To wonder is to approach the world with curiosity, to question without agenda, to allow for beauty, space and human connection, or to explore different ways of thinking and being in the world.
Join four of Australia’s greatest minds, capable of vast imagination and deep enquiry, as they consider their personal paths to wonder at our inaugural Opening Gala. Set in the art-deco surroundings of The Carrington Hotel and hosted by Festival Director Maeve Marsden, the evening features bestselling authors Hannah Kent, Daniel Browning, James Bradley, and Maxine Beneba Clarke.
Reflecting on this year's festival theme, our special guests will inspire you with stories, ideas and discoveries, each reading followed by a breathtaking musical interpretation by opera singer and cabaret icon Ali McGregor.
Don’t miss this spectacular start to the Blue Mountains Writers Festival — a chance to kick off your weekend with a sense of awe, inspired, connected and open to the new.
Hannah Kent is a multi-award-winning author and screenwriter. She is the author of the bestselling novels Burial Rites, The Good People and Devotion, and her original feature film, Run Rabbit Run. Hannah is the co-founder of Australian literary publication Kill Your Darlings, and her writing has been published widely. Her most recent book is Always Home, Always Homesick: A Memoir of Iceland.
Daniel Browning is a Bundjalung and Kullilli journalist, radio broadcaster, documentary maker, sound artist and writer. He worked for the ABC for 30 years, most recently as Editor for Indigenous Radio and producing and presenting The Art Show for ABC Radio National. His first book, Close to the Subject: Selected Works, won the 2024 Victorian Premier’s Literary Award for Indigenous Writing and was shortlisted for the 2024 NSW Premier’s Literary Awards Indigenous Writers’ Prize.
James Bradley is a highly respected writer and critic whose books include the novels Landfall, Wrack, The Deep Field, The Resurrectionist, Clade and Ghost Species, a book of poetry, Paper Nautilus, and Deep Water: The World in the Ocean. His essays and articles appear regularly in a wide range of Australian and international publications, and he has been shortlisted for the Bragg Prize for Science Writing twice, nominated for a Walkley, and in 2012 won the Pascall Prize for Australia's Critic of the Year.
Maxine Beneba Clarke is the author of the ABIA-winning short fiction collection Foreign Soil, memoir The Hate Race and many picture books for children. Maxine’s poetry collections include Carrying the World; How Decent Folk Behave; It’s the Sound of the Thing: 100 new poems for young people; Stuff I'm Not Sorry For: 99 new poems for young people, and Beautiful Changelings. She is the inaugural Poet in Residence at The University of Melbourne.
Ali McGregor is a soprano and genre-defying performer whose career spans opera, cabaret and contemporary music theatre. She began her operatic career with Opera Australia, where she performed over 26 roles. She has appeared with other major companies, including Victorian Opera, Opera Queensland, and New Zealand Opera. In recent years, Ali has focused on new Australian work, co-creating the acclaimed Lorelei for Victorian and The Call for Opera Queensland.
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This Opening Gala is included in Platinum & Gold Weekend Passes.
Subject to availability, a limited number of single tickets may become available 19 August.
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This venue is wheelchair accessible, but please visit our Accessibility page or email hello@bluemountainswritersfestival.com.au if you have any other accessibility requirements.