Melbourne Writers Festival 2023
“I’ve Been Away For a While” – Melbourne Writers Festival (MWF)’s theme this year is a relatable one after years of feeling disconnected and disjointed. But thankfully its large program provides many opportunities to reconnect with stories, words, literature and people.
Artistic director Michaela McGuire and First Nations curators Tony Birch and Ellen van Neerven have invited a host of authors, journalists, actors, poets and storytellers, with every guest appearing live and in-person – no more streams and beaming in from across the world.
In her first ever visit to Australia, American cookbook author and food writer Alison Roman will be discussing her latest cookbook, Sweet Enough. Meanwhile, Kiwi actor Sam Neill is chatting to comedian Jane Kennedy about his new memoir Did I Ever Tell You This?, his childhood in small-town New Zealand and his long Hollywood career.
Sri Lankan author Shehan Karunatilaka is the first Booker Prize winner to attend MWF in a number of years – he won the prestigious award in 2022 for satirical novel The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida. And legendary Australian singer-songwriter Paul Kelly brings new life to poems by Shakespeare, Sylvia Plath, Wes Murray and more as he sings and recites them for a special opening night event.
Other international guests on the line-up include Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow author Gabrielle Zevin; award-winning author Emma Straub; Irish novelist Claire Keegan; Penguin Random House’s copy chief Benjamin Dreyer; nonfiction author and photographer Bill Hayes; literature and culture expert Sarah Churchwell; British-Nigerian writer Bernardine Evaristo, the first Black woman to win the Booker Prize; and more.
As ever, some of Australia’s leading voices also make up the local line-up: including former Australian of the Year Grace Tame; broadcaster Richard Fidler; stage and screen actor Heather Mitchell; Wiradjuri poet and artist Jazz Money; Kaytetye man and filmmaker Warwick Thornton; Love & Virtue novelist Diana Reid; writer and editor Andre Dao; and more.
Melbourne Writers Festival runs from Thursday May 4 to Sunday May 7.
Tickets go on sale from 9am on Thursday March 23.
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