Sydney Writers' Festival

SAMUEL WAGAN WATSON (INTERSTATE)
Samuel Wagan Watson was born in Brisbane in 1972. Samuel is of Munanjali, Birri Gubba, German and Irish descent.

He was the winner of the 1999 David Unaipon award for emerging indigenous writers for his first collection of poetry, Of Muse, Meandering and Midnight. Since then he has written three more collections, Itinerant Blues, Hotel Bone and Smoke Encrypted Whispers which won the 2005 New South Wales Premier’s Book of the Year and the Kenneth Slessor Poetry Prize. Samuel’s writing has been translated into German, Norwegian and Indonesian.

Samuel’s opera die dunkle Erde (The Dark Earth) premiered in Brisbane in 2004 and again in 2005 for the Brisbane Music Festival. It is the story of a German vampire who gets a taste for Aboriginal Dreaming. His poetry has been adapted into animation and a short documentary by Brisbane fimmaker, Helen Kassila, entitled Bound in Bitumen.

He is currently working on the development of poetry for Brisbane City Council urban design, which incorporates text and architecture. In September 2007, he made his debut as a vocalist/performer alongside emerging indigenous folk-artist/musician Leah Flannagan at the Newcastle Emerging Young Writers Festival.

appearing at...
46: Writers as Readers
108: Writers as Readers
241: Macquarie PEN Anthology of Aboriginal Literature

ERICA WAGNER (LOCAL)
Erica Wagner has worked with books for most of her life, first as a bookseller, then as an editor and publisher. She was with Penguin Books for ten years before starting up a children’s list for Duffy & Snellgrove in 1999. That same year she was awarded the Beatrice Davis Editorial Fellowship and spent three months working with a variety of publishers in the US. She has been Children's Publisher at Allen & Unwin since 2000 and she and her dedicated team continue to produce a range of original and innovative picture books, fiction and non-fiction for children and teenagers, a list which is internationally acclaimed. Nurturing talented writers and illustrators and pioneering new areas of publishing, such as graphic novels, are particular passions.

appearing at...
342: Publishing Fiction for Children and Young Adults

LOUISE WAKELING (LOCAL)
Louise Wakeling is a member of the Sydney ekphrasis group, Diverse. Her poetry collection paragliding in a war-zone is forthcoming.

appearing at...
70: trope: Promoting New Writing in Second Life

MARK WAKELY (LOCAL)
Mark Wakely is the author of Sweet Sorrow: A Beginner's Guide to Death. His previous book was Dream Home. He is an ABC Radio National journalist.

appearing at...
62: Dying Words
169: The Great Beyond

CHRISTINE WALLACE (LOCAL)
Christine Wallace is a Canberra-based writer whose most recent book is The Private Don. She has spent more than 20 years in and around federal politics including a long stint in the Canberra press gallery where she worked for media outlets including The Australian, The Australian Financial Review, Business Review Weekly and ABC TV. She is currently the editor of Breakfast Politics. Her essay 'Clean, Orderly and Laminex-coloured' appears in Griffith REVIEW 19: Re-imagining Australia.

appearing at...
82: Re-imagining Australia
309: Investigative Journalism

CHRIS WALLACE-CRABBE (INTERSTATE)
Chris Wallace-Crabbe is one of our most distinguished poets and essayists. He was elected Fellow of the Australian Academy of the Humanities in 1984. He was the founding director of The Australian Centre, University of Melbourne and is the current chairperson of The Australian Poetry Centre and author of numerous books of poetry and essays, the latest being The Universe Looks Down and The Thing Itself. Chris has been the Chair of Australian Studies at Harvard and has taught at Yale University.

appearing at...
107: Launch: Poetry Without Borders (Picaro Press)

RICHARD WALSH (LOCAL)
Richard Walsh was co-editor of OZ, and later founded the weekly newspaper that became Nation Review.

From 1972-86 he was Managing Director & Publisher at Angus & Robertson; from 1986-99 he headed Australian Consolidated Press. He is a director of the publicly listed HWW Ltd and Text Media Ltd and was previously a director of PBL and Cinema Plus.

He has written for television and the theatre, contributed to many books and compiled four volumes, the most recent being Great Australian Eulogies.

appearing at...
28: Great Australian Eulogies

SALLY WARHAFT (INTERSTATE)
Sally Warhaft is the editor of The Monthly magazine.

appearing at...
182: The Monthly Third Birthday Celebration

RICHARD WATERHOUSE (LOCAL)
Richard Waterhouse is Bicentennial Professor of Australian History at the University of Sydney. He is the author of five books and more than 50 articles on aspects of Australian and US history. He is a frequent media commentator on aspects of Australian social and cultural history. His most recent book is The Vision Splendid: a Social and Cultural History of Rural Australia.

appearing at...
158: The Water’s Edge

SARAH WATERSON (LOCAL)
Sarah Waterson is a new media artist and senior lecturer in interactive media at UWS. She developed the conceptual approach, design and implementation for trope.

appearing at...
70: trope: Promoting New Writing in Second Life

DON WATSON (INTERSTATE)
Don Watson's work, both serious and satirical, has appeared in most of Australia's major journals and newspapers and on television, radio, stage and screen.

He was speechwriter and advisor to the former Prime Minister Paul Keating and is the author of Caledonia Australis and Recollections of a Bleeding Heart: A Portrait of Paul Keating PM. Recollections received rave reviews and became a number one bestseller. It was awarded The Age Non-Fiction Prize and Book of the Year Award, the Courier-Mail Book of the Year Award, the National Biography Award and was shortlisted for the NSW Premier's Awards and the Colin Roderick Award.

Death Sentence: The Decay Of Public Language, has sold over 80,000 copies and was followed up by the equally successful Watson’s Dictionary of Weasel Words: Contemporary Cliches, Cant & Management Jargon. He also authored an Australian Quarterly called Rabbit Syndrome: Australia and the USA that generated much discussion and exchange of letters for many months.

American Journeys is Don’s latest book.

appearing at...
280: Don Watson’s American Journey
306: American Dreaming

FRED WATSON (LOCAL)
Fred Watson says he has spent so many years working in large telescope domes that he has started to look like one. He is Astronomer in Charge of the Anglo-Australian Observatory at Coonabarabran, where his main scientific interest is gathering information on very large numbers of stars and galaxies. He is also an adjunct professor at the Queensland University of Technology, the University of Southern Queensland, and James Cook University.

Fred is well-known for his astronomy slots on ABC radio, and his recent books include Stargazer – the life and times of the telescope, Why is Uranus upside down? and other questions about the Universe, and the ABC's new blockbuster, Universe, for which he was chief consultant. In 2003, Fred received the David Allen Prize for communicating astronomy to the public, and in 2006 was the winner of the Australian Government Eureka Prize for Promoting Understanding of Science. Fred has an asteroid named after him (5691 Fredwatson), but says that if it hits the Earth it won't be his fault...

www.fredwatson.com.au

appearing at...
116: Spacefarers of the New Millennium at Glebe Library
296: Astronomical

RICHARD WATSON (LOCAL)
Richard Watson, author of Future Files: a history of the next 50 years, advises organisations on the future, focusing on innovation and scenario planning. He is the author and publisher of What's Next, a quarterly report on global trends, and is a columnist for a number of magazines including Fast Company.

appearing at...
72: The Future Files
295: Now and Beyond
327: Imagined Futures

VIRGINIA WATSON (LOCAL)
Virginia Watson lectures in the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences at UTS. She has written a number of articles on policy and history in Australian Indigenous affairs for academic journals including Alternatives; Policy and Society and Australian Humanities Review and has a book in press, Mining Australia's Northern Frontier: Government, Development and Indigenous People.

appearing at...
63: Poking About in Libraries
91: New Insights in Australian History

FRANCES WATTS (LOCAL)
Frances Watts (pen name of Ali Lavau) has been a bookseller, book reviewer, book editor and lecturer. Her much loved books include Kisses for Daddy and Parsley Rabbit's Book about Books. She enjoys conveying the joy of reading to children, and is in a unique position to teach about how to turn ideas into books, and how books are made.

appearing at...
36: CBCA Writing Masterclass with Frances Watts

ALAN WEARNE (LOCAL)
Alan Wearne is the author of two previous poetry collections, Public Relations and New Devil, New Parish; and the verse novels Out Here, The Nightmarkets and The Lovemakers, which won the NSW Premier's Prize for Poetry, the Judith Wright Calanthe Award, and the Colin Roderick Award. His new collection is The Australian Popular Songbook.

appearing at...
261: Four on the Floor

ELIZABETH WEISS (LOCAL)
Elizabeth Weiss is Academic Publisher at Allen & Unwin and she oversees the company's electronic publishing strategy.

appearing at...
344: The Future of Reading

JANA WENDT (LOCAL)
Jana Wendt was born in Melbourne in 1956 and began her career as a researcher for the ABC before becoming a reporter for Channel 10. She was the youngest ever, and first female, reporter on 60 Minutes, before moving across in 1988 to host A Current Affair. Jana returned to 60 Minutes in 1994 and became a contributing correspondent to the American edition of the show. Jana has also hosted the Seven Network's Witness and Nine Network's Sunday. During her career, Jana has been the recipient of a number of awards, including the Gold Logie and Penguin award for Best Current Affairs Presenter.

appearing at...
40: Jana Wendt Literary Lunch

MARCUS WESTBURY (LOCAL)
Marcus Westbury is the writer and presenter of Not Quite Art and the forthcoming Culture Shock on ABC TV. He is currently writing a book about contemporary Australian culture.

appearing at...
92: Cities on the Edge

DEB WESTBURY (LOCAL)
Deb Westbury has been a familiar and respected voice in Australian poetry since her work was first published in 1975. Her poetry has since been widely anthologised, including the Oxford Anthology of Women's Verse. Since her first collection of poetry, Mouth to Mouth, was published in 1990, she has written Our Houses are Full of Smoke, Surface Tension and Flying Blind. Her latest work, New and Selected Poems will be published in 2008.

appearing at...
15: Poetry Outloud

NADIA WHEATLEY (LOCAL)
Nadia Wheatley writes fiction, history, biography and picture books. Her work reflects a commitment to multiculturalism and the preservation of the natural environment.

appearing at...
180: What Lies Beneath

MICHAEL WHITE (LOCAL)
Michael White is the author of more than 25 books and is best known for his title, Equinox, which was a UK Top 10 bestseller. Equinox has been translated into 30 languages. Michael White's most recent title is The Medici Secret. He resides in Sydney.
www.michaelwhite.com.au

appearing at...
63: Poking About in Libraries
171: Thrilling Tales

TERRI-ANN WHITE (INTERSTATE)
Terri-ann White is a writer and the Director of UWA Press.

appearing at...
154: Paydirt
211: Readings from the 2008 Commonwealth Prize Shortlist
329: Ian Klaus in Conversation

HUGH WHITE
Hugh White is Professor of Strategic Studies at the Australian National University and a Visiting Fellow at the Lowy Institute for International Policy. He writes regularly on security and international issues for The Australian. From 2001 to 2004 Hugh was the first Director of the Australian Strategic Policy Institute. Over the two decades before that he had served as an intelligence analyst with the Office of National Assessments, as a journalist with the Sydney Morning Herald, as a senior adviser on the staffs of Defence Minister Kim Beazley and Prime Minister Bob Hawke, and as a senior official in the Department of Defence, where from 1995 to 2000 he was Deputy Secretary for Strategy and Intelligence. In the 1970s he studied philosophy at Melbourne and Oxford Universities.

appearing at...
267: Dear Mr Rudd: Ideas for Australia

FREDA WHITLAM (LOCAL)
Freda Whitlam AM is a long time resident of Penrith. She was formerly Principal of the Presbyterian Ladies College, Moderator of the Synod of the Uniting Church in NSW, and has appeared on Geoffrey Robertson's Hypotheticals.

appearing at...
187: Bob Carr’s Reading Life

CAROLE WILKINSON (INTERSTATE)
Carole Wilkinson is the award-winning author of books for children. She has a long standing fascination with dragons and this resulted in the award-winning Dragonkeeper trilogy, which has been translated into more than 11 languages, and the recently released The Dragon Companion, which has been shortlisted for the APA Book Design Awards.

appearing at...
8: Primary School Days – Parramatta
23: Primary School Days – Sydney
63: Poking About in Libraries

ROBYN WILLIAMS (LOCAL)
Robyn Williams has presented science programs on ABC radio and television since 1972. Early in his career he made guest appearances in The Goodies, Monty Python's Flying Circus and Dr Who. He is the first journalist to be elected a fellow of the Australian Academy of Science, was a visiting fellow at Balliol College, Oxford, and is a visiting professor at the University of New South Wales. In March 2006, a star in the constellation Carina was named after him. He is planning a visit.

appearing at...
78: Growing Old Disgracefully
296: Astronomical

PAUL WILLIS (LOCAL)
Paul Willis is a reporter with the ABC’s top rating TV science show, Catalyst. He got into science as a kid and has never grown out of it. Discovering his first fossil at the age of six, Paul has been hooked on palaeontology ever since. Moving to Australia at the age of nine, Paul went on to study Geology and Zoology at Sydney University before completing a PhD at the University of New South Wales studying fossil crocodiles. During this time he did extensive field work at the most significant fossil sites around Australia.

Paul has been with the ABC since 1997 as a science broadcaster, regularly appearing on radio, TV and writing features for the ABC’s website. He has hosted over 70 public science forums including Café Scientific, and is a familiar voice doing science talkback on ABC radio in Western Australia, Northern Territory and Tasmania. Paul leads a fossil hunting expedition to Antarctica each year. His latest book is Digging Up Deep Time: fossils, dinosaurs and megabeasts from Australia’s distant past.

appearing at...
251: Cafe Scientific: The Future of Food

JEANETTE WINTERSON (INTERNATIONAL)
Jeanette Winterson is an award winning author of novels for both adults and younger readers. She has won various awards around the world for her fiction and adaptations, including the Whitbread Prize, UK, and the Prix d'argent, Cannes Film Festival, and in 2006 received an OBE for services to literature. Her most recent novel is The Stone Gods.
www.jeanettewinterson.com

appearing at...
32: Opening Address: Jeanette Winterson
350: Jeanette Winterson on ABC Radio National’s Book Show
168: Ask Jeanette Winterson ANYTHING!

SABINA WOLANSKI (LOCAL)
Sabina Wolanski was the only Holocaust survivor to address the world at the opening of the controversial Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe in Berlin. Now an Australian citizen, Sabina was just 12 when her home town in Poland was invaded by Nazis who murdered her family. Sabina was hidden in a series of homes and underground dugouts where she recorded the daily horrors in a secret diary. Sabina’s experience, and the story of her emigration to Australia, have now been told together in her recently published memoir Destined to Live, an extraordinary story of courage, forgiveness and reconciliation. She often speaks to schools and Jewish groups about her experiences during World War II.

appearing at...
87: Courage
210: Triumph Over Adversity

CHRIS WOMERSLEY (LOCAL)
Chris Womersley won the 2007 Josephine Ulrick Literature Prize for his short story The Possibility of Water which will be published in Griffith REVIEW 20: Cities on the Edge.

Chris has had work published in Granta New Writing, Best Australian Short Stories 2006, Australian Short Stories, Griffith REVIEW, Wet Ink, Visible Ink, Antithesis and Vignette Press. His short story The Shed was described by The Times Literary Supplement as one of the stand-out inclusions in Granta and by The Independent as "sly and surreal".

Chris works at Fairfax as a producer/editor and writes occasional reviews for The Monthly. His first novel The Low Road – which was shortlisted for the 2006 Victorian Premiers' Award – was published in 2007.
www.chriswomersley.com

appearing at...
92: Cities on the Edge
310: Heroes and Criminals
243: The Darker Side of Life
282: The First Time

JAN WONG (INTERNATIONAL)
Jan Wong, an award-winning journalist, was the Beijing correspondent for The Globe and Mail from 1988 to 1994. She is a graduate of McGill University and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, and is the recipient of the George Polk Award and other honours for her reporting. Wong has written for The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal, among others in the US and abroad.

Her ground-breaking memoir Red China Blues, was the account of her time in China at the height of the Cultural Revolution in the 1970s as a fervent young Maoist student. In her most recent book Beijing Confidential, she returns to witness one of history’s most extreme makeovers as Beijing feverishly prepares for its moment on the world stage for the 2008 Olympics and to seek out and make peace with a woman whom she betrayed to the authorities all those years ago.

Jan Wong’s participation at Sydney Writers’ Festival is supported by the Canada Council for the Arts.

appearing at...
48: Jan Wong at Ultimo Library
66: Jan Wong in Conversation
159: Small Stories, Big Politics
227: Jan Wong at Campbelltown Arts Centre

CHARLOTTE WOOD (LOCAL)
Charlotte Wood's first novel, Pieces of a Girl, was published in 1999, and won the 1998 Jim Hamilton Award for an unpublished manuscript. Both this and her second novel, The Submerged Cathedral, were highly praised by reviewers and award judges, and the latter was shortlisted for the 2005 Miles Franklin Award and the 2005 Commonwealth Writers' Prize, South East Asia/South Pacific. She lives in Sydney. The Children is her most recent novel.
www.charlottewood.com.au

appearing at...
26: Family Fictions and Family Truths
139: Family Matters
175: Bound to the Track
220: The Poet Who Forgot

JAMES WOODFORD (LOCAL)
James Woodford is an award-winning environmental writer. His most recent book is Whitecap.

appearing at...
180: What Lies Beneath

FIONA WRIGHT (LOCAL)
Fiona Wright, project assistant with The Red Room Company and assistant editor of HEAT, is a poet and editor.

appearing at...
70: trope: Promoting New Writing in Second Life

SUSAN WYNDHAM (LOCAL)
Susan Wyndham is a senior writer on books and culture for The Sydney Morning Herald. She is the author of a new book, Life In His Hands, a true story about the work of renowned Sydney neurosurgeon Charlie Teo and his patient Aaron McMillan, a young concert pianist who was diagnosed with a rare brain tumour.

appearing at...
65: The Final Journey
142: Both Sides of the Coin
230: Life In His Hands