Sydney Writers' Festival 2010

ROBERT GRAY (LOCAL)
ROBERT GRAY is a recipient of many grants from the Australia Council, and he describes himself as "a creature of the Literature Board". Robert has published eight volumes of poetry, and his Selected Poems has been through six reprints after it was set as a high school text. A further revised edition of his poems will appear in 2010. His memoir, The Land I Came Through Last, concerns his eccentric relatives and some notable figures he has known. His poetry has been published in book form in China, Germany, Holland and the UK, he has read at literary festivals and universities, and has been a writer-in-residence on numerous occasions in Asia, Europe, the UK and North America. He has won major Australian literary awards.

also appearing at...
3: Poets Paint Words II Exhibition
107: The Poet’s Voice
259: Poets Paint Words II - Poets Read III

ANTIGONE KEFALA (LOCAL)
ANTIGONE KEFALA is the author of four books of fiction: The First Journey, The Island, Alexia: A Tale of Two Cultures and Summer Visit. She has worked as an ESL teacher and an arts administrator with the Australia Council. Her poems, considered amongst the finest in contemporary Australian literature, have been collected in the volume Absence: New and Selected Poems. Her most recent book is Sydney Journals.

GEORDIE WILLIAMSON (LOCAL)
GEORDIE WILLIAMSON is chief literary critic of The Australian. Raised in rural New South Wales, he puts his passion for reading down to dodgy television reception. He studied English literature at the University of Sydney and University College London, and spent five years in England selling rare books and manuscripts. Domestically, Geordie's work has appeared in The Australian and its monthly Australian Literary Review, The Sydney Morning Herald and Australian Financial Review. Overseas, he has written for The Spectator, Evening Standard, Literary Review and Prospect magazine. He is a regular contributor and editorial advisor to the Australian Book Review, and an intermittent academic at the University of Sydney, where he is completing a doctoral thesis. Geordie is also a regular contributor to ABC Radio National's Book Show, and convenor of ABC 702's Book Club.

also appearing at...
110: Philipp Meyer in Conversation
125: The Man Booker Prize
294: Nicolas Rothwell in Conversation

ABBAS EL-ZEIN (LOCAL)

ABBAS EL-ZEIN has written essays and short stories about war, identity and displacement for HEAT, Meanjin, The New York Times and The Age, among others. His novel Tell the Running Water was set in civil-war Lebanon. His new memoir, Leave to Remain, tells his story of growing up in a middle-class family in civil-war Beirut. He is associate professor of Environmental Engineering at the University of Sydney.

also appearing at...
130: Abbas El-Zein in Conversation at Ashfield Library
242: Conflict and Childhood