Newcastle Writers Festival

This is a reading of the 2024 Newcastle Writers Festival program for Friday, 5 April 2024. Thank you to ABC Newcastle's Dan Cox for assisting. This is a condensed version and more detail can be found on the website. If you would like to contact our accessibility coordinator please email access@newcastlewritersfestival.org.au See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is a reading of the 2024 Newcastle Writers Festival program for Sunday, 7 April 2024. Thank you to ABC Newcastle's Dan Cox for assisting. This is a condensed version and more detail can be found on the website. If you would like to contact our accessibility coordinator please email access@newcastlewritersfestival.org.au See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is a reading of the 2024 Newcastle Writers Festival program for Saturday, 6 April 2024. Thank you to ABC Newcastle's Dan Cox for assisting. This is a condensed version and more detail can be found on the website. If you would like to contact our accessibility coordinator please email access@newcastlewritersfestival.org.au See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this session, which was recorded at the 2023 festival, University of Newcastle researcher Phillip McIntyre discusses with Scott Bevan his most recent book Paul McCartney and His Creative Practice. Phillip shares fresh insight into the creative practice developed by Paul McCartney during his extended career as a songwriter, record producer and performing musician. The Stories to You podcast series is supported by Create NSW. If you would like to contribute to the valuable work of Newcastle Writers Festival in fostering a culture of reading and writing, please consider a tax-deductible donation. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this session recorded at the 2023 festival, writer and much-loved broadcaster Richard Fidler discusses The Book of Roads & Kingdoms, which is inspired by the tales of medieval Arab and Persian travellers who ventured to the edges of the known world. He discusses with Paul Bevan the ways in which the expansion of geographical frontiers shaped knowledge. The Stories to You podcast series is supported by Create NSW. If you would like to contribute to the valuable work of Newcastle Writers Festival in fostering a culture of reading and writing, please consider a tax-deductible donation. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

At the 2023 festival, Pip Williams’s participation coincided with the launch of her highly anticipated second book, The Bookbinder of Jericho. It tells the story of the onset of World War I from the perspective of a young woman, Peggy, who works in the bindery of the Oxford University Press. In this wide-ranging discussion, Pip speaks to Ailsa Piper about language, censorship and women’s access to knowledge. The Stories to You podcast series is supported by Create NSW. If you would like to contribute to the valuable work of Newcastle Writers Festival in fostering a culture of reading and writing, please consider a tax-deductible donation. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this session, which was recorded at the 2023 festival, acclaimed poets Andy Jackson, Kerri Shying and Gaele Sobott discuss Raging Grace, an anthology of collaborative poems and essays on disability. The Stories to You podcast series is supported by Create NSW. If you would like to support the valuable work of Newcastle Writers Festival, which fosters a culture of reading and writing, please consider a tax-deductible donation. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this session, which was recorded at the 2023 festival, Norman Swan explores the science, myths and mistruths that surround ageing. Hosted by Cassie McCullagh. The Stories to You podcast series is supported by Create NSW. If you would like to contribute to the valuable work of Newcastle Writers Festival in fostering a culture of reading and writing, please consider a tax-deductible donation. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this session recorded at the 2023 festival, Tim Baker and Chloe Hooper share their perspectives on the role that hope can play in helping us cope with life’s darkest moments. Hosted by Ailsa Piper. The Stories to You podcast series is supported by Create NSW. If you would like to contribute to the valuable work of Newcastle Writers Festival in supporting a culture of reading and writing, please consider a tax-deductible donation. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Literary critic Declan Fry has described Chris Flynn as ‘a restless experimenter, a fabulist’. In his compelling new collection of short stories, Here Be Leviathans, Chris gives a voice to the world around us, with narrators including a bear, a river, a platypus and a hotel room. At the 2023 festival, he spoke to Kate Mildenhall about embracing the absurd, breaking rules, and finding your voice as a writer. The Stories to You podcast series is supported by Create NSW. If you would like to support the valuable work of Newcastle Writers Festival, which fosters a culture of reading and writing, please consider a tax-deductible donation. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

At the 2023 festival, Anna Downes spoke to three writers about their critically acclaimed debut crime books. Shelley Burr was awarded the prestigious Crime Writers’ Association Debut Dagger for Wake, which explores how the unsolved disappearance of a girl continues to haunt a small town. James McKenzie Watson’s Denizen won the 2021 Penguin Literary Prize and is informed by his upbringing in regional NSW. Matthew Spencer’s Black River sees a serial killer preying on victims along the banks of the Parramatta River. The Stories to You podcast series is supported by Create NSW. If you would like to contribute to the valuable work of the festival in fostering a culture of reading and writing, please consider a donation. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this session recorded at the 2023 festival, investigative journalist Paddy Manning turns his attention to Lachlan Murdoch, one of the world’s most influential – and enigmatic – people. In his compelling biography The Successor, Manning explores Murdoch’s upbringing and political beliefs. He shares with host Antony Loewenstein what he has learnt about the head of Fox Corporation and how power and politics continue to shape him. The Stories to You podcast series is supported by Create NSW. If you would like to contribute to the valuable work of Newcastle Writers Festival in fostering a culture of reading and writing, please consider a tax-deductible donation. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In their recent books, Robbie Arnott, Bronwyn Birdsall, and Holly Ringland create vivid settings that transport readers to locations in Australia and across the globe – to a bygone era in Tasmania’s north, myth-laden Denmark and Faroe Islands, and a Balkan city recovering from war. At the 2023 festival, they spoke to Geordie Williamson about the places and liminal spaces at the pulsing heart of their compelling novels. The Stories to You podcast series is supported by Create NSW. If you would like to contribute to the important work of Newcastle Writers Festival, which connect writers and readers from across the Hunter region and beyond, please consider making a tax-deductible donation. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

At the 2023 festival, we introduced a new series called I'd Like You to Meet and invited established writers to shine the spotlight on an emerging writer whose work they admire. Craig Silvey introduces you to Cadance Bell, whose coming-of-gender memoir, The All of It: A Bogan Rhapsody, was published in 2022. The Stories to You Series is supported by Create NSW. If you would like to individually support the vital work of Newcastle Writers Festival please consider a tax-deductible donation. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

With the support of Robert Adamson's wife Juno Gemes, Newcastle Writers Festival was honoured to host a commemoration of the late poet’s life and work at the 2023 festival. This special event includes readings by Judith Beveridge, Robbie Coburn, Keri Glastonbury, Sarah Holland-Batt, and Mark Mordue. The host is Michele Seminara. The Stories to You podcast series is supported by Create NSW. If you would like to contribute to the festival's important work of fostering a culture of reading and writing, please consider a tax-deductible donation. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

When the Taliban arrived at the gates of Kabul in August 2021, Andrew Quilty had been living and working there for eight years. He was one of only a handful of Western journalists remaining. In this conversation, which was recorded at the 2023 festival, Andrew discusses his book August in Kabul, which explores the humanitarian cost of the 20-year war. The conversation is hosted by Antony Loewenstein. The Stories to You podcast series is supported by Create NSW. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Newcastle Writers Festival hosted a very special 10th anniversary opening night event on 31 March 2023 featuring activist, sexual abuse survivor, and author Grace Tame. She spoke to Maddison Connaughton about her memoir, The Ninth Life of a Diamond Miner. Please be aware that this conversation includes reference to sexual abuse and eating disorders. If it raises any issues for you, Lifeline is there to help 13 11 14. The Stories to You podcast series is supported by Create NSW. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In October 2022, Newcastle Writers Festival hosted a special event with internationally respected human rights and media lawyer Jennifer Robinson and colleague Dr Keina Yoshida. Journalist Maddison Connaughton hosted the conversation, which centred on Jennifer and Keina’s book How Many More Women? Exposing How the Law Silences Women. How Many More Women? examines the laws around the world that silence women, and explores the changes we need to make to ensure that women’s freedoms are no longer threatened by the legal system that is supposed to protect them. Thank you to event sponsor University of Newcastle's School of Humanities, Creative Industries and Social Sciences and to publisher Allen & Unwin. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

First Nations women are the backbone of their communities. Join this deep dive into storytelling, song, poetry, and activism with Evelyn Araluen, Jasmine Seymour, Nardi Simpson, and Chelsea Watego. Hosted by Narelda Jacobs. This conversation was recorded at the 2022 Newcastle Writers Festival. Thank you to Create NSW for funding the Stories To You series. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Lech Blaine, Brendan Cowell, and Brandon Jack discuss what it means to explore more expansive expressions of Australian masculinity in writing and in life. Hosted by Nick Milligan. This conversation was recorded at the 2022 Newcastle Writers Festival. Thank you to Create NSW for funding the Stories To You series. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.