live at the 2024 Sydney Writers’ Festival.  If you enjoyed this episode, please rate and follow our channel.   Sydney Writers’ Festival podcasts are available on all major podcast platforms.   After more? Follow Sydney Writers’ Festival on social media:  Instagram: @sydwritersfest Facebook: @SydWritersFest X (Twitter): @SydWritersFest TikTok: @sydwritersfest

Social change is driven by conversation, in sharing ideas, and translating those ideas for audiences who don’t agree or understand what is at stake. For many First Nations writers and journalists, this has been a huge priority over the last year, in particular, and one that comes with a cost. In a conversation with legendary truth-tellers, find out what sustains them to keep on going in the face of profound challenges. With Larissa Behrendt, Tony Birch, Narelda Jacobs and Amy Thunig. This episode was recorded live at the 2024 Sydney Writers’ Festival.  If you enjoyed this episode, please rate and follow our channel.   Sydney Writers’ Festival podcasts are available on all major podcast platforms.   After more? Follow Sydney Writers’ Festival on social media:  Instagram: @sydwritersfest Facebook: @SydWritersFest X (Twitter): @SydWritersFest TikTok: @sydwritersfest

The quest for a life worth living has been the business of philosophers for millennia. How can we pursue answers to life’s big questions in a world that feels increasingly dangerous and unstable thanks to big tech and AI? Unpack the ‘how’ in this unmissable episode from the pre-eminent philosopher A.C. Grayling. This episode was recorded live at the 2024 Sydney Writers’ Festival.  If you enjoyed this episode, please rate and follow our channel.   Sydney Writers’ Festival podcasts are available on all major podcast platforms.   After more? Follow Sydney Writers’ Festival on social media:  Instagram: @sydwritersfest Facebook: @SydWritersFest X (Twitter): @SydWritersFest TikTok: @sydwritersfest

Anti-fatness is a system of oppression, argues Kate Manne, afflicting vulnerable bodies in intersectional ways. Building on her incisive studies of misogyny and male privilege, the Melbourne-born feminist philosopher’s latest book, Unshrinking: How to Fight Fatphobia, unpicks the dangerous virtues associated with dieting and deprivation, using a blend of first-hand stories and trenchant analysis.  Praised by US writer Roxane Gay as “required reading”, this timely intervention calls for a radical re-evaluation of who our bodies exist for –  ourselves and no one else. Learn from an acclaimed, accessible new voice in moral philosophy, in conversation with host Maeve Marsden. This episode was recorded live in May at the 2024 Sydney Writers’ Festival. If you enjoyed this episode, please rate and follow our channel.  Sydney Writers’ Festival podcasts are available on all major podcast platforms.  After more? Follow Sydney Writers’ Festival on social media: Instagram: @sydwritersfest Facebook: @SydWritersFest X (Twitter): @SydWritersFest TikTok: @sydwritersfest

At 18, Abdulrazak Gurnah arrived in England as a refugee from the Zanzibar Revolution. Receiving the Nobel Prize more than 50 years later, he reflected that the “prolonged period of poverty and alienation” he experienced made him a writer. From the contemporary immigrant experience in his debut, Memory of Departure, to colonial wartime conscription in Booker Prize shortlisted Paradise, Abdulrazak’s unflinching yet humane oeuvre interrogates the legacies of empire, centring that which is often too marginalised. Listen as he and writer Sisonke Msimang discuss his tenth novel, Afterlives – an intergenerational portrait of love and loss under German occupation in East Africa. This episode was recorded live in May at the 2024 Sydney Writers’ Festival. If you enjoyed this episode, please rate and follow our channel.  Sydney Writers’ Festival podcasts are available on all major podcast platforms.  After more? Follow Sydney Writers’ Festival on social media: Instagram: @sydwritersfest Facebook: @SydWritersFest X (Twitter): @SydWritersFest TikTok: @sydwritersfest

How many women artists do you know? Who makes art history? And what is the Baroque anyway? Enter art historian and curator Katy Hessel’s The Story of Art Without Men, a response to E.H. Gombrich’s classic chronicle, The Story of Art, first published in 1950, which was recently updated to include... one woman. Katy’s revisionist history builds on her popular podcast and Instagram account, The Great Women Artists, where her fresh approach has garnered fans worldwide and earned her a spot on the Forbes 30 Under 30 Europe list. Overturn art history as you know it with Katy, in conversation with curator Beatrice Gralton. This episode was recorded live in May at the 2024 Sydney Writers’ Festival. If you enjoyed this episode, please rate and follow our channel.  Sydney Writers’ Festival podcasts are available on all major podcast platforms.  After more? Follow Sydney Writers’ Festival on social media: Instagram: @sydwritersfest Facebook: @SydWritersFest X (Twitter): @SydWritersFest TikTok: @sydwritersfest

Crime fiction king Michael Connelly discusses the highlights of his illustrious career and the characters who have populated the pages of his cult classic novels. The bestselling author of 39 books, selling over 80 million copies worldwide, talks with The Monthly’s Michael Williams about the art of crime writing, seeing his work reach the screen, including the Netflix smash-hit The Lincoln Lawyer and his newest book in the series, Resurrection Walk. This episode was recorded live in May at the 2024 Sydney Writers’ Festival. If you enjoyed this episode, please rate and follow our channel.  Sydney Writers’ Festival podcasts are available on all major podcast platforms.  After more? Follow Sydney Writers’ Festival on social media: Instagram: @sydwritersfest Facebook: @SydWritersFest X (Twitter): @SydWritersFest TikTok: @sydwritersfest

How do you support writers if the market for their books is being steadily destroyed? As bookshops close their doors in record numbers and writers see their income steadily eroding, its time for government to take action. With a simple fix – to stop book discounting for a time after first publication, as many EU countries do. Both writers and independent booksellers would benefit. Ray Bonner, Richard Flanagan, Olivia Lanchester and Michael Robotham join host of Read This Michael Williams in-conversation. This episode was recorded live in May at the 2024 Sydney Writers’ Festival. If you enjoyed this episode, please rate and follow our channel.  Sydney Writers’ Festival podcasts are available on all major podcast platforms.  After more? Follow Sydney Writers’ Festival on social media: Instagram: @sydwritersfest Facebook: @SydWritersFest X (Twitter): @SydWritersFest TikTok: @sydwritersfest

Jake Adelstein has spent decades reporting on Japanese organised crime and is the only American journalist to be admitted to the insular Tokyo Metropolitan Police Press Club. These unique experiences informed his memoir, Tokyo Vice, which was adapted into an HBO Max series starring Ansel Elgort, the second season of which premiered in February. Jake returns to Japan’s seedy underworld with this hotly anticipated follow-up Tokyo Noir, which is equal parts history lesson, true crime exposé and darkly comic memoir. Hear Jake and host Peter Hartcher discuss what it’s like when you’re in too deep to distinguish the story you chase from the story you are living. This episode was recorded live in May at the 2024 Sydney Writers’ Festival. If you enjoyed this episode, please rate and follow our channel.  Sydney Writers’ Festival podcasts are available on all major podcast platforms.  After more? Follow Sydney Writers’ Festival on social media: Instagram: @sydwritersfest Facebook: @SydWritersFest X (Twitter): @SydWritersFest TikTok: @sydwritersfest

At 21, Samantha Shannon was hailed as the next big thing in genre fiction for her bestselling dystopian debut, The Bone Season. Samantha’s latest queer fantasy series, The Roots of Chaos, is a feat of feminist worldbuilding, reimagining the legend of Saint George and the Dragon to create a universe where princesses save themselves. Following smash-hit The Priory of the Orange Tree, the prequel, A Day of Fallen Night, is an engrossing saga about a world on the brink of war with dragons – and the women warriors who must protect humankind. Meet fantasy’s new mother of dragons, joined on stage by Shelley Parker-Chan. This episode was recorded live in May at the 2024 Sydney Writers’ Festival. If you enjoyed this episode, please rate and follow our channel.  Sydney Writers’ Festival podcasts are available on all major podcast platforms.  After more? Follow Sydney Writers’ Festival on social media: Instagram: @sydwritersfest Facebook: @SydWritersFest X (Twitter): @SydWritersFest TikTok: @sydwritersfest

[Content warning: Sexual assault] Suzie Miller’s disturbingly prescient play, Prima Facie, dramatises the price sexual assault victims pay for speaking out. This blistering one-woman show wowed audiences on Broadway and the West End, winning Suzie an Olivier Award and Killing Eve favourite Jodie Comer a Tony for her performance as the brilliant young barrister who, one sickening night, finds herself thrust into the flawed justice system. Put the courts on trial with Suzie and writer and podcaster Nicole Abadee, as they discuss Prima Facie’s adaptation into a gripping novel and screenplay set to star Cynthia Erivo. Suzie Miller appeared at this event via video link. This episode was recorded live in May at the 2024 Sydney Writers’ Festival. If you enjoyed this episode, please rate and follow our channel.  Sydney Writers’ Festival podcasts are available on all major podcast platforms.  After more? Follow Sydney Writers’ Festival on social media: Instagram: @sydwritersfest Facebook: @SydWritersFest X (Twitter): @SydWritersFest TikTok: @sydwritersfest

What is driving American decline, and what does it mean for the world? Long-time foreign correspondent Nick Bryant’s most recent posting took him to New York City to cover the Trump years. In his compelling analysis of American history and politics, Nick finds the roots of current polarisation and conflict in its history. If the American experiment is failing, what does this mean in for a world order with American power and influence at its heart? Pressing global issues such as current conflicts in Gaza and Ukraine, the world’s ability to act on climate change, the dangers of AI or threats posed by China and Russia are all held hostage by the failure of the American experiment. Learn from this renowned reporter as he discusses how the hate, divisiveness and paranoia of contemporary American politics are central to the nation’s story. In conversation with ABC RN’s Geraldine Doogue. This episode was recorded live in May at the 2024 Sydney Writers’ Festival. If you enjoyed this episode, please rate and follow our channel.  Sydney Writers’ Festival podcasts are available on all major podcast platforms.  After more? Follow Sydney Writers’ Festival on social media: Instagram: @sydwritersfest Facebook: @SydWritersFest X (Twitter): @SydWritersFest TikTok: @sydwritersfest

Banning books, waving flags and persecuting racial minorities. Sound familiar? After New York Times–bestselling novel Little Fires Everywhere – which was adapted into a popular miniseries starring Kerry Washington and Reese Witherspoon – comes a similarly moving tale about the unbreakable bond between a mother and son. Celeste Ng’s third novel, Our Missing Hearts, is set in a marginally more dystopian version of Trump’s America and follows Bird, a young boy searching for his politically dissident mother, and Margaret, a poet striving to change the world for her son. Listen to Celeste and host Claire Nichols as they discuss hope in the face of isolation and cynicism, the redemptive power of storytelling, and the capacity for art to create meaningful change. This episode was recorded live in May at the 2024 Sydney Writers’ Festival. If you enjoyed this episode, please rate and follow our channel.  Sydney Writers’ Festival podcasts are available on all major podcast platforms.  After more? Follow Sydney Writers’ Festival on social media: Instagram: @sydwritersfest Facebook: @SydWritersFest X (Twitter): @SydWritersFest TikTok: @sydwritersfest

Find sanctuary in this uplifting celebration of creativity, chaired by Michaela Kalowski. Award-winning journalist Julia Baird follows her international bestseller, Phosphorescence, with Bright Shining, a stunning and insightful call for grace in a world which has forgotten its importance. Bestselling author Holly Ringland, whose debut novel, The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart, was published in 30 countries and adapted into an Amazon miniseries starring Sigourney Weaver, invites readers into her creative practice in The House That Joy Built. Learn how to recognise, cultivate and express these nourishing qualities, even in the darkest of times. This episode was recorded live in May at the 2024 Sydney Writers’ Festival. If you enjoyed this episode, please rate and follow our channel.  Sydney Writers’ Festival podcasts are available on all major podcast platforms.  After more? Follow Sydney Writers’ Festival on social media: Instagram: @sydwritersfest Facebook: @SydWritersFest X (Twitter): @SydWritersFest TikTok: @sydwritersfest

Can a person truly be good? What is forgiveness? Is losing hope a moral failure? And is the business of grief ever really finished? These questions pervade Charlotte Wood’s latest novel, Stone Yard Devotional, which is set on the Monaro plains where the much-loved author of The Natural Way of Things and The Weekend grew up. It follows a woman who abandons city life to return to the place of her childhood, holing up in a cloistered religious community where she confronts her past. Hear Charlotte and host Beejay Silcox discuss her most personal novel to date. This episode was recorded live in May at the 2024 Sydney Writers’ Festival. If you enjoyed this episode, please rate and follow our channel.  Sydney Writers’ Festival podcasts are available on all major podcast platforms.  After more? Follow Sydney Writers’ Festival on social media: Instagram: @sydwritersfest Facebook: @SydWritersFest X (Twitter): @SydWritersFest TikTok: @sydwritersfest

Love is indeed a many splendoured thing in the work of K Patrick and Christos Tsiolkas, who know firsthand the pleasures of writing queer love stories. Hosted by Madeleine Gray, this beautiful conversation brings together two authors to discuss their sensual new novels. K’s Mrs S pulses with lust and longing at an elite boarding school, while Christos’ critically acclaimed The In-Between follows a fledgling relationship between two middle-aged men. Swoon with K and Christos in this heartfelt discussion of romance, regret, desire and hope. This episode was recorded live at the 2024 Sydney Writers’ Festival. If you enjoyed this episode, please rate and follow our channel.  Sydney Writers’ Festival podcasts are available on all major podcast platforms.  After more? Follow Sydney Writers’ Festival on social media: Instagram: @sydwritersfest Facebook: @SydWritersFest X (Twitter): @SydWritersFest TikTok: @sydwritersfest

“We are invisible”, writes Balli Kaur Jaswal in Now You See Us. “We clean your houses, we look after your children, we know your secrets.” The Singaporean-Australian writer is joined by Dominican-American novelist Elizabeth Acevedo (Family Lore) and Arab-Australian author Sara M Saleh (Songs for the Dead and the Living and The Flirtation of Girls) whose latest works portray the private lives and subterranean desires of women who are too often silenced. In conversation with ABC RN’s Kate Evans, these cross-cultural novelists discuss the rich inner worlds of their characters, whose aspirations are often obscured by duty and expectation. This episode was recorded live at the 2024 Sydney Writers’ Festival. If you enjoyed this episode, please rate and follow our channel.  Sydney Writers’ Festival podcasts are available on all major podcast platforms.  After more? Follow Sydney Writers’ Festival on social media: Instagram: @sydwritersfest Facebook: @SydWritersFest X (Twitter): @SydWritersFest TikTok: @sydwritersfest

In his Booker Prize acceptance speech, Paul Lynch admitted his fifth novel, Prophet Song, had been difficult to write. “The rational part of me believed I was dooming my career,” he said, “though I had to write the book anyway. We do not have a choice in such matters”. Set in Ireland’s near future, Prophet Song depicts a collapsing society in the grip of an increasingly tyrannical government. The Booker Prize judges described it as a novel “to remind us of all that is worth saving”. Sit down with Paul and host Michael Williams to discuss this timely and terrifying parable. This episode was recorded live at the 2024 Sydney Writers’ Festival. If you enjoyed this episode, please rate and follow our channel.  Sydney Writers’ Festival podcasts are available on all major podcast platforms.  After more? Follow Sydney Writers’ Festival on social media: Instagram: @sydwritersfest Facebook: @SydWritersFest X (Twitter): @SydWritersFest TikTok: @sydwritersfest

War correspondent Marie Colvin stated: “It has always seemed to me that what I write about is humanity in extremis, pushed to the unendurable, and that it is important to tell people what really happens in wars.” With conflict continuing in Ukraine, and the death toll of journalists in the Gaza conflict reaching alarming proportions, we look at the role of journalists in war – on and off the frontlines – and how vital the protection of journalists is to news we can trust about the realities of war. Join us to hear from those with firsthand experience from the most conflict-ridden parts of the world: Global Affairs Editor for the ABC, John Lyons, The Guardian World Affairs Editor, Julian Borger and journalists Alisa Sopova and Anastasia Taylor-Lind of the 5km From the Frontline project. In conversation with journalist and broadcaster Hamish Macdonald. This episode was recorded live at the 2024 Sydney Writers’ Festival. If you enjoyed this episode, please rate and follow our channel.  Sydney Writers’ Festival podcasts are available on all major podcast platforms.  After more? Follow Sydney Writers’ Festival on social media: Instagram: @sydwritersfest Facebook: @SydWritersFest X (Twitter): @SydWritersFest TikTok: @sydwritersfest

Matildas fever swept across Australia during the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup, taking hold of new soccer fans and diehards alike. But where do we go next to tap into the potential of women’s sport? Hosted by The Ticket podcast’s Tracey Holmes, this elite panel features Olympic rugby gold medallist Chloe Dalton (Girls Don’t Play Sport), Australia’s most decorated cycling Olympian Anna Meares and world champion pro-athlete Jana Pittman (Enough). Cheer on the sportswomen kicking goals for female athletes everywhere. This episode was recorded live at the 2024 Sydney Writers’ Festival. If you enjoyed this episode, please rate and follow our channel.  Sydney Writers’ Festival podcasts are available on all major podcast platforms.  After more? Follow Sydney Writers’ Festival on social media: Instagram: @sydwritersfest Facebook: @SydWritersFest X (Twitter): @SydWritersFest TikTok: @sydwritersfest

Physician and writer Abraham Verghese, author of Cutting for Stone, crafts a masterly narrative of three generations of a family in Kerala, through the eyes of a young girl, from her arranged marriage at the turn of the 20th century to her emergence as the matriarchal figure Big Ammachi. Solving the mystery of a family affliction – in every generation, at least one person dies by drowning – the book brings to life a vanished past and the impact of change on lives and communities. Examine the marriage of medicine and literature with Abraham, joined by host Roanna Gonsalves. Abraham Verghese appeared at this event via video link. This episode was recorded live at the 2024 Sydney Writers’ Festival. If you enjoyed this episode, please rate and follow our channel.  Sydney Writers’ Festival podcasts are available on all major podcast platforms.  After more? Follow Sydney Writers’ Festival on social media: Instagram: @sydwritersfest Facebook: @SydWritersFest X (Twitter): @SydWritersFest TikTok: @sydwritersfest

After a male colleague took credit for her work, Bonnie Garmus channelled her rage into the unforgettable protagonist of Lessons in Chemistry Elizabeth Zott – a chemist-turned-celebrity cook who surreptitiously teaches housewives to subvert the status quo. With her debut, Bonnie became a multimillion-copy-bestselling novelist, whose novel has also been adapted into an Apple TV series starring Brie Larson. This 1960s-set comedy has inspired readers worldwide with its message that it's never too late to change everything – including yourself. Listen to Bonnie as speaks with Caroline Baum about science, sexism and success in your sixties. This episode was recorded live at the 2024 Sydney Writers’ Festival.   If you enjoyed this episode, please rate and follow our channel.  Sydney Writers’ Festival podcasts are available on all major podcast platforms.  After more? Follow Sydney Writers’ Festival on social media: Instagram: @sydwritersfest Facebook: @SydWritersFest X (Twitter): @SydWritersFest TikTok: @sydwritersfest

Australia has been a close ally of the United States since 1940, but what does this mean for contemporary politics when democracy is more fragile than ever? Donald Trump and his attacks on the US electoral system have raised red flags about the strength of American democracy. But in an age of disinformation and civic decline, signs of fragility are visible elsewhere, and Australia is no exception. Chaired by Festival favourite Barrie Cassidy, one of Australia’s most experienced political correspondents and analysts, this expert panel features former BBC foreign correspondent Nick Bryant (The Forever War: America’s Unending Conflict With Itself), UNSW Sydney Professor of Law and constitutional democracy specialist Rosalind Dixon and Senior Fellow of the University of Sydney’s United States Studies Centre Bruce Wolpe (Trump’s Australia: How Trumpism changed Australia and the shocking consequences for us of a second term). Unpack the far-reaching ramifications of this relationship across trade, security, foreign policy and beyond. Together they will examine whether it’s too late to steer Democracy back on course in this defining moment with the ‘battle for the soul of America’ due to play out at the US Election later this year. This episode was recorded live at the 2024 Sydney Writers’ Festival.   If you enjoyed this episode, please rate and follow our channel.  Sydney Writers’ Festival podcasts are available on all major podcast platforms.  After more? Follow Sydney Writers’ Festival on social media: Instagram: @sydwritersfest Facebook: @SydWritersFest X (Twitter): @SydWritersFest TikTok: @sydwritersfest

“Praiseworthy is mighty in every conceivable way: mighty of scope, mighty of fury, mighty of craft, mighty of humour, mighty of language, mighty of heart.” – Stella Prize Hear from the winner of this year’s Stella Prize, Alexis Wright, as she joins judging panel chair Beejay Silcox in conversation to discuss her creative inspirations, writing process and prize-winning work, Praiseworthy. Celebrating original, excellent and engaging works by women and non-binary authors, the Stella Prize has helped elevate the careers of numerous Australian writers and has become one of the country’s most prestigious literary accolades. Alexis Wright appeared at this event via video link. This episode was recorded live at the 2024 Sydney Writers’ Festival.   If you enjoyed this episode, please rate and follow our channel.  Sydney Writers’ Festival podcasts are available on all major podcast platforms.  After more? Follow Sydney Writers’ Festival on social media: Instagram: @sydwritersfest Facebook: @SydWritersFest X (Twitter): @SydWritersFest TikTok: @sydwritersfest

“I am a spy, a sleeper, a spook, a man of two faces”, begins Viet Thanh Nguyen’s debut novel, The Sympathizer, the internationally acclaimed bestseller that was recently adapted into an HBO series starring Sandra Oh and Robert Downey Jr. This duality is also at the heart of Viet’s highly original memoir, A Man of Two Faces, which details with sardonic wit and incisive analysis the double consciousness of a Vietnamese refugee growing up in North America. Listen to the celebrated author, hailed as “a conscience of American literature” (The New Yorker), in conversation with Benjamin Law. This episode was recorded live at the 2024 Sydney Writers’ Festival.   If you enjoyed this episode, please rate and follow our channel.  Sydney Writers’ Festival podcasts are available on all major podcast platforms.  After more? Follow Sydney Writers’ Festival on social media: Instagram: @sydwritersfest Facebook: @SydWritersFest X (Twitter): @SydWritersFest TikTok: @sydwritersfest

“How other people live is pretty much all I think about,” writes Ann Patchett. Since her breakthrough novel, Bel Canto, won the Women’s Prize for Fiction, Ann’s clever, compelling and expertly crafted portraits of other people’s lives have enamoured readers and critics alike. The author of bookshelf staples like Commonwealth and The Dutch House returns with another bestseller, Tom Lake – a meditation on young love, marriage and the lives people lead before having children. Hear stories from Ann and her writer penpal, Meg Mason (Sorrow and Bliss), on home, family and bookselling – with some Parnassus Books reading recommendations thrown in! This episode was recorded live at the 2024 Sydney Writers’ Festival.   If you enjoyed this episode, please rate and follow our channel.  Sydney Writers’ Festival podcasts are available on all major podcast platforms.  After more? Follow Sydney Writers’ Festival on social media: Instagram: @sydwritersfest Facebook: @SydWritersFest X (Twitter): @SydWritersFest TikTok: @sydwritersfest

[Content warning: misogynistic violence, sexual assault] When Kate Manne’s first book Down Girl, a tightly argued analysis of misogyny, was published shortly after the full exposé of Harvey Weinstein, she became ‘the philosopher of #MeToo’ – someone who could explain in crisp and compelling terms what misogyny is and how it works. With her trademark combination of philosophical rigor and vivid storytelling, her next book Entitled took aim at male privilege and how it hurts women. Her new book Unshrinking: How to Fight Fatphobia targets particularly prevalent and oppressive aspects of misogyny – fatphobia and diet culture – proposing a radical rethinking of our bodies and the world. In her closing address, join Kate to build on this extraordinary body of work and consider what recent activism has changed, what has resolutely stayed the same and what has worsened. What might the future of misogyny look like? This episode was recorded live at the 2024 Sydney Writers’ Festival.   If you enjoyed this episode, please rate and follow our channel.  Sydney Writers’ Festival podcasts are available on all major podcast platforms.  After more? Follow Sydney Writers’ Festival on social media: Instagram: @sydwritersfest Facebook: @SydWritersFest X (Twitter): @SydWritersFest TikTok: @sydwritersfest

Join Annabel Crabb and Artistic Director Ann Mossop as they discuss the 2024 Sydney Writers’ Festival program. The pair talk about the 2024 Festival theme, Take Me Away, and how books let us escape into different worlds, live other lives and travel in time and space.  The 2024 Sydney Writers' Festival is out now. Head to our website to explore the program: https://www.swf.org.au/ Tickets on sale Saturday 9 March at 10am.  Thank you to 2SER for facilitating the recording of this podcast

[Content warning: Child sexual abuse] Join internet darling Daniel Lavery as he lifts the lid on his writing life and Dear Prudence, a collection of the weirdest and wildest questions received during his tenure as Slate’s agony aunt. Filled with his always sympathetic, thoughtful and good-humoured advice, it offers a good dose of sense and compassion in an increasingly wonky world. Daniel reveals the secrets to dispensing wise counsel and talks about his broader career as the co-founder of legendary website The Toast and a New York Times–bestselling author. In conversation with Mon Schafter. This episode was recorded live at the 2023 Sydney Writers’ Festival.   If you enjoyed this episode, please rate and follow our channel.  Sydney Writers’ Festival podcasts are available on all major podcast platforms.  After more? Follow Sydney Writers’ Festival on social media: Instagram: @sydwritersfest Facebook: @SydWritersFest X (Twitter): @SydWritersFest TikTok: @sydwritersfest

The Curiosity Lecture series returns to the Festival with a line-up of our most thought-provoking speakers delivering one-time talks on topics of intrigue, interest and importance. In this entertaining talk, author Tabitha Carvan shares the story of how falling for Benedict Cumberbatch while stuck at home with two young children became an unlikely catalyst for self-discovery. She casts light on what becomes of women’s passions in adulthood and what happens if you subvert the narrative and simply love something like you used to. Supported by UNSW Sydney. This episode was recorded live at the 2023 Sydney Writers’ Festival.   If you enjoyed this episode, please rate and follow our channel.  Sydney Writers’ Festival podcasts are available on all major podcast platforms.  After more? Follow Sydney Writers’ Festival on social media: Instagram: @sydwritersfest Facebook: @SydWritersFest X (Twitter): @SydWritersFest TikTok: @sydwritersfest

[Content warning: Sexual assault and paedophilia] Women and girls have long been pressured to conform to written and unwritten rules about how to think, act, look and feel. But a new generation of writers and activists are breaking down barriers to allow women and girls to show their real selves.  Hear from Wadjanbarra Yidinji, Jirrbal and African-American filmmaker and Gigorou author Sasha Kutabah Sarago and activist for sexual assault survivors and The Ninth Life of a Diamond Miner author Grace Tame in conversation with disability and women’s rights advocate Hannah Diviney about their pathbreaking work. This episode was recorded live at the 2023 Sydney Writers’ Festival.   If you enjoyed this episode, please rate and follow our channel.  Sydney Writers’ Festival podcasts are available on all major podcast platforms.  After more? Follow Sydney Writers’ Festival on social media: Instagram: @sydwritersfest Facebook: @SydWritersFest X (Twitter): @SydWritersFest TikTok: @sydwritersfest

Celebrated Ukrainian novelist Andrey Kurkov has been one of the most important voices throughout the Russian invasion of his adopted homeland, releasing frequent dispatches from Kyiv and the remote countryside. See him in conversation about Diary of an Invasion, his searing on-the-ground account of the human toll of the war, the interrelated history between the nations, and how language itself has become a battleground in the conflict. Andrey speaks live via video with on-stage interviewer Matt Bevan. Supported by ARA. This episode was recorded live at the 2023 Sydney Writers’ Festival.   If you enjoyed this episode, please rate and follow our channel.  Sydney Writers’ Festival podcasts are available on all major podcast platforms.  After more? Follow Sydney Writers’ Festival on social media: Instagram: @sydwritersfest Facebook: @SydWritersFest X (Twitter): @SydWritersFest TikTok: @sydwritersfest

When Ghassan Hage’s seminal study on racism in Australia, White Nation, was published 25 years ago, the Cronulla riots, Christchurch massacre and Black Lives Matter movement all lay ahead. Hear from a lively panel of writers and thinkers as they consider how racism and white privilege have changed here since then and what lies ahead. Anthropologist and social critic Ghassan Hage, Palestinian-Egyptian author and academic Randa Abdel-Fattah, The Sydney Morning Herald culture editor Osman Faruqi, and Gomeroi academic and author Amy Thunig are joined in conversation by global diaspora expert Andonis Piperoglou. Presented with Sweatshop: Western Sydney Literacy Movement. This episode was recorded live at the 2023 Sydney Writers’ Festival.   If you enjoyed this episode, please rate and follow our channel.  Sydney Writers’ Festival podcasts are available on all major podcast platforms.  After more? Follow Sydney Writers’ Festival on social media: Instagram: @sydwritersfest Facebook: @SydWritersFest X (Twitter): @SydWritersFest TikTok: @sydwritersfest

Australian author Holly Ringland became a publishing sensation with the release of The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart, a gripping coming-of-age novel that has been adapted for TV, starring Sigourney Weaver and Leah Purcell. Her latest novel, The Seven Skins of Esther Wilding, is an equally enthralling tale, tracing the far reaches of grief, courage and sisterly love in a story spanning Tasmania, Copenhagen and the Faroe Islands. Holly speaks with Michaela Kalowksi about her new masterwork. This episode was recorded live at the 2023 Sydney Writers’ Festival.   If you enjoyed this episode, please rate and follow our channel.  Sydney Writers’ Festival podcasts are available on all major podcast platforms.  After more? Follow Sydney Writers’ Festival on social media: Instagram: @sydwritersfest Facebook: @SydWritersFest X (Twitter): @SydWritersFest TikTok: @sydwritersfest

Richard Osman, bestselling novelist of The Thursday Murder Club series and king of British television trivia, talks with Sydney Writers' Festival's Artistic Director Ann Mossop in his first Australian appearance.   The beloved murder mystery series has gripped readers worldwide – soaring to success as an international bestseller with over 10 million copies sold worldwide. Richard talks about the fourth book in the series, The Last Devil to Die, and the antics that await the unlikely crime-fighting friends of Coopers Chase retirement village. In setting out to solve the murder of an antiques dealer, the gang encounters art forgers, online fraudsters, drug dealers, and heartaches close to home. Richard discusses his career as a leading television producer and presenter, what drew him to writing crime novels, and the upcoming screen adaptation of The Thursday Murder Club helmed by Steven Spielberg. Catch up on this thrilling conversation for fans of murder, mystery and more! Presented in partnership with BAD Sydney Crime Writers Festival.  This episode was recorded at a special Sydney Writers' Festival event in November 2023.   If you enjoyed this episode, please rate and follow our channel.  Sydney Writers’ Festival podcasts are available on all major podcast platforms.  After more? Follow Sydney Writers’ Festival on social media: Instagram: @sydwritersfest Facebook: @SydWritersFest X (Twitter): @SydWritersFest TikTok: @sydwritersfest

Did podcasts kill the radio star – or completely revitalise storytelling for the 21st century? Join a special line-up of crime podcasters for a discussion about the rise of the medium and how it is changing journalism. They consider how the format fosters creativity and intimacy, and why it may yet rank among the most exciting cultural innovations of our times. Featuring Patrick Abboud, Kate McClymont, and Hedley Thomas, on stage with the Schwartz Media’s 7am host, Ruby Jones. This episode was recorded live at the 2023 Sydney Writers’ Festival.   If you enjoyed this episode, please rate and follow our channel.  Sydney Writers’ Festival podcasts are available on all major podcast platforms.  After more? Follow Sydney Writers’ Festival on social media: Instagram: @sydwritersfest Facebook: @SydWritersFest X (Twitter): @SydWritersFest TikTok: @sydwritersfest

In a special series of events, Your Favourites’ Favourites sees our most beloved writers speak with a breakout Australian author from the past year. Join globally bestselling crime novelist Jane Harper as she chats with fellow crime writer and stand-up comedian Benjamin Stevenson about the secrets to crafting a suspenseful story. They talk about the worldwide success of Benjamin’s third novel, the darkly funny meta-murder mystery Everyone In My Family Has Killed Someone, which is soon to be adapted into a major HBO TV series. This episode was recorded live at the 2023 Sydney Writers’ Festival.   If you enjoyed this episode, please rate and follow our channel.  Sydney Writers’ Festival podcasts are available on all major podcast platforms.  After more? Follow Sydney Writers’ Festival on social media: Instagram: @sydwritersfest Facebook: @SydWritersFest Twitter: @SydWritersFest TikTok: @sydwritersfest

[Content warning: Explicit language] Eleanor Catton became the youngest winner of the Booker Prize in 2013 for her sprawling Victorian mystery The Luminaries. Its keenly anticipated follow-up, Birnam Wood, is a psychological thriller set in rural New Zealand, where super-rich foreigners face off with ragtag locals on the eve of a global catastrophe. Eleanor is in conversation with Beejay Silcox about her gripping story that brings kaleidoscopic insight into what drives us to survive. Eleanor Catton appears thanks to the support of Rosemary Block. This episode was recorded live at the 2023 Sydney Writers’ Festival.   If you enjoyed this episode, please rate and follow our channel.  Sydney Writers’ Festival podcasts are available on all major podcast platforms.  After more? Follow Sydney Writers’ Festival on social media: Instagram: @sydwritersfest Facebook: @SydWritersFest Twitter: @SydWritersFest TikTok: @sydwritersfest

In skilled hands, historical fiction brings the past to life in surprising ways. It also helps us make sense of our present, and even offers foreknowledge of the future. Hear from some of the country’s finest writers of historical novels – Geraldine Brooks (Horse), Pip Williams (The Bookbinder of Jericho) and emerging talent Sally Colin-James (One Illumined Thread) – as they discuss the past as prologue and how they convincingly intertwine fact and fiction in their work. Hosted by ABC RN’s The Bookshelf’s Kate Evans. Supported by ARA. This episode was recorded live at the 2023 Sydney Writers’ Festival.   If you enjoyed this episode, please rate and follow our channel.  Sydney Writers’ Festival podcasts are available on all major podcast platforms.  After more? Follow Sydney Writers’ Festival on social media: Instagram: @sydwritersfest Facebook: @SydWritersFest Twitter: @SydWritersFest TikTok: @sydwritersfest

Before Markus Zusak became an international bestseller with The Book Thief, he wrote and published the award-winning novel The Messenger. The story of a Sydney taxi driver’s extraordinary adventures, it has now been brought to television by the ABC. In this conversation about the joys and challenges of taking a beloved work of fiction to the screen, Markus is joined by award-winning executive producer and writer Sarah Lambert (Lambs of God, The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart). Film and TV critic Wenlei Ma hosts the conversation. This episode was recorded live at the 2023 Sydney Writers’ Festival.   If you enjoyed this episode, please rate and follow our channel.  Sydney Writers’ Festival podcasts are available on all major podcast platforms.  After more? Follow Sydney Writers’ Festival on social media: Instagram: @sydwritersfest Facebook: @SydWritersFest Twitter: @SydWritersFest TikTok: @sydwritersfest