Sydney Writers' Festival: Live and Local Program 2025

Next date: Thursday, 22 May 2025 | 08:00 AM to Sunday, 25 May 2025 | 04:30 PM

Following the success of Live & Local in 2024, the Sydney Writers’ Festival returns to Broome Public Library in 2025 - bringing the best of the Festival straight to our community.

One of Australia’s premier forums for literature, storytelling, and big ideas, the Festival will live-stream headline events direct from Sydney to the Broome Public Library on Thursday 22, Friday 23, Saturday 24, and Sunday 25 May.

Get ready to be inspired by thought-provoking conversations, debates, and panel discussions featuring some of the world’s leading writers and thinkers. Live & Local 2025 is your chance to experience the Festival without leaving town.

Between streamed sessions, take part in writing-focused activities presented by local organisations - an opportunity to connect, reflect, and explore your own creativity.

Please note- some sessions are being held outside of our normally opening hours.  While the library will not be open to the general public, please alert staff of your presence by knocking on the front door or calling 0439508202.

Sessions, Authors and Presenters

Thursday, 22 May 2025

8-9AM | Markus Zusak : Three Wild Dogs and the Truth

NOTE: This is an out-of-hours event. Please knock at the front door for staff to let you in or call our event phone 0439508202.

Twenty years after his international sensation The Book Thief, Markus Zusak turns to non-fiction. Listen as Markus extols on love and human-animal connection in his memoir about his three big pound dogs. In conversation with Richard Glover.

   

Markus Zusak

Markus Zusak is the internationally acclaimed author of six novels, including The Book Thief, Bridge of Clay and The Messenger. Three Wild Dogs and the Truth is his first book of non-fiction.

10-11AM | Gina Chick : We Are The Stars

Hear Alone Australia winner Gina Chick regale you with stories of her extraordinary life, from her unconventional childhood to deep links with nature as an adult. With Rosemari Milsom.

 

Gina Chick

Gina Chick is a barefoot nomad who is happiest sleeping on the ground, next to a fire. She is the daughter and granddaughter of bestselling Australian authors Suzanne Chick and Charmian Clift. Gina won the inaugural season of iTV and SBS's Alone Australia, after thriving for 67 days in brutal Tasmanian winter wilderness, completely solo. Her first book, We Are The Stars, is a runaway bestseller, going to show that writing is indeed in her genes.

12-1PM | David Nicholls : You Are Here

Travel the winding road of love through first encounters and second chance with bestselling novelist and screenwriter David Nicholls, in conversation with Jennifer Byrne of his latest love story.

(photo credit Sophia Spring)

David Nicholls

David Nicholls is the author of six novels, the latest of which is You Are Here. In 2009, One Day was published to extraordinary critical acclaim and his fourth novel, Us, was longlisted for the Booker Prize for Fiction. His adaptation of Edward St Aubyn's Patrick Melrose won him a BAFTA for best writer and he is also a contributing writer on the new Netflix adaptation of One Day.

2-3PM | Past and Future of Indigenous Recognition

Respected Indigenous leader Thomas Mayo and historian Clare Wright reflect on the history of First Nations movements for change in Australia and look at next steps. With Lorena Allam.

(Photo credit: Susan Papazian)

Clare Wright

Professor Clare Wright OAM is an award-winning historian, author, broadcaster and public commentator who has worked in politics, academia and the media. Clare is currently Professor of History and Professor of Public Engagement at La Trobe University and Chair of the National Museum of Australia Council. In 2020, Clare was awarded a Medal of the Order of Australia in the Australia Day Honours list for “services to literature and to historical research”. She is the author of five works of history, including the best-sellingThe Forgotten Rebels of Eureka andYou Daughters of Freedom, which comprise the first two instalments of her Democracy Trilogy. Näku Dhäruk: The Bark Petitions is the final instalment of the trilogy and was published in 2024. Clare hosts the ABC Radio National history series,Shooting the Past, and co-hosts the LTU podcast Archive Fever.

(Photo credit: Ferne Millen)

Thomas Mayo

Thomas Mayo is a Kaurareg Aboriginal and Kalkalgal, Erubamle Torres Strait Islander man. He is a signatory of the Uluru Statement from the Heart and has written five books published by Hardie Grant, Finding the Heart of The Nation<, Dear Son, Finding The Heart, Freedom Day and The Voice to Parliament Handbook with Kerry O'Brien. The Voice to Parliament Handbook won the 2024 ABIA for Book of the Year, Social Impact Book of the Year and General Non-Fiction Book of the Year.

4-5PM | Kaliane Bradley : The Ministry of Time

Question what it means to change the world by defying history with Kaliane Bradley's bestselling debut, which blends time travel, romance and spy thriller. With host Melanie Kembrey.

  

Kaliane Bradley

Kaliane Bradley is a writer and editor. The Ministry of Time, her debut novel, was an instant New York Times and Sunday Times bestseller, the Dymocks Book of the Year 2024 and the Harry Hartog Book of the Year 2024, has been shortlisted for the 2024 Waterstones Debut Prize and the 2024 Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse Prize for Comic Writing, and won the 2024 Goodreads Choice Awards for Science Fiction. In 2022 she won the V.S Pritchett Short Story Prize and the Harpers Bazaar Short Stories Prize. She lives in London with her husband.

Friday, 23 May 2025

8-9AM The Moriarty Sisters

NOTE: This is an out-of-hours event. Please knock at the front door for staff to let you in or call our event phone 0439508202.

Join the Moriarty sisters, Jaclyn, Liane and Nicola, as they discuss their career beginnings, different publishing paths and many successes with writer and broadcaster Sarah Macdonald.

Jaclyn Moriarty

Jaclyn Moriarty is the internationally bestselling author of novels for children, young adults and (occasionally) grownups. Her books have won the NSW Premier's Literary Award, Aurealis Award, CBCA Honours and been shortlisted for the Nebula Prize. A former media lawyer, Jaclyn grew up in Sydney, lived in the US, UK and Canada and now lives in Sydney again. Her latest work is The Impossible Secret of Lillian Velvet.

(Photo credit: über Photography)

Liane Moriarty

Liane Moriarty is the Australian author of nine internationally bestselling novels: Three Wishes, The Last Anniversary, What Alice Forgot, The Hypnotist's Love Story, The Husband's Secret and the #1 New York Times bestsellers Big Little Lies, Truly Madly Guilty, Nine Perfect Strangers and Apples Never Fall. Her books have sold more than 20 million copies worldwide, including 4 million in Australia and New Zealand.

 

 
(Photo credit: Steve Menasse)

Nicola Moriarty

Nicola Moriarty is a Sydney-based novelist, copywriter and mum to two bright, kind (and remarkably strong-willed) teenagers. In between various career changes, becoming a mum and completing her Bachelor of Arts, she began to write. Now she can't seem to stop. Her published novels include The Fifth Letter, The Ex, You Need to Know and Every Last Suspect. She has been published around the world and had several novels optioned for film and television. Apart from writing, her passions include chocolate and soccer (in that order).

10-11AM |  Helen Garner : The Season

Hear iconic Australian writer Helen Garner's reflections on football and the cycles of life in The Season, her first full-length book in a decade. In conversation with Daid Leser.

Helen Garner

Helen Garner writes novels, stories, screenplays and works of non-fiction. In 2006 she received the inaugural Melbourne Prize for Literature, and in 2016 she won the prestigious Windham–Campbell Prize for non-fiction and the Western Australian Premier’s Book Award. In 2019 she was honoured with the Australia Council Award for Lifetime Achievement in Literature. Her novels include The Children’s Bach, Cosmo Cosmolino and The Spare Room.

12-1PM | Alan Hollinghurst : Our Evenings

Hear Alan Hollinghurst discuss his seventh novel, a rich and pleasurable account of a lifetime in modern England and the search for identity. In conversation with Georgina Godwin.

Alan Hollinghurst

Alan Hollinghurst is the author of seven novels, The Swimming-Pool Library, The Folding Star, The Spell, The Line of Beauty, The Stranger’s Child, The Sparsholt Affair and Our Evenings. He has received the Somerset Maugham Award, the James Tait Black Memorial Prize for Fiction and the 2004 Man Booker Prize. He lives in London.

2-3PM | Colm Tóibín : From Brooklyn to Long Island

NOTE: This is an out-of-hours event. Please knock at the front door for staff to let you in or call our event phone 0439508202.

Hear how Laureate of Irish Fiction Colm Tóibín returned to the Lacey family of Internation bestseller Brooklyn with the long-awaited sequel, set 20 years after Rose's death. With ABC Radio National's Kate Evans (The Bookshelf).

  

Colm Tóibín

Colm Tóibín was born in Ireland in 1955. He is the author of several novels, including The Master, Brooklyn and The Magician, and two collections of stories. He has been three times shortlisted for the Booker Prize. In 2021, he was awarded the David Cohen Prize for Literature. Colm was appointed the Laureate for Irish Fiction 2022–2024. His latest novel is Long Island.

4-5PM | Untrue Crime

NOTE: This is an out-of-hours event. Please knock at the front door for staff to let you in or call our event phone 0439508202.

Novelist Shankari Chandran, investigative journalist Kate McClymont and Diamond Dagger Award winner Ian Rankin discuss the line between fact and fiction in the stories they tell about crime. With host Matthew Condon.

(photo credit Clare Lewis Photography)

Shankari Chandran

Shankari Chandran is an Australian Tamil lawyer and the author of Chai Time at Cinnamon Gardens, which won the Miles Franklin Literary Award in 2023. Her other novels are Unfinished Business, Safe Haven, The Barrier and Song of the Sun God. Her short stories have been published in various Sweatshop anthologies. Shankari is also the deputy chair of Writing NSW.

Kate McClymont

Kate McClymont is an investigative journalist with The Sydney Morning Herald. She is a ten-time Walkley winner, including the Gold Walkley for her coverage of the Bulldogs salary cap rorts. She was named the 2012 NSW Journalist of the year for her investigations into the fraudulent activities of union boss Michael Williamson and the now-jailed former Labor MP, Eddie Obeid. In 2017 she was inducted into the Media Hall of Fame for her contribution to the industry and in 2020 she was made a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) for her services to the print media and to investigative journalism. Kate's most recent book is Dead Man Walking.

                                    

Ian Rankin

Sir Ian Rankin is author of the bestselling Inspector Rebus series, the latest of which is Midnight and Blue. He has won an array of international honours and literary prizes. He lives in Edinburgh, Scotland.

Saturday, 24 May 2025

10-11AM | A.C.Grayling on Cancel Culture

Philosopher A.C. Grayling traces 'cancel culture' back to the ancient Greeks and tries to find a middle ground among the incendiary debates fanned by contemporary culture wars.

A.C. Grayling

A. C. Grayling CBE MA DPhil (Oxon) FRSA FRSL is the Principal of Northeastern University London, and its Professor of Philosophy. He is the author of over thirty books of philosophy, biography, history of ideas, and essays. He has contributed to many leading newspapers in the UK, US and Australia, and to BBC radios 4, 3 and the World Service. He has twice been a judge on the Booker Prize, in 2014 serving as the Chair of the judging panel.

12-1PM | Ben Macintyre : The Siege

NOTE: This is an out-of-hours event. Please knock at the front door for staff to let you in or call our event phone 0439508202.

Ben Macintyre discusses his definitive account of the 1980 Iranian embassy siege in London which put the SAS on the world stage. With ABC Radio Nationals Richard Fidler (Conversations).

(photo credit Justine Stoddart)

Ben Macintyre

Ben Macintyre is the multi-million-copy bestselling author of books including The Siege, Colditz, Agent Sonya, SAS: Rogue Heroes, The Spy and the Traitor, Agent Zigzag, Operation Mincemeat and A Spy Among Friends. He is a columnist and Associate Editor at The Times and has worked as the newspaper's correspondent in New York, Paris and Washington. Several of his books have been made into films and television series including Operation Mincemeat, A Spy Among Friends and SAS: Rogue Heroes.

1-2PM | Brome Writers' Group Mystery Genre Writing Workshop

All welcome.  Local event.

NOTE: This is an out-of-hours event. Please knock at the front door for staff to let you in or call our event phone 0439508202.

 

 

2-3PM | Ian Rankin: Master of Crime

NOTE: This is an out-of-hours event. Please knock at the front door for staff to let you in or call our event phone 0439508202.

Following the latest instalment of the Inspector Rebus series, Ian Rankin reflects on his career as an international bestselling author and the UK' #1 crime writer. With Michael Williams.

 

Ian Rankin

Sir Ian Rankin is author of the bestselling Inspector Rebus series, the latest of which is Midnight and Blue. He has won an array of international honours and literary prizes. He lives in Edinburgh, Scotland.

3.30-4.30PM | Wandering Wild with Lynette Noni

NOTE: This is an out-of-hours event. Please knock at the front door for staff to let you in or call our event phone 0439508202.

Lynette Noni is the bestselling and award-winning author of The Prison Healer series, The Medoran Chronicles and the Whisper Duology. She appears in conversation with Alex Adsett to discuss her latest novel, Wandering Wild.

(photo credit Lucy Bell)

Lynette Noni

Australian author Lynette Noni studied journalism, academic writing and human behaviour at university before venturing into the world of fiction. She is the #1 bestselling author of The Prison Healer series, The Medoran Chronicles and the Whisper duology. To date, she has won three ABIAs and a Gold Inky award and her books have sold more than 1 million copies in over 20 countries across the globe. Her newest novel is Wandering Wild, released last month.

Sunday, 25 May 2025

9-10AM | Broome Writers Group

All welcome. Local event.

NOTE: This is an out-of-hours event. Please knock at the front door for staff to let you in.

 

 

 

10-11AM | The Hot Mess Show With Jeff Kinney

NOTE: This is an out-of-hours event. Please knock at the front door for staff to let you in or call our event phone 04395 08202.

Join Diary of a Wimpy Kid Autho Jeff Kinney for wild on-stage antics.  Celebrate the latest Wimpy Kid book while satisfying your craving for family fun Rec ages 7-12 years.

Children under 12 years of age must be accompanied by a parent or carer.

 

 

Jeff Kinney

Jeff Kinney is a #1 New York Times – bestselling author of the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series and the Awesome Friendly Kid series. He is a six-time Nickelodeon Kids’ Choice Award winner for Favorite Book and has been named one of Time’s 100 Most Influential People in the World. He spent his childhood in the Washington, DC area and later moved to New England, where he and his family own a bookstore called An Unlikely Story.

11-12PM | Illustration Workshop for Kids with Brenton (Eszra) McKenna

NOTE: This is an out-of-hours event. Please knock at the front door for staff to let you in or call our event phone 0439508202.

 

Registrations can be made here:

BOOK NOW

 

 

12-1PM | Making a Writer

NOTE: This is an out-of-hours event. Please knock at the front door for staff to let you in or call our event phone 0439508202.

Prominent writers Colm Tóibín and Charlotte Wood discuss how they became writers and what Ireland and Australia's literary culture means to them. With host Michael Williams.

(photo credit Carly Earl)

Charlotte Wood

Charlotte Wood is the author of seven novels and three books of non-fiction. Her latest book Stone Yard Devotional was described by the UK Guardian as “a quiet novel of immense power” and has been praised by authors Anne Enright, Tim Winton, Karen Joy Fowler, Hannah Kent and Paula Hawkins, among others. It was shortlisted for the 2024 Booker Prize, among other awards.

 

Colm Tóibín

Colm Tóibín was born in Ireland in 1955. He is the author of several novels, including The Master, Brooklyn and The Magician, and two collections of stories. He has been three times shortlisted for the Booker Prize. In 2021, he was awarded the David Cohen Prize for Literature. Colm was appointed the Laureate for Irish Fiction 2022–2024. His latest novel is Long Island.

 

1.00-1.30PM | Afternoon tea intermission

 

1.30-2.30PM | Spies, Lies and Secrets

NOTE: This is an out-of-hours event. Please knock at the front door for staff to let you in or call our event phone 0439508202.

Join Jack Beaumont and Ben Macintyre as they lead you into the reality of espionage and intrigue, in conversation with Matthew Condon.

 

Ben Macintyre

Ben Macintyre is the multi-million-copy bestselling author of books including The Siege, Colditz, Agent Sonya, SAS: Rogue Heroes, The Spy and the Traitor, Agent Zigzag, Operation Mincemeat and A Spy Among Friends. He is a columnist and Associate Editor at The Times and has worked as the newspaper's correspondent in New York, Paris and Washington. Several of his books have been made into films and television series including Operation Mincemeat, A Spy Among Friends and SAS: Rogue Heroes.

(photo credit Justine Stoddart).

Jack Beaumont

Jack Beaumont is the pseudonym of a former operative of the French foreign secret service, the DGSE. Jack led clandestine and offensive operations in various countries under false identities for seven years. After studying mathematics and physics engineering, Jack started his military career in the French Air Force as a fighter pilot on single seat planes, specialising in air to air combat. After injuring his back in a flying accident, he was retrained to fly special operations and intelligence missions in various crisis and war zones. Jack was then recruited by 'The Company' after he participated in an operation in the Balkans. He was internally selected and trained to be in the field.

2.30-3.30PM Broome Readers Rendezvous

Local Social Event - Gals That Read Broome Book Club.

NOTE: This is an out-of-hours event. Please knock at the front door for staff to let you in or call our event phone 0439508202.

Come along and hear about this lovely social Broome Bookclub- and maybe join the Gals.

 

3.30-4.30PM | Closing Address: Anna Funder: Bears Out There

NOTE: This is an out-of-hours event. Please knock at the front door for staff to let you in or call our event phone 0439508202.

Anna Funder's work explores the best and worst that humans are capable of.  Hear her discuss how we can resist the exploitation of our humanity in a world where bots and tech bros see humans as raw material.

 

Anna Funder

Anna Funder’s internationally bestselling Stasiland and All That I Am illuminate the human condition in times of tyranny through true stories of courage, conscience and love. Stasiland won the UK’s prestigious Samuel Johnson Prize. All That I Am won the Miles Franklin and was a finalist for the International IMPAC Dublin Award and the Commonwealth Writers Prize.  Wifedom: Mrs Orwell’s Invisible Life hailed as a ‘masterpiece’ and a ‘spellbinding achievement’, was a New York Times Notable Book and awarded France’s prestigious Prix du Meilleur Livre Étranger.

Hope you can join us ...

 

When

Location

Broome Public Library, cnr Hamersley Street & Haas Street, Broome, 6725, View Map