The Sydney Writers' Festival is an annual

literary festival A literary festival, also known as a book festival or writers' festival, is a regular gathering of writers and readers, typically on an annual basis in a particular city. A literary festival usually features a variety of presentations and reading ...

held in Sydney, with the inaugural festival taking place in 1997. The 2020 event was cancelled due to the

COVID-19 pandemic in Australia The COVID-19 pandemic in Australia is part of the ongoing worldwide pandemic of the coronavirus disease 2019 () caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (). The first confirmed case in Australia was identified on 25 January ...

. The festival's interim

artistic director An artistic director is the executive of an arts organization, particularly in a theatre or dance company, who handles the organization's artistic direction. They are generally a producer and director, but not in the sense of a mogul, since the ...

since August 2020 is Michael Williams.

History

The festival began in January 1997, with most events initially held at the

State Library of New South Wales The State Library of New South Wales, part of which is known as the Mitchell Library, is a large heritage-listed special collections, reference and research library open to the public and is one of the oldest libraries in Australia. Establis ...

. The first independent Sydney Writers' Festival ran from 12 to 17 May 1998, with 169 participants appearing in venues in, and around, the centre of Sydney. Since then, the Festival has rapidly expanded. The Festival moved from Walsh Bay to

Carriageworks Carriageworks is a multi-arts urban cultural precinct located at the former Eveleigh Railway Workshops in Redfern, Sydney, Australia. Carriageworks showcases contemporary art and performing arts, as well as being used for filming, festivals, ...

in May 2018 (Walsh Bay is undergoing a major refurbishment). Events were also held at venues stretching across Sydney, from the City Recital Hall and Sydney Town Hall in the city centre, into suburban Sydney and the Blue Mountains. Held mid-to-late May each year, the Festival now involves over 400 participants and presents over 300 events in renovated piers at Walsh Bay. Other festival locations include Roslyn Packer Theatre, Sydney Town Hall, City Recital Hall, and

Sydney Opera House The Sydney Opera House is a multi-venue performing arts centre in Sydney. Located on the foreshore of Sydney Harbour, it is widely regarded as one of the world's most famous and distinctive buildings and a masterpiece of 20th-century archit ...

. Events are also regularly held in regional and suburban locations including

Parramatta Parramatta () is a suburb and major Central business district, commercial centre in Greater Western Sydney, located in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is located approximately west of the Sydney central business district on the ban ...

Ashfield Ashfield may refer to: People * Ashfield (surname) Places Australia * Ashfield, New South Wales, a suburb of Sydney ** Municipality of Ashfield, a former local government area in Sydney ** Electoral district of Ashfield, a former electoral dist ...

, Auburn,

Blacktown Blacktown is a suburb in the City of Blacktown, in Greater Western Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Blacktown is located west of the Sydney central business district. It is one of the most multicultural places within Gr ...

, Bankstown, Campbelltown, Hornsby, Penrith, the Blue Mountains and

Wollongong Wollongong ( ), colloquially referred to as The Gong, is a city located in the Illawarra region of New South Wales, Australia. The name is believed to originate from the Dharawal language, meaning either 'five islands/clouds', 'ground near w ...

. Approximately one-third of all Sydney Writers' Festival events are free of charge. Festival attendances have reached over 90,000 each year since 2007. The 2020 event was cancelled due to the

. Sydney Writers' Festival Limited is a not-for-profit company with an independent board of directors. The chairs of the festival have been: *1997–2000: Geraldine Doogue *Late 2000–Dec 2011: Sandra Yates *Jan 2012–Jan 2018: Deena Shiff *Feb 2018– : Mark Scott Artistic directors for festival years: *1998: John Nieuwenhuizen, with Meredith Curnow the Program Director. Meredith Curnow became Festival Director for the period *1999–2002: Meredith Curnow *2003–2006: Caro Llewellyn (AD & CEO) *2007-2009: Wendy Were (AD & CEO) *2010–2012: Chip Rolley *2013–2016: Jemma Birrell *2017–2020: Michaela McGuire (appointed November 2016) *2021– 2022 : Michael Williams, interim director (since August 2020) *2022– : Ann Mossop Executive directors & other CEOs: *2009–2014: Ben Strout *2015: Jo Dyer ED from 2015; promoted to CEO in November 2016, when she also joined the Festival board of directors. *2018–2021: Chrissy Sharp, CEO *2021– Brooke Webb

Past international guests

Past guests have included: *1999 – Alan Duff, and Peter Porter *2002 – Jodi Picoult, Lloyd Jones,

Giles Milton Giles Milton FRHistS (born 15 January 1966) is a British writer who specialises in narrative history. His books have sold more than one million copies in the UK. and been published in twenty-five languages. He has written twelve works of non- ...

and Neil Hanson *2003 –

Antony Beevor Sir Antony James Beevor, (born 14 December 1946) is a British military historian. He has published several popular historical works on the Second World War and the Spanish Civil War. Early life Born in Kensington, Beevor was educated at two ...

, Jonathan Franzen, Catherine Millet,

Janette Turner Hospital Janette Turner Hospital (née Turner) (born 1942) is an Australian-born novelist and short story writer who has lived most of her adult life in Canada or the United States, principally Boston (Massachusetts), Kingston (Ontario) and Columbia (South ...

, Nicholas Shakespeare, and CK Stead *2004 –

Alan Bennett Alan Bennett (born 9 May 1934) is an English actor, author, playwright and screenwriter. Over his distinguished entertainment career he has received numerous awards and honours including two BAFTA Awards, four Laurence Olivier Awards, and two ...

, Alain de Botton, Hilary Mantel, Tim Krabbe, Susanna Moore, Jane Campion, Louis de Bernières, Salam Pax, John W. Dean,

Harvey Pekar Harvey Lawrence Pekar (; October 8, 1939 – July 12, 2010) was an American underground comic book writer, music critic, and media personality, best known for his autobiographical '' American Splendor'' comic series. In 2003, the series inspired a ...

, Alexei Sayle, ZZ Packer, and

David Sedaris David Raymond Sedaris (; born December 26, 1956) is an American humorist, comedian, author, and radio contributor. He was publicly recognized in 1992 when National Public Radio broadcast his essay "Santaland Diaries.” He published his first co ...

*2005 – Lewis Lapham, Alan Hollinghurst, Deirdre Bair, Professor Harold Bloom, Tariq Ali, David Suzuki,

Jared Diamond Jared Mason Diamond (born September 10, 1937) is an American geographer, historian, ornithologist, and author best known for his popular science books ''The Third Chimpanzee'' (1991); '' Guns, Germs, and Steel'' (1997, awarded a Pulitzer Priz ...

, Suad Amiry, Michael Winter, Colin McAdam and

Miriam Toews Miriam Toews (; born 1964) is a Canadian writer and author of nine books, including '' A Complicated Kindness'' (2004), ''All My Puny Sorrows'' (2014), and '' Women Talking'' (2018). She has won a number of literary prizes including the Governor ...

*2006 –

Naomi Wolf Naomi Rebekah Wolf (born November 12, 1962) is an American feminist author, journalist and conspiracy theorist. Following her first book ''The Beauty Myth'' (1991), she became a leading spokeswoman of what has been described as the third wave ...

Anna Politkovskaya Anna Stepanovna Politkovskaya (;, ; uk, Ганна Степанівна Політковська , 30 August 1958 – 7 October 2006) was a Russian journalist and human rights activist, who reported on political events in Russia, in parti ...

Michael Burleigh Michael Burleigh (born 3 April 1955) is an English author and historian whose primary focus is on Nazi Germany and related subjects. He has also been active in bringing history to television. Early life Michael Burleigh was born on 3 April 1955. ...

, Andy Borowitz, Susan Orlean, Aleksandar Hemon, Hendrik Hertzberg,

Mark Danner Mark David Danner (born November 10, 1958) is an American writer, journalist, and educator. He is a former staff writer for ''The New Yorker'' and frequent contributor to ''The New York Review of Books''. Danner specializes in U.S. foreign affa ...

, Haifa Zangana,

John Banville William John Banville (born 8 December 1945) is an Irish novelist, short story writer, adapter of dramas and screenwriter. Though he has been described as "the heir to Proust, via Nabokov", Banville himself maintains that W. B. Yeats and Henry ...

, Edmund White, and

Maya Angelou Maya Angelou ( ; born Marguerite Annie Johnson; April 4, 1928 – May 28, 2014) was an American memoirist, popular poet, and civil rights activist. She published seven autobiographies, three books of essays, several books of poetry, and ...

*2007 –

Andrew O'Hagan Andrew O'Hagan (born 1968) is a Scottish novelist and non-fiction author. Three of his novels have been nominated for the Booker Prize and he has won several awards, including the Los Angeles Times Book Award. His most recent novel is ''Mayf ...

Ayaan Hirsi Ali Ayaan Hirsi Ali (; ; Somali: ''Ayaan Xirsi Cali'':'' Ayān Ḥirsī 'Alī;'' born Ayaan Hirsi Magan, ar, أيان حرسي علي / ALA-LC: ''Ayān Ḥirsī 'Alī'' 13 November 1969) is a Somali-born Dutch-American activist and former politici ...

Bei Dao Bei Dao (, born August 2, 1949) is the pen name of the Chinese-American writer Zhao Zhenkai (S: 赵振开, T: 趙振開, P: ''Zhào Zhènkāi''). Among the most acclaimed Chinese-language poets of his generation, he is often regarded as a candida ...

, Will Hutton, Antony Beevor, William Dalyrmple, Lionel Shriver, Richard Ford, Andrei Makine, Rachel Seiffert, Mohsin Hamid and Steven Hall *2008 – Jon Lee Anderson,

Andrew J. Bacevich Andrew J. Bacevich Jr. (, ; born July 5, 1947) is an American historian specializing in international relations, security studies, American foreign policy, and American diplomatic and military history. He is a Professor Emeritus of International ...

, Michael Pollan, John Gray, and Jeanette Winterson *2009 –

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie ( ; born 15 September 1977) is a Nigerian writer whose works include novels, short stories and nonfiction. She was described in ''The Times Literary Supplement'' as "the most prominent" of a "procession of criticall ...

, Alex Ross, and

Kazuo Ishiguro Sir Kazuo Ishiguro ( ; born 8 November 1954) is a British novelist, screenwriter, musician, and short-story writer. Ishiguro was born in Nagasaki, Japan, and moved to Britain in 1960 with his parents when he was five. He is one of the most c ...

*2010 – John Carey,

Colm Tóibín Colm Tóibín (, approximately ; born 30 May 1955) is an Irish novelist, short story writer, essayist, journalist, critic, playwright and poet. His first novel, '' The South'', was published in 1990. '' The Blackwater Lightship'' was shortlis ...

, Lionel Shriver, Yiyun Li,

John Ralston Saul John Ralston Saul (born June 19, 1947) is a Canadian writer, political philosopher, and public intellectual. Saul is most widely known for his writings on the nature of individualism, citizenship and the public good; the failures of manager-l ...

Bill McKibben William Ernest McKibben (born December 8, 1960)"Bill Ernest McKibben." ''Environmental Encyclopedia''. Edited by Deirdre S. Blanchfield. Farmington Hills, Mich.: Gale, 2009. Retrieved via ''Biography in Context'' database, December 31, 2017. is a ...

, and

Raj Patel Rajeev "Raj" Patel (born 1972) is a British Indian academic, journalist, activist and writer who has lived and worked in Zimbabwe, South Africa, and the United States for extended periods. He has been referred to as "the rock star of social ju ...

*2011 – Ingrid Betancourt,

Howard Jacobson Howard Eric Jacobson (born 25 August 1942) is a British novelist and journalist. He is known for writing comic novels that often revolve around the dilemmas of British Jewish characters.Ragi, K. R., "Howard Jacobson's ''The Finkler Question'' a ...

A. A. Gill Adrian Anthony Gill (28 June 1954 – 10 December 2016) was a British journalist, critic, and author. Best known for his food and travel writing, he was also a television critic, was restaurant reviewer of ''The Sunday Times'', wrote for '' Van ...

, Anthony Bourdain, Téa Obreht,

Izzeldin Abuelaish Izzeldin Abuelaish ( ar, عزالدين أبو العيش), is a Canadian-Palestinian medical doctor and author. He was born in Gaza, and was the first Palestinian doctor to work in an Israeli hospital and has been active in promoting Israeli-Pal ...

, Kei Miller,

Kader Abdolah Hossein Sadjadi Ghaemmaghami Farahani ( fa, حسین سجادی قائم‌مقامی فراهانی, better known by his pen name Kader Abdolah ( fa, قادر عبدالله, links=no) (Arak, 12 November 1954), is an Iranian-Dutch writer, poet ...

, Michael Cunningham, David Mitchell,

AC Grayling Anthony Clifford Grayling (; born 3 April 1949) is a British philosopher and author. He was born in Northern Rhodesia (now Zambia) and spent most of his childhood there and in Nyasaland (now Malawi). In 2011 he founded and became the first Mast ...

Michael Connelly Michael Joseph Connelly (born July 21, 1956) is an American author of detective novels and other crime fiction, notably those featuring LAPD Detective Hieronymus "Harry" Bosch and criminal defense attorney Mickey Haller. Connelly is the bests ...

Gail Dines Gail Dines (born 29 July 1958) is professor emerita of sociology and women's studies at Wheelock College in Boston, Massachusetts. A radical feminist, Dines specializes in the study of pornography. Described in 2010 as the world's leading anti ...

, and Daniel Altman *2012 – Hisham Matar,

Jeffrey Eugenides Jeffrey Kent Eugenides (born March 8, 1960) is an American novelist and short story writer. He has written numerous short stories and essays, as well as three novels: '' The Virgin Suicides'' (1993), ''Middlesex'' (2002), and'' The Marriage Plot ...

, Dava Sobel *2013 – Molly Ringwald,

Ruby Wax Ruby Wax (; born 19 April 1953) is an American-British actress, comedian, writer, television personality, and mental health campaigner. A classically-trained actress, Wax was with the Royal Shakespeare Company for five years and co-starred on ...

, Claire Messud *2014 – Irvine Welsh,

Vince Gilligan George Vincent Gilligan Jr. (born February 10, 1967) is an American writer, producer, and director. He is known for his television work, specifically as creator, head writer, executive producer, and director of AMC's ''Breaking Bad'' (2008– ...

Alice Walker Alice Malsenior Tallulah-Kate Walker (born February 9, 1944) is an American novelist, short story writer, poet, and social activist. In 1982, she became the first African-American woman to win the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, which she was awa ...

*2015 –

Anthony Horowitz Anthony John Horowitz, (born 5 April 1955) is an English novelist and screenwriter specialising in mystery and suspense. His works for children and young adult readers include '' The Diamond Brothers'' series, the '' Alex Rider'' series, and ...

Douglas Coupland Douglas Coupland (born 30 December 1961) is a Canadian novelist, designer, and visual artist. His first novel, the 1991 international bestseller '' Generation X: Tales for an Accelerated Culture'', popularized the terms ''Generation X'' and '' Mc ...

, Norman Doidge, Alan Cumming,

Atul Gawande Atul Atmaram Gawande (born November 5, 1965) is an American surgeon, writer, and public health researcher. He practices general and endocrine surgery at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts. He is a professor in the Departme ...

David Walliams David Edward Williams (born 20 August 1971), known professionally as David Walliams, is an English comedian, actor, writer, and television personality. He is best known for his work with Matt Lucas on the BBC sketch comedy series '' Little ...

Michael Frayn Michael Frayn, FRSL (; born 8 September 1933) is an English playwright and novelist. He is best known as the author of the farce '' Noises Off'' and the dramas ''Copenhagen'' and ''Democracy''. His novels, such as ''Towards the End of the Mo ...

James Patterson James Brendan Patterson (born March 22, 1947) is an American author. Among his works are the '' Alex Cross'', '' Michael Bennett'', '' Women's Murder Club'', '' Maximum Ride'', ''Daniel X'', ''NYPD Red'', ''Witch & Wizard'', and '' Private'' se ...

(out of season event) *2016 –

Gloria Steinem Gloria Marie Steinem (; born March 25, 1934) is an American journalist and social-political activist who emerged as a nationally recognized leader of second-wave feminism in the United States in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Steinem was a ...

, Jonathan Franzen, Marlon James,

Julian Barnes Julian Patrick Barnes (born 19 January 1946) is an English writer. He won the Man Booker Prize in 2011 with '' The Sense of an Ending'', having been shortlisted three times previously with ''Flaubert's Parrot'', '' England, England'', and ''Ar ...

William Boyd William, Willie, Will or Bill Boyd may refer to: Academics * William Alexander Jenyns Boyd (1842–1928), Australian journalist and schoolmaster * William Boyd (educator) (1874–1962), Scottish educator * William Boyd (pathologist) (1885–1979), ...

, Jeanette Winterson, Kae Tempest,

Yanis Varoufakis Ioannis "Yanis" Varoufakis ( el, Ιωάννης Γεωργίου "Γιάνης" Βαρουφάκης, Ioánnis Georgíou "Giánis" Varoufákis, ; born 24 March 1961) is a Greek economist and politician. A former academic, he served as the Gree ...

Hanya Yanagihara Hanya Yanagihara (born 1974) is an American novelist, editor, and travel writer. She grew up in Hawaii. She is best known for her bestselling novel '' A Little Life'', which was shortlisted for the 2015 Booker Prize, and for being the editor-in-c ...

Paul Muldoon Paul Muldoon (born 20 June 1951) is an Irish poet. He has published more than thirty collections and won a Pulitzer Prize for Poetry and the T. S. Eliot Prize. At Princeton University he is currently both the Howard G. B. Clark '21 University P ...

, Yeonmi Park *2017 – Anne Enright, Henry Marsh,

Ian Rankin Sir Ian James Rankin (born 28 April 1960) is a Scottish crime writer, best known for his Inspector Rebus novels. Early life Rankin was born in Cardenden, Fife. His father, James, owned a grocery shop, and his mother, Isobel, worked in a scho ...

, George Saunders, A. N. Wilson *2018 – André Aciman, Min Jin Lee,

Alexis Okeowo Alexis Okeowo is an American journalist who is a staff writer at ''The New Yorker''. They are the author of ''A Moonless, Starless Sky: Ordinary Women and Men Fighting Extremism in Africa'' Early life Okeowo grew up in Alabama, the child of Ni ...

, Masha Gessen, Jennifer Egan, Tayari Jones *2019 – Fatima Bhutto,

Rachel Kushner Rachel Kushner (born 1968) is an American writer, known for her novels '' Telex from Cuba'' (2008), '' The Flamethrowers'' (2013), and ''The Mars Room'' (2018). Early life Kushner was born in Eugene, Oregon, the daughter of two Communist scientist ...

, Susan Orlean, George Saunders, Nana Kwame Adjei–Brenyah,

Meg Wolitzer Meg Wolitzer (born May 28, 1959) is an American novelist, known for '' The Wife'', ''The Ten-Year Nap'', ''The Uncoupling,'' ''The Interestings'', and ''The Female Persuasion.'' She works as an instructor in the MFA program at Stony Brook Southa ...

, Akala,

Andrew Sean Greer Andrew Sean Greer (born November 1970) is an American novelist and short story writer. Greer received the 2018 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction for his novel ''Less''. He is the author of ''The Story of a Marriage'', which ''The New York Times'' has ...

Alexander Chee Alexander Chee (born August 21, 1967) is an American fiction writer, poet, journalist and reviewer. Born in Rhode Island, he spent his childhood in South Korea, Kauai, Truk, Guam and Maine. He attended Wesleyan University and the Iowa Writers' ...

Past local guests

*1997 – Robert Dessaix, Andrew McGahan,

Matthew Condon Matthew Condon (born 1962) is a prize-winning Australian writer and journalist. Biography Educated at the University of Queensland and the Goethe Institute, Bremen Bremen (Low German also: ''Breem'' or ''Bräm''), officially the City Mun ...

, Bernard Cohen,

Christos Tsiolkas Christos Tsiolkas is an Australian author, playwright, and screenwriter. He is especially known for '' The Slap'', which was both well-received critically and highly successful commercially. Several of his books have been adapted for film and t ...

, Gillian Mears *2001 – Lee Tulloch *2002 –

Geoffrey Atherden Geoffrey John Atherden , credited also as Geoff Atherden, is an Australian television screenwriter and playwright, especially of comedy. He is best known for creating the sitcom '' Mother and Son''. Early life and education Atherden attended the ...

, Bernard Cohen *2003 – Sonya Hartnett,

David Malouf David George Joseph Malouf AO (; born 20 March 1934) is an Australian poet, novelist, short story writer, playwright and librettist. Elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in 2008, Malouf has lectured at both the University of Quee ...

, Danny Katz, Louis Nowra *2005 –

Bob Carr Robert John Carr (born 28 September 1947) is an Australian retired politician and journalist who served as the 39th Premier of New South Wales from 1995 to 2005, as the leader of the NSW Branch of the Australian Labor Party (ALP). He later e ...

and John Kinsella *2006 – Alex Miller,

Robert Drewe Robert Duncan Drewe (born 9 January 1943) is an Australian novelist, non-fiction and short story writer. Biography Robert Drewe was born on 9 January 1943 in Melbourne, Victoria. At the age of six, he moved with his family to Perth. He grew ...

Kate Grenville Catherine Elizabeth Grenville (born 1950) is an Australian author. She has published fifteen books, including fiction, non-fiction, biography, and books about the writing process. In 2001, she won the Orange Prize for ''The Idea of Perfection ...

, Les Murray,

Tegan Bennett Daylight Tegan Bennett Daylight (born 1969, in Sydney) is an Australian writer of novels and short stories. She is best known as a fiction writer, teacher and critic, publishing both books of non-fiction and numerous short stories. She has also written ...

Peter Singer Peter Albert David Singer (born 6 July 1946) is an Australian moral philosopher, currently the Ira W. DeCamp Professor of Bioethics at Princeton University. He specialises in applied ethics and approaches ethical issues from a secular, ...

, Tim Flannery, Gail Jones *2007 – Raimond Gaita *2008 – Mem Fox, Peter van Onselen,

Michelle de Kretser Michelle de Kretser (born 1957) is an Australian novelist who was born in Sri Lanka (then Ceylon), and moved to Australia in 1972 when she was 14. Education and literary career De Kretser was educated at Methodist College, Colombo, and in Melbo ...

, Gail Jones, Drusilla Modjeska *2009 – Elizabeth Farrelly *2010 – Peter Carey, Les Murray, Alex Miller, Ross Garnaut, Clive Hamilton *2011 –

Suelette Dreyfus Suelette Dreyfus is a technology researcher, journalist, and writer. Her fields of research include information systems, digital security and privacy, the impact of technology on whistleblowing, health informatics and e-education. Her work exami ...

, Annette Shun Wah, David Hicks *2012 – Kathy Lette *2013 – Brendan Cowell, Elizabeth Farrelly,

Claudia Karvan Claudia Karvan (born 19 May 1972) is an Australian actress, producer and scriptwriter. As a child actor, she first appeared in the film, '' Molly'' (1983) and followed with an adolescent role in '' High Tide'' (1987). She portrayed a teacher i ...

, *2014 –

, Robert Dessaix *2015 – Richard Flanagan, Annabel Crabb, Leigh Sales, Helen Garner,

, Les Murray, Andy Griffiths,

Julia Gillard Julia Eileen Gillard (born 29 September 1961) is an Australian former politician who served as the 27th prime minister of Australia from 2010 to 2013, holding office as leader of the Australian Labor Party (ALP). She is the first and only ...

*2016 – Elizabeth Harrower,

Anna Funder Anna Funder (born 1966) is an Australian author. She is the author of '' Stasiland'' and '' All That I Am'' and the novella ''The Girl With the Dogs''. Life Funder went to primary school in Melbourne and Paris; she attended Star of the Sea Col ...

, Magda Szubanski, Stan Grant, Kerry O'Brien,

Bob Brown Robert James Brown (born 27 December 1944) is a former Australian politician, medical doctor and environmentalist. He was a senator and the parliamentary leader of the Australian Greens. Brown was elected to the Australian Senate on the Tasm ...

, Charlotte Wood *2017 – Julia Baird,

Jimmy Barnes James Dixon "Jimmy" Barnes (née Swan; born 28 April 1956) is a Scottish-born Australian rock singer. His career, both as a solo performer and as the lead vocalist with the rock band Cold Chisel, has made him one of the most popular and best-s ...

, Peter Corris, Clementine Ford, Liane Moriarty *2018 –

, Jane Harper, Helen Garner,

Closing address

*2011

James Gleick James Gleick (; born August 1, 1954) is an American author and historian of science whose work has chronicled the cultural impact of modern technology. Recognized for his writing about complex subjects through the techniques of narrative nonficti ...

'Perish the thought' *2012 Dava Sobel *2013 Claire Messud *2014 Emma Donoghue *2015 Helen Macdonald *2016

*2017

Susan Faludi Susan Charlotte Faludi (; born April 18, 1959) is an American feminist, journalist, and author. She won a Pulitzer Prize for Explanatory Journalism in 1991, for a report on the leveraged buyout of Safeway Stores, Inc., a report that the Pulitze ...

*2018 Jennifer Egan *2019 Fatima Bhutto

Organisational structure

The festival is led by CEO Brooke Webb and programmed by the Artistic Director, Michael Williams. the directors of the Festival are: * Mark Scott (Chair) *Kathy Shand (Deputy Chair) *Nikki Christer * Annabel Crabb *Michael Dagostino *Amelia Lester *Sheila McGregor *Su-Ming Wong

References

External links

Official Sydney Writers' Festival Site
{{Sydney events Literary festivals in Australia Festivals in Sydney Festivals established in 1997 1997 establishments in Australia