In this Sydney satellite event, join critic and journalist Nicole Abadee for a conversation about travel and writing from a woman's perspective, with three prolific authors from different parts of the world. Kathryn Heyman (Aus), Hazel Phillips (NZ) and San San (China) will gather at The Women’s Club to explore what it means to observe as an outsider, to write your way through fear and freedom, and to turn the unfamiliar into a story worth telling.

This event is presented by The Women’s Club and Varuna the National Writers’ House.

Aboriginal farmer and award-winning writer Bruce Pascoe is joined by Bundjalung writer, editor and mentor Grace Lucas-Pennington for a far-reaching discussion focused on Dark Emu, Big Sky and his broader body of work.

Reconsidering the colonial myths that have attempted to justify dispossession, Pascoe’s writing offers deep insight into our history, and how science and philosophy, when tempered by holistic knowledge, offer possible pathways to a better future.

As Tolstoy once said, “All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.” Happily, this means there are endless iterations of dysfunctional families in literature to appall and delight us.

If you love reading about chaotic families too, join host Benjamin Law for a special F*cked Up Families edition of his new book club The Book Showdown, with special guests Mirandi Riwoe and Brooke Davis.

Five incredible writers share their response to the Festival theme: Echoes & Edges. 

Hosted by Festival Director Maeve Marsden, the evening features Pip Williams, Larissa Behrendt, Micaela Sahhar, Michael Winkler and Marie Elena Ellis. Each reading will be followed by a breathtaking musical interpretation by cabaret icon Victoria Falconer. 

Begin the Festival with readings from four outstanding Blue Mountains authors spanning poetry, non-fiction, literary fiction, history and memoir. For visitors, this event provides the perfect opportunity to discover the depth of talent nurtured in the region. For locals, it’s a chance to connect with fellow artists and celebrate the creativity of our community.

Presented in partnership with MTNS MADE.

Please join us for Welcome to Country with local Dharug and Gundungurra Elders.

One of Australia's most admired authors, Melissa Lucashenko reflects on her acclaimed career and new essay collection, Not Quite White in the Head, in conversation with author and lawyer Larissa Behrendt. Since 1997, Melissa’s award-winning work — including a Miles Franklin award and a Walkley Award — has tackled politics, activism, culture, incarceration, poverty, Blak identity and Australian literature with trademark wit and wisdom.

Two titans of journalism and fiction, Chris Hammer and Jane Caro, discuss their latest novels with author Kate Mildenhall. Hammer's ninth thriller, Full Circle, has sold over 1.5 million copies; Caro's The Mother and Lyrebird bring a feminist edge to crime writing. Don't miss this candid conversation about how brilliantly written crime captures both the best and worst of human nature.

Miles Franklin-shortlisted author Michael Mohammed Ahmad discusses his devastating and gritty fourth novel, Bugger, with cultural commentator Benjamin Law. An uncompromising portrait of abuse and its lifelong impact, the novel showcases Ahmad’s literary craft and emotional honesty, resulting in work The Guardian has described as 'layered and politically attuned to race, class, gender and power’.

Amid discourse about looksmaxxing and the manosphere, three authors explore nuanced portraits of masculinity: George Kemp's coming-of-age Soft Serve, Andrew Pippos' complex romance Transformations, and Michael Winkler's Griefdogg, about a man living as the family pet. Together they offer heart-expanding storytelling, along with emotionally complex male characters capable of strength and change.

Cosy up in The Carrington Lounge for a live broadcast by ABC Radio Sydney of Saturday Mornings, with host and Blue Mountains local Rae Johnston. Bring the weekend to life with an incredible roster of festival guests, offering a rich mix of music, culture, food, science and smart conversation, with curious minds, local voices and inspiring ideas.

Don’t miss conversations with headliners, debut authors, locals, internationals and more.

Join Johanna Bell for a lively exploration of finding wonderful stories in abstract images and making art from anything. Chat to Johanna about her wonderful books for children, including Cheeky Dogs, Digger Digs Down and Searching for Treasure, and enjoy hands-on creative play that ignites the imagination. What will your splat become?

Former NSW Premier Bob Carr joins Michaela Kalowski for a deeply personal conversation about his memoir, Bring Back Yesterday — a tender account of his fifty-year marriage to his late wife, Helena, and the long night walks that carried him through grief. For anyone who has lost someone they love, this session offers hard-won insight into memory and mortality.

New York Times bestselling author Pip Williams introduces her breathtaking new novel, The German Ward, in conversation with Debra Adelaide. Set in France in 1915, the novel follows an English nurse who falls for a German doctor held as a prisoner of war — a relationship nearly lost to history, if not for drawings rediscovered generations later.

What do writers from Palestine and Lebanon owe their homelands, and how do they keep writing amid censorship? Sara Haddad's The Sunbird follows a Palestinian woman reckoning with the 1948 Nakba; Micaela Sahhar's Find Me at the Jaffa Gate offers readers an encyclopaedic portrait of one Palestinian family; Antoun Issa's Rebirth traces his mother's journey through the Lebanese Civil War. Join these courageous authors with host Sarah Malik.

As Sydney grapples with rising housing costs, closing venues and generational divides, three writers turn a sharp eye on the city. Fiona Wright's satire Kill Your Boomers follows a share-house scheme to stay afloat; Max Easton's Now Autonomy charts vanishing counterculture; Yumna Kassab's Parramatta: A Dictionary of Place and Memory maps history and gentrification. Hosted by Fiona Kelly McGregor.

Join zoologist and science communicator James O’Hanlon for a fun exploration of flora, fauna and biodiversity. James writes, draws, paints, tells stories and does science for a living, and through his beloved kids books, he inspires budding young naturalists to care for the world around them. Celebrate the critters who don’t always get to star in their own stories, and enjoy the playful rhymes and humour James brings to his work.

Join author Reece Carter and be inducted into the Nightmare League, where you can design the monster of your (bad) dreams and play the game Max and his friends enjoy, inventing your own monster trading cards and sharing your creations with your fellow top-secret heroes.

Dress up as your favourite storybook monster then at the end of the session, stick around for a Halloween book parade with prizes for the best dressed!

A lost book learns secrets about its readers; a painter tracks down everyone she's loved to paint them; a grieving woman follows a guidebook through Switzerland. Angela O'Keeffe, Joseph Earp and Claire Thomas discuss their inventive, tender novels about art, memory and self-discovery, in an exploration of creativity, character and history with editor Grace Lucas-Pennington.

Red Dirt Poetry Festival director Laurie May leads a conversation on poetry's lyrical and cultural power, with three of today's most exciting poets. Marie Elena Ellis weaves stories of Country and memory in I Am The Desert; Andy Jackson's Askew widens his award-winning exploration of disability to climate and division; Luke Patterson's A Savage Turn mixes theory and folklore to upend Australia's colonial origin stories.

Is justice possible, and where else might we look if current systems keep failing us? Larissa Behrendt's Finding Justice points to First Nations practices of sovereignty, reciprocity and collective care as evidence that other kinds of justice are possible, while Marika Sosnowski's Stella Prize-shortlisted 58 Facets weaves together narratives of Holocaust survivors and Israeli war criminals with Syrian activists, revolutionaries and dissenters.

Transformation drives some of literature's greatest works, from Ovid to Kafka. Literary critic Beejay Silcox leads a panel of writers who've turned their protagonists into gods, monsters, plants and pets. Mary Colussi, Michael Winkler, Zoe Terakes and Rhett Davis explore humanity, love, grief, gender, technology and connection through a series of wonderfully outlandish premises.

One of Australia's most trusted voices, Waleed Aly joins Amy Sambrooke to discuss Reasoning with Chaos, his guide to finding sense in uncertain times. Drawing on years of columns, 12 new essays trace our shifting relationship with technology and explore what truly matters amid these times of overwhelm and confusion.

When in doubt, make 'em laugh! Kate Mildenhall's The Hiding Place and Fiona Wright's Kill Your Boomers prove the best satire stays grounded in human experience. Tackling class, real estate, marriage, parenthood and accidental murder, these plot-driven page-turners never lose compassion for their characters. Don't miss this witty conversation led by the incisive and brilliant Beejay Silcox.

As kids have more access to information than ever, how should parents navigate difficult topics? Bestselling author Josh Silver tackles trauma, mental health and technology in his YA fiction; Ellen van Neerven's Ruby's Web confronts cyberbullying and racism; Sara Haddad's The Sunbird introduces young readers to Palestine. Join these three writers as they talk power, parenting and connecting with kids in a changing world.

Three writers look unflinchingly at death, loss and what survival demands of individuals, families and community. Katia Ariel's Ferryman follows a Melbourne Rabbi who spent thirty years guiding the bereaved; Kathryn Heyman's Circle of Wonders explores the reckoning of a fractured family over one charged month; Isabelle Li's The Northern Tomb finds an unlikely bond between a widower and his carer in locked-down Shenyang.

With vast knowledge and fierce intellect, writers and community leaders Bruce Pascoe, Barry Corr and Debra Dank invite readers to reconsider what they know about this place, its history, its land and culture, and the futures that might be possible if we collectively work towards change. 

From Miles Franklin winners to debut sensations, five acclaimed authors discuss what it takes to make it as a writer. How do you balance ambition with artistry? Do awards matter for recognition and sales? Steve Toltz, Joseph Earp, John Morrissey, Zeynab Gamieldien and Toni Jordan span literary and crime fiction, journalism and memoir in this intergenerational conversation about craft, career and community.

Tracing her Jewish-German grandmother's path from pre-war Berlin through Palestine and Israel to Australia, Jane Messer's memoir Raven Mother is extensively researched and deeply felt. Moving between personal memory, family history and wider history, this work confronts inherited trauma, identity and displacement with honesty and care. Facilitated by Eleanor Limprecht.

Zoe Terakes' stunning debut Eros reimagines Greek myths as wonderfully provocative, erotic stories, while Kris Kneen's Rite of Spring offers a tale of sexual, physical and psychological awakening. Queer, weird and deeply human, these timeless love stories venture into gods, sentient seaweed and menopausal transformation. Prolific writer Fiona Kelly McGregor leads this perfect, underworld-bound conclusion to the day.

Suspended high above the stunning Jamison Valley, the Skyway Cabaret offers audiences a new way to experience poetry and stories, accompanied by an improvised soundtrack by multi-instrumentalist Victoria Falconer.

In the first session of the evening, celebrated poets Andy Jackson and Maria van Neerven use language to shape and embody identity, history, vulnerability and resilience.

Suspended high above the stunning Jamison Valley, the Skyway Cabaret offers audiences a new way to experience poetry and stories, accompanied by an improvised soundtrack by multi-instrumentalist Victoria Falconer.

In the second session of the evening, you will have the opportunity to sink into a place of reflection and yearning with two of Australia’s most skilfully evocative writers, Claire Thomas and Yumna Kassab.

Vulnerable and fierce, hilarious and heartbreaking, Queerstories celebrates LGBTQI+ culture and creativity one true story at a time. Hosted by Festival director Maeve Marsden, who has curated this national storytelling project for over ten years, hear tales of pride, prejudice, resilience and resistance from some of our greatest queer authors.

Suspended high above the stunning Jamison Valley, the Skyway Cabaret offers audiences a new way to experience poetry and stories, accompanied by an improvised soundtrack from multi-instrumentalist Victoria Falconer.

Writing into our past or imagining our possible futures takes precision, creativity and a determined authorial voice. Join Jock Serong and Jordan Prosser for a sharply observed and unpredictable discussion about writing, music, and imagining possible worlds.

Bright and early on Sunday morning (yes, at 7:30am!), take a heart-stopping ride on the world’s steepest railway, then wander to the Rainforest Room where — like our featured authors — you may find yourself inspired by nature to tell stories in new and surprising ways.

Join Johanna Bell, James O’Hanlon and Rhett Davis, three very different but equally curious writers, in conversation with science journalist Bianca Nogrady.

Phillipa McGuinness hosts four celebrated authors reflecting on The Library That Made Me, a collection marking 200 years of the State Library of NSW. Bruce Pascoe, Ellen van Neerven, Yumna Kassab and Roanna Gonsalves share memories of libraries as places of learning and connection, tracing how these institutions evolved from vetted, women-excluded spaces into today's thriving cultural hubs.

In his Letter from Birmingham Jail, Martin Luther King Jr wrote that he had been “gravely disappointed with the white moderate”, a figure he described as “more devoted to ‘order’ than to justice.” Written more than 60 years ago, his words are just as relevant today. Amy Remeikis's Screw Nice examines how the politics of civility silences dissent; Melissa Lucashenko offers searing commentary on Blak identity and social justice in Not Quite White in the Head; Bobuq Sayed turns to fiction to explore borders and belonging. Antoun Issa leads this timely discussion on reform versus revolution.

A beloved, award-nominated author, Toni Jordan captivates readers with wit, warmth and an endless capacity for compassion. Her latest novel, Tenderfoot, longlisted for the 2026 Miles Franklin and shortlisted for three more major prizes, follows Brisbane teenager Andie Tanner as she navigates addiction and family secrets to reclaim her future. In conversation with Sarah Malik.

John Morrissey's Bird Deity imagines human settlers plundering an alien world, in a narrative that is at once disconcerting and eerily familiar, while Jordan Prosser's Blue Giant takes a satirical swing to follow a burnt-out millennial fleeing Earth for Mars. These astute authors offer sharp commentary on colonialism and greed, in conversation with ABC Radio Sydney’s Rae Johnston.

Bob Brown's Defiance draws on 50 years of environmental activism to celebrate nature's defenders, while Debra Dank reflects on family, culture and Gudanji Country in her memoirs Ankami and We Come with This Place. Meticulously researched, Cynthia Banham's Mother Shadow uncovers a family secret spanning continents and generations. Discover how memoir can illuminate human nature, in conversation with Zohra Aly.

Kate Mildenhall leads Booker-shortlisted Steve Toltz and debut sensation Mary Colussi in an in-depth conversation about AI and authorship. Colussi's Touch Grass traces a woman's chronic disembodiment; Toltz's A Rising of the Lights follows a man who loses his job to AI. Whether you’re seeking hope, distraction or an affirmation of your worst fears, don’t miss this opportunity to engage with three writers at the top of their game.

With an ever-growing catalogue of cult classics, Fiona Kelly McGregor evokes 1940s Sydney in stark and engrossing detail. Her new novel The Trap is a blistering standalone companion to the acclaimed Iris, exhuming a shocking real-life scandal in which the law becomes a weapon against those deemed deviant. Join Fiona in conversation with critic Beejay Silcox.

Bestselling author Chris Hammer interviews two formidable talents whose crime novels probe community, identity and justice. Ashley Kalagian Blunt's Like, Follow, Die disrupts easy narratives about masculinity and online influence; Zeynab Gamieldien's Learned Behaviours explores privilege and memory in Western Sydney. Discover how crime fiction can deliver sharp commentary on society and the issues of our time.

As money increasingly trumps societal values, are Australia's public institutions still serving us? With countless books, articles, essays and speeches between them, challenging long-held ideas about religion, education, media and politics, expect fierce debate as Bob Carr, Jane Caro, Waleed Aly and Amy Remeikis share the stage.

Beloved author and former ABC Radio Sydney host Richard Glover returns with How to Ruin a Child, a hilarious parenting book that pokes holes in the endless, ever-changing advice parents receive. Join Glover and Amy Sambrooke for a laugh-out-loud, cathartic conversation perfect for anyone who's been a parent, been parented, or given a parent unsolicited advice.

Maria van Neerven's debut collection Two Tongues reflects on colonisation, racism and intergenerational harm, reclaiming her ancestors' stories with compassion and Blak pride. In this reflective session, she's joined by her child, acclaimed poet Ellen van Neerven, who found success years before Maria began publishing. Together they explore family, culture and the resilience of Indigenous women.

Fiction, at its best, sparks a change inside you, leaving you with new insights, empathy or knowledge. In this session, discover two award-winning authors, Kathryn Heyman and Katherine Johnson, who are extraordinary at creating fiction that is much more than just a story.

Why do we garden, even when we don't have to? This question fascinated Hannah Moloney, of ABC's Gardening Australia, who put it to politicians, artists, and thousands of ordinary gardeners. Join her in conversation with Amy Sambrooke to discuss Why We Garden, a joyful exploration of nature and community featuring interviews with Tim Winton, Bruce Pascoe, Bob Brown and more.

Sparked by fierce debate over Heated Rivalry and who gets to write the stories of marginalised people, three queer writers offer their own complicated tales. Josh Silver's Fruit Fly follows a straight female writer chasing viral success; Bobuq Sayed's No God But Us traces two Afghan men in Istanbul; George Kemp's Soft Serve is a coming-of-age set in a rural McDonald's during bushfires. Hosted by Maeve Marsden.

History can be an unreliable narrator, favouring those in power. Naomi Parry Duncan, Marika Sosnowski and Hazel Phillips each interrogate the archive in different ways: colonial warriors and contested Australian history, the intertwined narratives of Holocaust survivors and Syrian revolutionaries, and a generation of women who made mountaineering history at Aoraki Mount Cook. Moderated by Phillipa McGuinness.

Michaela Kalowski leads three brilliant novelists exploring the ties that bind women across generations. Brooke Davis returns with No One's Looking, a comedic take on the secret rage of women; Munira Tabassum Ahmed's debut The Clinging Thing follows a woman pulled back into her mother's rituals after loss, and Eleanor Limprecht's Cul-de-Sac finds a mother fleeing a controlling marriage, only to discover motherhood itself inescapable.

The Mick Dark Talk for the Future is an annual keynote address honouring Mick Dark, who in 1989 gifted Varuna to the writers of Australia. This year, in collaboration with the Blue Mountains Conservation Society, the Festival welcomes Bob Brown — an indomitable, lifelong leader of Australia's environmental movement — to deliver this prestigious address on the future of our planet.

When our past is viewed through the eyes of a contemporary author, there’s the chance to develop new perspectives on the present. Pip Williams returns with The German Ward, a forbidden WWI romance between an English nurse and a German POW. Mirandi Riwoe's A Short History of Longans traces an Irish-Chinese family across two centuries, while Jock Serong's Cherrywood leaps between 1916 Edinburgh and 1993 Melbourne in a playful tale of legacy and reinvention.

A work of extraordinary depth and grace, When I Am Sixty-Four captures the human condition by exploring how memories can be cherished or expunged, how love both limited and necessary, and how creative imagination remains unpredictable. Debra Adelaide joins Sarah Malik to discuss her lifelong friendship with author Gabrielle Carey, on which this book is based, and the stories they shared in the final days of Carey's life.

“What happens to the marriage plot in the era of monsterf*cking novels?” writes Olivia Murphy for the Sydney Review of Books. From interspecies romance to the rising divorce rate, there are more than a few challenges to our popular conception of marriage as the end goal of a classic love story.

Join Kris Kneen and Andrew Pippos, as much passionate readers as they are writers, for a discussion of the role marriage plays in contemporary literature, popular conceptions of ‘high’ and ‘low’ art, and how their own work engages with love and marriage in interesting ways.