Explore the 2026 Program
Show Me the Truth
The theme of the Festival, Show Me the Truth, is an invitation to engage with the many ways writers bring the truth to life. At a time when the norms of truth-telling are slipping away and AI hallucinations have joined misinformation and divergent narratives in the public square, truth can feel fractured, slippery and polarising. But it is worth holding on to and the work of writers coming to the Festival shows us the many miraculous ways this can be done. In the Festival you will find histories that unfurl over millennia, as well as vivid political accounts of the here and now. The immersive pleasure of fiction takes us deep into the lives of others. Poetry’s truths wander between the collision of ideas and the joy of performance.
This Festival is being launched into the world from Sydney at a very particular moment in time. Writers’ festivals are in the news and debates rage about who should speak at them. With freedom of expression a core value, we do not cancel or censor writers – we know that without them there is no Festival.
We are making space for the work of writers with different experiences and different backgrounds and for differences of opinion, among speakers and audiences. In a broad-ranging program you will find stories about first love and conversations about courage, cooking and crime. You can find writers to show you the truth about sorcery or ghosts, about love or war or the stars. For kids and families and young adults, there are events for all ages and interests, featuring everything from vampire fantasy and a guide to the Australian Parliament through to Captain Underpants.
It is up to you, our communities of readers, to choose what you want to engage with and who you want to listen to.
Bringing people together across differences of experience and opinion takes a willingness to talk and a willingness to listen. There is no better place to do this than at Sydney Writers’ Festival, with fellow readers and extraordinary writers from Australia and around the world as your companions.
Ann Mossop
ARTISTIC DIRECTOR