Sydney Writers' Festival 2010

I have been given the privilege of taking the reins of the 2010 Sydney Writers’ Festival and am working to ensure this year’s Festival is as provocative, engaging, stimulating and as much fun as the best of them.

Over the past 13 years, Sydney Writers’ Festival has become a vital part of the intellectual, cultural and social life of Sydney. We have hosted John Banville, Alan Bennett, DBC Pierre, Neil Gaiman, Hendrik Hertzberg, Richard Ford, Bei Dao, Jeanette Winterson, Anne Enright, Junot Diaz, Edmund White, Louis de Bernieres, Jonathan Franzen, and the late Anna Politkovskaya, among so many others.

The 2010 Sydney Writers' Festival will feature the best of Australian writing but also be avowedly international in scope, deeply influenced by Sydney's position as a Western gateway to the cultures of our near and far north. We will also turn to the Americas to our east and draw on our historical and cultural links to Europe.

We will be both a 'Harbour of the known' and a 'Bridge to the unknown' – featuring both established writers and those of high quality making their debut. We will bring together authors of the very best contemporary fiction and writers of cutting edge nonfiction, including some of the world's leading public intellectuals, scientists and journalists.

As I develop the themes for the 2010 Festival over the coming year, I hope you’ll continue to come to this website, enjoy the vodcasts and podcasts from our previous festivals and learn about other events we will be hosting throughout the year.

And it’s never too early to put the Festival dates in your calendar: 17-23 May 2010.

Chip Rolley
Artistic Director 2010