With long hot days and warm balmy nights, it’s the perfect time to strike up the BBQ.
It was in this idyllic suburban setting that Christos Tsiolkas based his notorious exploration of modern family and domestic life, The Slap, inciting debate on conflicting beliefs, love, parenting and desire.
Read more about this bestseller and its author. Join the conversation on our Man Book Club page.
School Days is a celebration of literature for children and young adults, featuring a handpicked line-up of writers for both primary and secondary schools.
Teachers, this is a fantastic opportunity for students to engage with their favourite authors, discover exciting new voices and be inspired in a fun, educational and interactive day. In these hugely popular sessions, writers and illustrators will perform, read from their work, talk about their craft and take questions from the audience.
Hitch was with us at Sydney Writers' Festival in May 2010 just weeks before he was diagnosed with the cancer that now, sadly, has taken him. We weren't surprised to see him continue to write throughout his illness. He was driven by ideas and the compulsion to write.
Death would bring an end to that, but nothing – not chemo, not losing his voice, not pain, not fatigue – would stop him before then.
I will never forget the time after his packed SWF Town Hall session with Julian Morrow when I was lucky enough to join him, Tony Jones, Mark Colvin, and his publicist Renee Senogles for a feast of charcuterie, cassoulet and cheeses laid out by the ever-generous Tony Bilson. A detour to buy a pack of cigarettes (Hitch drank and smoked throughout his visit) meant we arrived at Number One Wine Bar too late to hear the poets, but Hitch was there as Oracle to his supper companions who peppered him with questions – yes, mostly about the war on terror – which he never failed to answer with an astonishing ability to quote an always relevant passage from a classic work (including Monty Python).
An Oxford debating trick, said a cynical friend when I remarked about this.
Perhaps, but what a magician, and how few like him around us today.
And now, sadly, one fewer.
Chip Rolley, Artistic Director
Gift Certificates On Sale Now
Sydney Writers' Festival gift certificate is a thoughtful gift for lovers of literature and ideas. The recipient chooses the events they want to see, and with an exciting program planned for the 2012 Festival there's something for everyone.
Gift certificates are available to purchase online here or via Sydney Theatre box office on (02) 9250 1999.
SWF 2011 Highlights Video
If you've been missing the Festival atmosphere we have some good news. Thanks to our partner Hunting with Pixels you can relive the buzz of the 2011 Festival in our three minute highlights video. See if you can spot yourself in the crowd!
School Days 2012: Learn to draw with Oliver Jeffers!
We’re delighted to be presenting award-winning author and illustrator Oliver Jeffers as part of a stellar line-up for SWF Primary School Days (21-25 May 2012).
Oliver’s latest picture book is Stuck, featuring irrepressible protagonist Floyd. Watch here to learn how Oliver brings Floyd to life.
Stuck is out now and available to purchase here. School Days is a celebration of literature for children and young adults, featuring a handpicked line-up of writers for both primary and secondary schools. For information and to download booking forms click here.
Paul Keating in conversation with Kerry O'Brien
On Sunday October 30 former Prime Minister Paul Keating spoke with the ABC's Kerry O'Brien in an exclusive Sydney Writers' Festival engagement at Sydney's City Recital Hall.
With thanks to our Media Partner TVS. If you want to watch the event on the big screen, TVS (Channel 44) will be broadcasting the evening on Tuesday 15 November.
The Board of Sydney Writers' Festival announces new Chair
In May this year, longstanding Chair of the Sydney Writers’ Festival Board Sandra Yates AO, announced that the 2011 Festival would be her last as a member of the company.
This week, the SWF Board of Directors appointed a new Chair. Effective from 1 January 2012, Deena Shiff, Group Managing Director of Telstra Applications and Ventures Group, will be spearheading the Sydney Writers’ Festival Board.
Sydney Writers' Festival is Australia’s largest annual literary celebration. The Festival returns 14-20 May 2012, with School Days 2012 running from 21-25 May.
Sydney Writers’ Festival is delighted to announce the program for 
In May this year, longstanding Chair of the Sydney Writers’ Festival Board Sandra Yates AO, announced that the 2011 Festival would be her last as a member of the company.
