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CANBERRAWRITERSFESTIVAL.COM.AU 10–14 AUGUST 2022POWER PASSION POLITICS PROGRAM
POWER
PASSION
POLITICS
“
Reading is
the key that
opens doors.
It shaped my
dreams, and
helped make
my dreams
come true.
”
Ruth Bader Ginsburg
SPECIAL EVENT
LIGHT BULB
MOMENT
Not to be missed is CWF’s signature
closing night event Light Bulb
Moment with a stellar line-up set to
P17
SPECIAL EVENT
DINNER AT
SWEETHEARTS
Jane and Jimmy Barnes invite you
for a special meal and conversation
inspired by their cookbook Where
the River BendsP4
CANBERRAWRITERSFESTIVAL.COM.AU2 10–14 AUGUST 2022
ANDREW BARR
ACT CHIEF MINISTER
The ACT Government is proud to support the
Canberra Writers Festival – a much-loved cultural
event for our city.
The line-up of local, national, and international
on the past, uncover meaning in the present
and discuss ideas for the future – in grand
venues where study, storytelling and national
conversations occur on a day-to-day basis – is a
powerful and uniquely Canberran experience.
I thank foundation partners the Australian
National University, National Museum of Australia,
the Museum of Australian Democracy at Old
Parliament House, and the National Press Club
of Australia for opening their spaces and their
collections for attendees to enjoy.
My thanks also to corporate sponsors the
National Press Club of Australia, Doma Hotels
Group, and National Circuit. Thanks to the
cultural partners Molonglo, Kambri at ANU, and
the Copyright Agency. And thanks to the media
partners — The Saturday Paper, Region Media
Group, and The Canberra Times.
Congratulations and thanks to the team of
Canberran volunteers and organisers. Your work
and dedication delivers a distinct event for our city
and our visitors.
Welcome to the 2022 Canberra Writers Festival.
JEANNE RYCKMANS
ARTISTIC DIRECTOR
"Reading is the key that opens doors. It shaped my
dreams and helped make my dreams come true."
These words from the late Supreme Court Justice
Ruth Bader Ginsburg resonate at a time when
reading brings us closer together — as individuals
and as a community — after two years of enforced
global separation.
Ginsburg passed on 18 September 2020, just
Justice, Justice Thou Shalt Pursue,
co-authored with her former law clerk, Professor
Amanda Tyler. Unfortunately, the pandemic
scuppered our invitation to Professor Tyler to
and a festival highlight will be Professor Tyler, live,
legacy of advocating for a fairer, more equitable,
and more just society.
Our seventh year also marks a gratifying return
to a live program. We have planned over 70
sessions with international and local writers,
journalists, poets, activists, academics, political
commentators, senators, and satirists across four
venues: the Museum of Australian Democracy at
Old Parliament House, Kambri Cultural Centre at
ANU, the National Museum of Australia and the
As a city, Canberra disproves public servant
view of Canberra is from the view of a departing
"Canberra . . . why wait for death!" Instead, in 2022,
city and custodian of the national institutions
intellectual discourse.
At Canberra Writers Festival, we aim to champion
open conversation ("Please Unmute"!), multiple
voices and viewpoints, and thoughtful, stimulating
on our past and imagine a more optimistic and
Because words matter, and literature opens our
minds to possibilities.
MEET THE TEAM
BOARD
Daryl Karp, Chair
Jane O’Dwyer, Deputy Chair
Putri Handrianti, Treasurer
MEMBERS
Stephanie Bull
Steve Lewis
Allan Behm
Karen Viggers
Colin Steele
Sunil Badami
Djon Mundine
TEAM
Paul Donohoe, Festival Director
Jeanne Ryckmans, Artistic Director
Michele Seminara, Media & Communications
Giorgi Couch, Social Media
Tim Duck, Production Manager
Craig Ebeling, Artist Liaison
Ashleigh Gleeson, Venue Management
Paul Skrzeczek, Graphic Design & Website
George Mackintosh, Art Director
Jenelle Provost, Volunteers Manager
Becky Carter, Travel Consultant
FOLLOW US ONLINE
Facebook
facebook.com/canberrawritersfestival
Instagram
@cbrwritersfest
Twitter
@cbrwritersfest
JOIN THE CONVERSATION
#CBRWRITERSFEST
TICKET INFORMATION
All tickets must be booked and paid for
online at www.canberrawritersfestival.com.au.
Please have your eTicket downloaded on your
mobile phone for scanning for each session.
Concession and Junior ticket holders must
show ID at the door to gain entry.
TICKET REFUNDS
Ticket processing fees and costs apply to all
tickets and will be paid by the purchaser.
No ticket refunds or exchanges will be made
unless an event is cancelled.
Program information is correct at the time of
printing. Please visit
updates or changes to the program.
COVID19 INFORMATION
AND ADVICE IN THE ACT
The Canberra Writers Festival is a registered
COVID-Safe event. To ensure the well-
being of our visitors, we are following strict
guidelines set by the ACT Government.
Please help us keep everyone safe by
IF YOU FEEL UNWELL:
Please do not attend the festival if you have
require isolation. Instead, stay home, take
care, and ensure your ticket can be used by
someone else.
the ACT, please go to:
TICKET
PRICES
OPENING NIGHT DINNER
$150
No Concessions
SPECIAL EVENTS
Adult $35
Concessions $30
Junior $20
STANDARD EVENTS
Adult $25
Concessions $20
Junior $15
NATIONAL PRESS CLUB
EVENTS
Breakfast Events $60
No Concessions
NOVEL GRAZING LUNCHES
Adult $80
No Concessions
CHILDREN’S EVENTS
Adult $5
Children $5
VENUE INFORMATION
Please refer to individual websites for
facilities and parking.
NATIONAL MUSEUM OF AUSTRALIA
Lawson Crescent, Acton
https://www.nma.gov.au/
KAMBRI CULTURAL CENTRE (ANU)
University Avenue,
Australian National University, Acton
https://kambri.com.au/
MUSEUM OF AUSTRALIAN
DEMOCRACY AT OLD PARLIAMENT
HOUSE
18 King George Terrace, Parkes
https://www.moadoph.gov.au/
NATIONAL PRESS CLUB OF
AUSTRALIA
16 National Circuit, Barton
https://www.npc.org.au/
4 NATIONAL
4 National Circuit, Barton
https://www.nationalcircuit.com.au/
CANBERRAWRITERSFESTIVAL.COM.AU4 10–14 AUGUST 2022
SPECIAL EVENT
THE LUCKY LAUNDRY
NATHAN LYNCH IN CONVERSATION
WITH MICHAEL WEST
THURSDAY 11 AUGUST
11.30 AM – 1.30 PM
NATIONAL PRESS CLUB OF AUSTRALIA
Australia is awash with dirty money. Go undercover
delves deep inside this hidden world to explain
how dark money has infected the lives of ordinary
people and tainted Australian democracy.
FREE EVENT
WE’VE GOT THIS
MODERATOR: ELIZA HULL
BRIAN EDWARDS
SHAKIRA HUSSEIN
THURSDAY 11 AUGUST
11.30 AM – 12.30 PM
4 NATIONAL
How do parents who are blind take their children
to the park? How do Deaf parents know when their
baby cries at night? More than 15% of Australian
households have a parent with a disability. Our
panel share stories about the highs and lows of
parenting with a disability.
SPECIAL EVENT
CHINESEISH
HOME COOKING, NOT QUITE
AUTHENTIC, BUT 100% DELICIOUS
ROSHEEN KAUL AND JOANNA HU
IN CONVERSATION WITH
JOANNA SAVILL
THURSDAY 11 AUGUST
12.00 PM – 2.00 PM
aMBUSH GALLERY
KAMBRI CULTURAL CENTRE (ANU)
A NOVEL GRAZING LUNCH PRESENTED BY
HARRY HARTOG, aMBUSH GALLERY, KAMBRI
ANU, AND THE CANBERRA WRITERS FESTIVAL
As immigrants with Chinese heritage who both
moved to Australia as kids, Rosheen and Joanna
spent their formative years living between (at
least) two cultures. Food was a huge part of their
journeys. Hailed by Kylie Kwong as ‘two of this
country’s most dynamic young talents’, you’re
invited for a celebration of culinary and cross
cultural tales.
WEDNESDAY 10 AUGUST — THURSDAY 11 AUGUST
SPECIAL EVENT
FREEZING ORDER:
SURVIVING PUTIN’S
WRATH
BILL BROWDER IN CONVERSATION
WITH DAVID SPEERS
THURSDAY 11 AUGUST
7.45 AM – 9.30 AM
NATIONAL PRESS CLUB OF AUSTRALIA
When Bill Browder’s young Russian lawyer,
Sergei Magnitsky, was beaten to death in a
Moscow jail, Browder made it his life’s mission
to go after his killers and make sure they faced
The Sunday TimesTheNew York
Times
corruption and how one man could take on one
of the most ruthless villains in the world — and
SPECIAL EVENT
OPENING
NIGHT:
DINNER AT
SWEETHEARTS
JANE AND JIMMY BARNES IN
CONVERSATION WITH
EMMA MACDONALD
WEDNESDAY 10 AUGUST
6.30 PM – 10.30 PM
GANDEL ATRIUM
NATIONAL MUSEUM OF AUSTRALIA
For one night only, CWF invites you to join
Jane and Jimmy Barnes in conversation
with Emma Macdonald.
Enjoy a specially curated meal inspired by
their best-selling book Where the River
Bends (named after ‘Riverbend’, the NSW
Southern Highlands country home where
Jane and Jimmy live).
Come share the Barnes’ heart-warming
stories, the food they love and the legendary
feasts they host for family and friends.
POWER PASSION POLITICS PROGRAM 10–14 AUGUST 2022 5
SPECIAL EVENT
WATSONIA: A WRITING LIFE
DON WATSON IN CONVERSATION
WITH GABRIELLE CHAN
FRIDAY 12 AUGUST
11.30 AM – 1.30 PM
NATIONAL PRESS CLUB OF AUSTRALIA
No other writer has journeyed further into the soul
of Australia and returned to tell the tale. Join Don
Watson — historian, speechwriter, social critic,
humourist, biographer, and lover of nature and
sports — in a sweeping conversation.
FREE EVENT
THE POETICS OF REFUGE
PARTICIPATING CHAIR:
PAUL HETHERINGTON
MICHELE SEMINARA
ROBBIE COBURN
THURSDAY 11 AUGUST
1.00 PM – 2.00 PM
4 NATIONAL
poiesis, meaning ‘to make’.
For centuries, poets have built refuge with their
words, fashioning shelters to succour writers and
readers alike. Now, as humanity struggles with
timeless and timely new challenges, our award-
FREE EVENT
COMING THROUGH THE
DARKNESS
MODERATOR: BEEJAY SILCOX
OCEANE CAMPBELL
CECILE BARRAL
HUGH POATE
KAYA WILSON
FRIDAY 12 AUGUST
11.30 AM – 12.30 PM
4 NATIONAL
what happens when you dare to dig deep for
answers and face your fears head-on.
SPECIAL EVENT
INSIDERS LIVE
HOSTED BY: DAVID SPEERS
DAVID CROWE
SAMANTHA MAIDEN
KATHARINE MURPHY
MIKE BOWERS
FIONA KATAUSKAS
DAVID POPE
THURSDAY 11 AUGUST
6.00 PM – 7.00 PM
NATIONAL PRESS CLUB OF AUSTRALIA
In a signature, special festival ‘live’ episode of the
ABC’s Insiders, host David Speers and our political
pundits rake over the extraordinary year that was.
SPECIAL EVENT
FOR THE GOOD
OF THE WORLD
A. C. GRAYLING IN
CONVERSATION WITH
LAURA TINGLE
FRIDAY 12 AUGUST
7.45 AM – 9.30 AM
NATIONAL PRESS CLUB OF AUSTRALIA
Why can’t we agree on a set of values that
allows us to confront the threats we and
our planet face? Acclaimed philosopher
and biographer A. C. Grayling considers
the three most pressing challenges facing
the world: climate change, technology, and
justice. (A.C. Grayling appears live via Zoom.)
THURSDAY 11 AUGUST — FRIDAY 12 AUGUST
CANBERRAWRITERSFESTIVAL.COM.AU6 10–14 AUGUST 2022
FRIDAY 12 AUGUST
FREE EVENT
THE POWER WITHIN
MODERATOR: AARTI BETIGERI
MEHREEN FARUQI
JACKIE HUGGINS
FIONA FOLEY
FRIDAY 12 AUGUST
1.00 PM – 2.00 PM
4 NATIONAL
Three of Australia’s most well-respected and
passionate cultural educators share their stories
of self-acceptance, self-empowerment, and
self-knowledge.
SPECIAL EVENT
SO, SUE ME!
MODERATOR:
KAREN MIDDLETON
LOUISE MILLIGAN
GINGER GORMAN
MICHAEL WEST
RICHARD POTTER
FRIDAY 12 AUGUST
6.00 PM – 7.00 PM
KING’S HALL
MUSEUM OF AUSTRALIAN DEMOCRACY
Australia prides itself on freedom of
expression, yet we have the most draconian
laws in the Western world. How can we
uphold a free press when defamation law
and threatens to undermine the very
foundations of investigative journalism?
FREE EVENT
WORDS FOR LUCY
MARION HALLIGAN IN
CONVERSATION WITH
SALLY PRYOR
FRIDAY 12 AUGUST
11.30 AM – 12.30 PM
VISIONS THEATRE
NATIONAL MUSEUM OF AUSTRALIA
One morning, Lucy Halligan lay on her bed and
went to sleep. Soon after, her heart stopped. Her
mother — prominent writer Marion Halligan —
forced hers to keep beating. An illuminating ‘in
conversation’ with The Canberra Times’
Sally Pryor.
SPECIAL EVENT
AFTER THE TAMPA
ABBAS NAZARI IN CONVERSATION
WITH AARTI BETIGERI
FRIDAY 12 AUGUST
6.00 PM – 7.00 PM
VISIONS THEATRE
NATIONAL MUSEUM OF AUSTRALIA
Escaping the Taliban as a young child, adrift for
weeks at sea, bestselling author and Fulbright
scholar Abbas Nazari shares his incredible story
bottom of the world.
SPECIAL EVENT
COOK
THE ONLY BOOK YOU NEED IN
THE KITCHEN
KAREN MARTINI IN
CONVERSATION WITH
ALEX SLOAN
FRIDAY 12 AUGUST
12.00 PM – 2.00 PM
aMBUSH GALLERY
KAMBRI CULTURAL CENTRE (ANU)
A NOVEL GRAZING LUNCH PRESENTED
BY HARRY HARTOG, aMBUSH GALLERY,
WRITERS FESTIVAL
Acclaimed chef Karen Martini has inspired
generations of home cooks. She shares
a lifetime of personal stories of cooking,
eating and learning about food on the eve
of the release of her milestone new
book, Cook.
POWER PASSION POLITICS PROGRAM 10–14 AUGUST 2022 7
SATURDAY 13 AUGUST
DON’T BE TOO
POLITE, GIRLS
MODERATOR: JANE CARO
WENDY MCCARTHY
VIRGINIA HAUSSEGGER
JACKIE HUGGINS
SATURDAY 13 AUGUST
10.00 AM – 11.00 AM
CINEMA
KAMBRI CULTURAL CENTRE (ANU)
Three great trailblazers and leaders of their
generation discuss the challenges that
shaped them and how we can all learn to
side-eye without censure.
CHILDREN’S EVENT
THE LAST DRAGON
CHARLIE MASSY
SATURDAY 13 AUGUST
10.00 AM – 11.00 AM
PENINSULA ROOM
NATIONAL MUSEUM OF AUSTRALIA
Beneath the western mountains, on the open
plains of the high Monaro where the skies are blue
and big, there lived a little dragon lizard…
Charlie Massy OAM, the award-winning author
The Last Dragon, joins us
with his real-life Monaro dragon for a special
WRITING THE PRECIPICE
MODERATOR: NICOLE ABADEE
KATHRYN HEYMAN
CHRIS HAMMER
DIANA REID
SATURDAY 13 AUGUST
10.00 AM – 11.00 AM
T2
KAMBRI CULTURAL CENTRE (ANU)
Our best-selling authors reveal how they tackle
their characters’ pivotal moments when they
stand on the precipice of life-changing disclosures
and discoveries, and how they navigate the
decisions beyond.
THE FIRST ASTRONOMERS
DUANE HAMACHER IN
CONVERSATION WITH
MARGO NEALE
SATURDAY 13 AUGUST
10.00 AM – 11.00 AM
VISIONS THEATRE
NATIONAL MUSEUM OF AUSTRALIA
Take a celestial journey across space and time to
reveal the wisdom of Indigenous astronomers and
the longevity of their oral traditions.
THE PASSIONS
OF ALLENDE
ISABEL ALLENDE IN
CONVERSATION WITH
CAROLINE BAUM
SATURDAY 13 AUGUST
10.00 AM – 11.00 AM
MANNING CLARK HALL
KAMBRI CULTURAL CENTRE (ANU)
Presidential Medal of Freedom award-
winner Isabel Allende is author of 26 books
that have sold over 70 million copies in
35 languages. Don’t miss this liberating
conversation with one of the world’s
greatest living writers. (Isabel Allende will
appear via Zoom.)
CANBERRAWRITERSFESTIVAL.COM.AU8 10–14 AUGUST 2022
THE GENTLE ART OF
PERSUASION OR NOT
MODERATOR: DAVID CROWE
ED COPER
KIM HUYNH
SATURDAY 13 AUGUST
10.00 AM – 11.00 AM
MEMBERS DINING ROOM
MUSEUM OF AUSTRALIAN DEMOCRACY
How can we communicate better, discern
listen and learn in a world awash with
opposing opinions?
A NATION OF FENCE
SITTERS?
MODERATOR: STEVE LEWIS
JULIANNE SCHULTZ
IAN KEMISH
ALLAN BEHM
SATURDAY 13 AUGUST
10.00 AM – 11.00 AM
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES CHAMBER
MUSEUM OF AUSTRALIAN DEMOCRACY
into a bar . . . How can Australia realise its true
potential? Debating diplomacy from the frontline.
BOGANS, BICKERING
BROODS, AND BENEDICT
CUMBERBATCH
MODERATOR: TOM GIBSON
JACKIE BAILEY
CADANCE BELL
TABITHA CARVAN
SATURDAY 13 AUGUST
12.00 PM – 1.00 PM
CINEMA
KAMBRI CULTURAL CENTRE (ANU)
If you’re alive, you can do anything.
If you’re reading this, you’re not dead.
Three ordinary individuals; three extraordinary and
CHILDREN’S EVENT
SEREE’S STORY
IRMA GOLD
SATURDAY 13 AUGUST
12.00 PM – 1.00 PM
PENINSULA ROOM
NATIONAL MUSEUM OF AUSTRALIA
Award-winning author Irma Gold regales with
her captivating and heart-warming tale of Seree,
the young elephant searching for her mother
and freedom.
SPECIAL EVENT
DEATH TO
JAR SAUCE
RAD RECIPES FOR CHAMPIONS
NAT’S WHAT I RECKON IN
CONVERSATION WITH
EMO PARSONSON
SATURDAY 13 AUGUST
12.00 PM – 2.00 PM
aMBUSH GALLERY
KAMBRI CULTURAL CENTRE (ANU)
A NOVEL GRAZING LUNCH PRESENTED
BY HARRY HARTOG, aMBUSH GALLERY,
KAMBRI ANU AND THE CANBERRA
WRITERS FESTIVAL
A sweary, scrumptious and uproarious lunch
with the infamous Nat (‘jar sauce can get
f*cked’). What else is there to say?!
Warning: This session contains coarse
(of course) language.
SATURDAY 13 AUGUST
POWER PASSION POLITICS PROGRAM 10–14 AUGUST 2022 9
THE WORLD ACCORDING TO
RICHARD GLOVER
RICHARD GLOVER IN
CONVERSATION WITH
ALEX SLOAN
SATURDAY 13 AUGUST
12.00 PM – 1.00 PM
VISIONS THEATRE
NATIONAL MUSEUM OF AUSTRALIA
Richard Glover has been entertaining folk for over
thirty years in his weekly column and on radio.
From building The Mud House to family Flesh
Wounds, via The Land Before Avocado and Love,
Clancy, a dog’s letters home, vintage Glover is ever
warm, wise, and very, very funny.
UNDER PRESSURE
MODERATOR: LUCY NEAVE
KAYA WILSON
NATASHA SHOLL
SAM VINCENT
LECH BLAINE
SATURDAY 13 AUGUST
12.00 PM – 1.00 PM
MEMBERS DINING ROOM
MUSEUM OF AUSTRALIAN DEMOCRACY
What are the personal and professional pressures
to ‘make it’? From ambition to burnout, from
societal and parental pressure to leaving the
inner-city life to take over the family farm, our
panel gets real about what they strive for and at
what cost.
HER LAST
WORDS: THE
INSPIRING LIFE
AND LEGACY OF
RUTH BADER
GINSBURG
AMANDA TYLER IN
CONVERSATION WITH
FRAN KELLY
SATURDAY 13 AUGUST
12.00 PM – 1.00 PM
MANNING CLARK HALL
KAMBRI CULTURAL CENTRE
Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s passing last
year — just as her book, co-authored with
her former law clerk Amanda Tyler — was
heading into production, was met with a
public outpouring of grief. Tyler shares
RBG’s optimistic vision of a just society and
a ‘more perfect union’.
MY YEAR OF JOY
LIANE MORIARTY IN
CONVERSATION WITH
ROSEMARIE MILSOM
SATURDAY 13 AUGUST
12.00 PM – 1.00 PM
T2
KAMBRI CULTURAL CENTRE (ANU)
After the release of Nine Perfect Strangers,
international mega-selling author Liane
Moriarty planned to take a well-earned
break before embarking on writing her ninth
novel. But what is it that they say about
best-laid plans?
SATURDAY 13 AUGUST
CANBERRAWRITERSFESTIVAL.COM.AU10 10–14 AUGUST 2022
GRILLING THE DEMOCRACY
SAUSAGE
MODERATOR: CHRIS WALLACE
JO DYER
STEPHEN CHARLES
MEHREEN FARUQI
SATURDAY 13 AUGUST
12.00 PM – 1.00 PM
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES CHAMBER
MUSEUM OF AUSTRALIAN DEMOCRACY
Does our country have a vision for a stronger
economy, fairer society, and more environmentally
for a better Australia?
FARMERS OR HUNTER
GATHERERS?
PETER SUTTON IN CONVERSATION
WITH DON WATSON
SATURDAY 13 AUGUST
2.00 PM – 3.00 PM
VISIONS THEATRE
NATIONAL MUSEUM OF AUSTRALIA
Understanding of Aboriginal society, prior to
British invasion, was transformed by Bruce
Dark Emu. Don Watson talks with social
anthropologist and linguist Peter Sutton on his
alternative view of pre-colonial Australia.
DO WE STILL HAVE TIME
FOR HENRY LAWSON?
MODERATOR: GENEVIEVE JACOBS
JOHN SCHUMANN
RICHARD ROXBURGH
SATURDAY 13 AUGUST
2.00 PM – 3.00 PM
CINEMA
KAMBRI CULTURAL CENTRE (ANU)
an exclusive festival premiere on the eve of the
centenary of his death, legendary musician John
Schumann and actor Richard Roxburgh mix a
string quartet and choir from Canberra’s School of
Music (ANU) with words to explore Lawson’s life,
triumphs, failures, and his vision for Australia at a
time when we are looking to our history to guide us
into our future.
CATCH ME IF YOU CAN
MODERATOR: TIM AYLIFFE
SANDI LOGAN
BRYAN BROWN
SHELLEY BURR
JACK HEATH
SATURDAY 13 AUGUST
2.00 PM – 3.00 PM
MEMBERS DINING ROOM
MUSEUM OF AUSTRALIAN DEMOCRACY
drug-running grannies to searing thrillers, Bryan
Brown, Sandi Logan, Shelley Burr, and Jack Heath
discuss the power of personal investigation.
SATURDAY 13 AUGUST
GERMAINE
GREER IN
CONVERSATION
WITH RICK
MORTON
SATURDAY 13 AUGUST
2.00 PM – 3.00 PM
MANNING CLARK HALL
KAMBRI CULTURAL CENTRE (ANU)
in residential aged care are women, as are
70% of people who live in residential aged
care. Germaine Greer speaks frankly about
why aged care remains one of the most
pressing feminist issues today.
POWER PASSION POLITICS PROGRAM 10–14 AUGUST 2022 11
THE SPACE BETWEEN
THE STARS
INDIRA NAIDOO IN CONVERSATION
WITH CAROLINE BAUM
SATURDAY 13 AUGUST
4.00 PM – 5.00 PM
CINEMA
KAMBRI CULTURAL CENTRE (ANU)
How did a wise old tree and urban nature — from
feathers to puddles to clouds — help broadcaster
tragic death of her youngest sister?
I’M NOT RACIST BUT,
WHERE ARE YOU REALLY
FROM?
MODERATOR: SUNIL BADAMI
FIONA FOLEY
JULIANNE SCHULTZ
DJON MUNDINE
SATURDAY 13 AUGUST
2.00 PM – 3.00 PM
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES CHAMBER
MUSEUM OF AUSTRALIAN DEMOCRACY
76% of Australians agree there is a serious
problem with racism in the country. But not
everyone concurs. What does ‘diversity’
mean today?
BREAKING
THE CODE OF
SILENCE
MODERATOR:
WENDY MCCARTHY
AMY REMEIKIS
SAM MAIDEN
LOUISE MILLIGAN
KATRINA MARSON
SATURDAY 13 AUGUST
2.00 PM – 3.00 PM
T2
KAMBRI CULTURAL CENTRE (ANU)
Women frequently pay a personal price
for exposing the truth — either about
themselves or the stories they cover. In the
pursuit of truth and justice, disturbing and
demonising narratives emerge.
LOVE STORIES
TRENT DALTON IN
CONVERSATION WITH
LISA MILLAR
SATURDAY 13 AUGUST
4.00 PM – 5.00 PM
MANNING CLARK HALL
KAMBRI CULTURAL CENTRE (ANU)
Armed with just a typewriter, best-selling
author Trent Dalton took to a street corner
in the Brisbane CBD to solicit love stories
from anyone and everyone. This is what
happened next.
SATURDAY 13 AUGUST
CANBERRAWRITERSFESTIVAL.COM.AU12 10–14 AUGUST 2022
NO COUNTRY FOR FARMERS
MODERATOR: LUCY BARBOUR
GABRIELLE CHAN
CHARLIE MASSY
JEFF SPARROW
SATURDAY 13 AUGUST
4.00 PM – 5.00 PM
VISIONS THEATRE
NATIONAL MUSEUM OF AUSTRALIA
farming, land use, trade policy and Australia’s
economic future. Be prepared to permanently
change the way you think about farming.
THE WRITE STUFF
MODERATOR: GENEVIEVE JACOBS
CHRIS FLYNN
DEBRA OSWALD
MARION FRITH
SATURDAY 13 AUGUST
4.00 PM – 5.00 PM
MEMBERS DINING ROOM
MUSEUM OF AUSTRALIAN DEMOCRACY
An unlikely friendship in the aftermath of a terrorist
attack, an ethical and psychological conundrum,
and a requiem for lost worlds and lost time — our
writers speak about their literary visions, passions,
and practices.
DYING IS EASY, COMEDY
IS HARD
MODERATOR: SUZANNE LEAL
MEGAN ALBANY
LUCY NEAVE
ZOE COYLE
SATURDAY 13 AUGUST
4.00 PM – 5.00 PM
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES CHAMBER
MUSEUM OF AUSTRALIAN DEMOCRACY
Life is unavoidably messy — and family life is the
messiest of all. Three novelists share stories of
how people cope (or not) when life (and death)
throw them curveballs and how what we learn
along the way makes the struggle worthwhile.
LET ME TELL
YOU A STORY
CHLOE HOOPER IN
CONVERSATION WITH
RICHARD FIDLER
SATURDAY 13 AUGUST
4.00 PM – 5.00 PM
T2
KAMBRI CULTURAL CENTRE (ANU)
When Chloe Hooper’s partner is diagnosed
their two young sons. By instinct, she turns
to the bookshelf. Can the news be broken
as a bedtime tale? A vital conversation
exploring how we teach and talk about grief
and resilience.
SATURDAY 13 AUGUST
POWER PASSION POLITICS PROGRAM 10–14 AUGUST 2022 13
RETHINKING POSSIBLE
MODERATOR: BEEJAY SILCOX
LECH BLAINE
BEN BRAVERY
NATASHA SHOLL
SUNDAY 14 AUGUST
10.00 AM – 11.00 AM
T2
KAMBRI CULTURAL CENTRE (ANU)
Is trauma overexposed and overrated? Four
writers who’ve lived to tell their tales discuss the
art of surviving, where the real work begins — and
if it ever ends.
CHILDREN’S EVENT
THE MOST DANGEROUS
BOOKS IN THE WORLD
JACK HEATH
SUNDAY 14 AUGUST
10.00 AM – 11.00 AM
VISIONS THEATRE
NATIONAL MUSEUM OF AUSTRALIA
The clock is ticking! Are you brave enough to face
asteroids, funnel web spiders, out-of-control self-
driving cars and more? Find out with Jack Heath,
the author of 10 Minutes of Danger.
THE GOSPEL ACCORDING
TO PAUL
JONATHAN BIGGINS IN
CONVERSATION WITH FRAN KELLY
SUNDAY 14 AUGUST
10.00 AM – 11.00 AM
CINEMA
KAMBRI CULTURAL CENTRE (ANU)
Writer and satirist Jonathan Biggins draws on his
award-winning play to harness the eviscerating
wit and wisdom of the one and only Paul Keating
from Bankstown to the Lodge and beyond. A
timely reminder of the political leadership we are
sorely missing.
THE PRICE OF FREEDOM
MODERATOR: CHRIS HAMMER
KRISTY CAMPION
TIM AYLIFFE
SUNDAY 14 AUGUST
10.00 AM – 11.00 AM
MEMBERS DINING ROOM
MUSEUM OF AUSTRALIAN DEMOCRACY
Our panel probes the rise of global right-wing
extremism and the personal, brutal experience
of terrorism.
WAS IT
SOMETHING
I SAID?
LIONEL SHRIVER IN
CONVERSATION WITH
CHRIS FLYNN
SUNDAY 14 AUGUST
10.00 AM – 11.00 AM
MANNING CLARK HALL
KAMBRI CULTURAL CENTRE (ANU)
Award-winning author Lionel Shriver is
unapologetically outspoken. Fellow writer
Chris Flynn delivers everything you’ve ever
wanted to know about Lionel, why cataclysm
change minds. (Lionel Shriver appears live
via Zoom.)
SUNDAY 14 AUGUST
CANBERRAWRITERSFESTIVAL.COM.AU14 10–14 AUGUST 2022
NATURAL BORN
STORYTELLERS
MODERATOR: JANE O’DWYER
RUTH WILSON
JANE CARO
HILDE HINTON
SUNDAY 14 AUGUST
10.00 AM – 11.00 AM
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES CHAMBER
MUSEUM OF AUSTRALIAN DEMOCRACY
Behind the doors and curtains of everyday homes,
what dramas are quietly playing out? Three writers
with a talent for noticing the extraordinary in the
ordinary discuss what makes good people, good
lives, and good stories.
THE VILLAGE DOGS OF
PUCKLECHUCK
EMILY GARRETT IN CONVERSATION
WITH MICHELE SEMINARA
SUNDAY 14 AUGUST
12.00 PM – 1.00 PM
VISIONS THEATRE
NATIONAL MUSEUM OF AUSTRALIA
Come meet the creator of The Village Dogs of
Pucklechuck, a magical, out-of-the-ordinary
fantasy series starring Mog, a young half-giant and
COMRADE
IT’S TIME
AGAIN!
MODERATOR:
PAUL BONGIORNO
CHRISTINE SYKES
JENNY HOCKING
JOHN FAULKNER
PAUL KELLY
SUNDAY 14 AUGUST
12.00 PM – 1.00 PM
MANNING CLARK HALL
KAMBRI CULTURAL CENTRE (ANU)
2022 marks the 50th anniversary of the
Whitlam Government being elected to
we want from our leaders now and into
the future.
SUNDAY 14 AUGUST
SPECIAL EVENT
HOMEGROWN
A YEAR OF GROWING, COOKING
AND EATING.
PAUL WEST IN CONVERSATION
WITH EMMA MACDONALD
SUNDAY 14 AUGUST
12.00 PM – 2.00 PM
aMBUSH GALLERY
KAMBRI CULTURAL CENTRE (ANU)
River Cottage Australia
for this special lunch as he shows how
we can all become that little bit more
POWER PASSION POLITICS PROGRAM 10–14 AUGUST 2022 15
THE LUMINOUS
CHARLOTTE WOOD
CHARLOTTE WOOD IN
CONVERSATION WITH
BEEJAY SILCOX
SUNDAY 14 AUGUST
12.00 PM – 1.00 PM
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES CHAMBER
MUSEUM OF AUSTRALIAN DEMOCRACY
As one of Australia’s most successful and original
award-winning novelists, Charlotte Wood’s
She shares insights she has gained over her
career and why curiosity and intention are crucial
to creativity.
DAUGHTER OF THE
RIVER COUNTRY
DIANNE O’BRIEN IN
CONVERSATION WITH
SUE WILLIAMS
SUNDAY 14 AUGUST
12.00 PM – 1.00 PM
T2
KAMBRI CULTURAL CENTRE (ANU)
From being a child of the Stolen Generation to
enduring abuse and imprisonment, Aunty Di
O’Brien — now a remarkable community leader —
talks to her biographer, Sue Williams, about how
THE CHANGE MAKERS
PARTICIPATING CHAIR:
LINDA JAIVIN
EMMA BATCHELOR
DIANA REID
JO DYER
SUNDAY 14 AUGUST
12.00 PM – 1.00 PM
MEMBERS DINING ROOM
MUSEUM OF AUSTRALIAN DEMOCRACY
be fully appreciated after they’ve passed. Four
passionate women unpack pivotal moments and
the vagaries of power and prestige.
THE MEANING OF LIFE,
DEATH, AND EVERYTHING
IN BETWEEN
MODERATOR: NORMAN SWAN
MEGAN ALBANY
CHLOE HOOPER
ZOE COYLE
SUNDAY 14 AUGUST
2.00 PM – 3.00 PM
CINEMA
KAMBRI CULTURAL CENTRE (ANU)
Bookended by birth and death are all the
nonsensical bits we call life in between . . . Our
panel dives in to discuss what we do when things
go wrong and how we make meaning of them.
MY FRIEND
ANNA
THE TRUE STORY OF ANNA DELVEY,
THE FAKE HEIRESS OF NEW YORK
CITY
RACHEL DELOACHE WILLIAMS
IN CONVERSATION WITH
GENEVIEVE GANNON
SUNDAY 14 AUGUST
12.00 PM – 1.00 PM
CINEMA
KAMBRI CULTURAL CENTRE (ANU)
How does it feel to be betrayed by your
closest friend? In an exclusive to the festival,
New York Times bestselling author Rachel
Williams tells the incredible story of Anna
watched series. (Rachel Deloache Williams
appears live via Zoom.)
SUNDAY 14 AUGUST
CANBERRAWRITERSFESTIVAL.COM.AU16 10–14 AUGUST 2022
ALL MIXED UP
JASON OM IN CONVERSATION
WITH CHRIS FLYNN
SUNDAY 14 AUGUST
2.00 PM – 3.00 PM
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES CHAMBER
MUSEUM OF AUSTRALIAN DEMOCRACY
Walkley-Award winning journalist Jason Om
explains why some secrets should never be kept
and unearths the obscured truths of his
multiracial family.
THE TOUGHEST
ASSIGNMENT
MODERATOR: KAREN MIDDLETON
JOHN LYONS
ANDREW QUILTY
SUNDAY 14 AUGUST
2.00 PM – 3.00 PM
T2
KAMBRI CULTURAL CENTRE (ANU)
East, how does one survive the harrowing risks
that come from reporting from the frontline?
YOU CAN TAKE THE PERSON
OUT OF THE COUNTRY…
MODERATOR: SUNIL BADAMI
YUMNA KASSAB
LISA MILLAR
RICK MORTON
SUNDAY 14 AUGUST
2.00 PM – 3.00 PM
MEMBERS DINING ROOM
MUSEUM OF AUSTRALIAN DEMOCRACY
Our award-winning authors share their remarkable
stories of growing up in suburbia and in the
country, confronting the worst and best that
ALL IN THE FAMILY
MODERATOR: TOM GIBSON
PETER GARRETT & EMILY GARRETT
RICHARD GLOVER &
DEBRA OSWALD
SAM JOHNSON & HILDE HINTON
SUNDAY 14 AUGUST
4.00 PM – 5.00 PM
MANNING CLARK HALL
KAMBRI CULTURAL CENTRE (ANU)
own way’. But what about families who write?
Father and daughter, husband, and wife and two
siblings reveal who gets to tell what and how!
HOW TO END
A STORY
HELEN GARNER IN
CONVERSATION WITH
ROSEMARIE MILSOM
SUNDAY 14 AUGUST
2.00 PM – 3.00 PM
MANNING CLARK HALL
KAMBRI CULTURAL CENTRE (ANU)
‘The same old need to shape life’s mess
into a seizable story’ is at the heart of
Helen Garner’s writing. An intimate, no-holds
barred conversation on keeping diaries,
of adverbs. (Helen Garner appears live
via Zoom.)
SUNDAY 14 AUGUST
POWER PASSION POLITICS PROGRAM 10–14 AUGUST 2022 17
CRIMES AGAINST NATURE
MODERATOR: RICHIE MERZIAN
JEFF SPARROW
JONICA NEWBY
DAVID LINDENMAYER
SUNDAY 14 AUGUST
4.00 PM – 5.00 PM
MEMBERS DINING ROOM
MUSEUM OF AUSTRALIAN DEMOCRACY
Global warming, viral outbreaks and the
environmental crisis have taken their toll on all of
us. Our expert panel discusses crimes against
nature and how to shore up courage for the
uncertainties ahead.
WINTER TALES
MODERATOR: SUZANNE LEAL
NIGEL FEATHERSTONE
LEE KOFMAN
KAREN VIGGERS
SULARI GENTILL
SUNDAY 14 AUGUST
4.00 PM – 5.00 PM
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES CHAMBER
MUSEUM OF AUSTRALIAN DEMOCRACY
Winter is the perfect time to settle in with a book
writers reveal the artistry and inspiration behind
their words and worlds.
AROUND THE
WORLD IN 80
PLANTS
JONATHAN DRORI IN
CONVERSATION WITH
NICOLE ABADEE
SUNDAY 14 AUGUST
4.00 PM – 5.00 PM
T2
KAMBRI CULTURAL CENTRE (ANU)
After his sell-out session Around the World
in 80 trees, Jonathan Drori embarks on
his next trip across the globe, bringing to
life the science of plants and how their
worlds are intricately entwined with our own
history, culture, and folklore. (Jonathan Drori
appears live via Zoom.)
SPECIAL EVENT
CLOSING
NIGHT: LIGHT
BULB MOMENT
INDIRA NAIDOO
SAMUEL JOHNSON
NORMAN SWAN
RICK MORTON
DIANNE O’BRIEN
BEN BRAVERY
JANE CARO
SUNDAY 14 AUGUST
6.00 PM – 7.30 PM
MANNING CLARK HALL
KAMBRI CULTURAL CENTRE (ANU)
There are moments in life when everything
changes — small moments with big
consequences. CWF’s signature closing
night event, Light Bulb Moment, is not to be
missed, with a stellar line-up of speakers
divulging their personal epiphanies.
SUNDAY 14 AUGUST
CANBERRAWRITERSFESTIVAL.COM.AU18 10–14 AUGUST 2022
A
NICOLE ABADEE
Nicole has worked in the book industry for many years
after her previous career as a barrister. She writes
Good Weekend, and is also a regular
Two of Us
Books,
Books, Books
international writers about their latest books.
MEGAN ALBANY
Megan is a proud First Nations woman of Kalkadoon
and European heritage who has worked as an editor,
scriptwriter, songwriter/composer, and journalist. She
has written for publications including The Guardian (UK),
Metro (Ireland), Irish Echo and the Koori Mail. Megan has
a Masters in Creative Writing, has taught creative
writing as part of the Disadvantaged Schools Program,
and has taught literacy on Pitjantjatjaran lands. The Very
Last List of Vivian Walker
for The Banjo Prize in 2020 and highly commended
in the Australian Society of Authors 2020 Award
Mentorship Program.
ISABEL ALLENDE
Born in Peru and raised in Chile, Isabel Allende is
the author of 26 bestselling and critically acclaimed
books, including The House of the Spirits, Daughter of
Fortune and City of the Beasts. A Chilean immigrant
herself, Allende devotes much of her time to human
Foundation. She lives in California. Her latest books are
The Soul of a Woman and Violetta.
TIM AYLIFFE
A journalist for more than 20 years, Tim is the managing
editor of television and video for ABC News. He has
travelled widely and worked in London for British
writing global crime thrillers featuring former foreign
The
Greater Good, State of FearThe Enemy Within.
B
SUNIL BADAMI
Sunil Badami is a writer and academic and teaches
creative writing at the University of Technology Sydney.
His work has been published here and overseas,
Best Australian Stories and Essays. He
Sunday
Takeaway, plus acclaimed documentaries, including the
Riddle. Mystery. Enigma.
JACKIE BAILEY
Jackie is a writer and independent funeral director living
and working on Dharawal country in the Illawarra. Jackie
is a researcher and a recognised international expert
on cultural diversity in the arts. She often appears on
arts industry panels and at conferences, is a regular
contributor to ArtsHub, and has a Creative Writing
PhD from UNSW. Jackie is also an ordained interfaith
minister, trained death-walker, and practising funeral
director. The Eulogy
LUCY BARBOUR
Lucy is the ABC’s National Drought and Regional
federal politics for television, radio, and online from
AM, The World Today and PM. She
also worked as the political producer for 7.30. Lucy
began her career as a rural reporter in the towns of
JIMMY BARNES
Known by all as ‘Barnesy’, Jimmy is the heart and soul
of Australian rock-and-roll and released his twentieth
studio album, Flesh and Wood, in July 2021. He has
17 number one albums and has sold more records in
Australia than any other local rock and roll artist. His
third book, Killing Time: short stories from the long way
home
charts, as did Working Class Boy and Working Class
Man. Jimmy’s most recent publications are a children’s
book, Rosie the Rhinoceros, and a cookbook written
with his partner Jane, Where the River Bends.
JANES BARNES
Jane and Jimmy Barnes have spent forty years together,
sharing a life of music, cooking, travel and raising their
family. During the Covid pandemic, Jane and Jimmy
launched a series of ‘at home’ online performances,
which attracted more than 100 million views on social
media and brought their many thousands of fans and
followers directly into their living room. They have also
co-authored Where the River Bends, a book inspired by
the food they love and the legendary feasts they host
for family and friends. It features more than 70 recipes
from their kitchen table accompanied by personal
recollections, anecdotes and stunning photography.
ELLY-MAY BARNES
Elly-May is the youngest daughter of rockstar Jimmy
Barnes. She sings in his band as well as performing her
CECILE BARRAL
grandmother, a gardener, a bush lover and a journal
keeper. She is a psychotherapist with over 35 years
of experience specialising in complex developmental
trauma and has a special interest in the use of writing
to help process such traumas. Cécile is very actively
involved in ANZAP (Australia and New Zealand
Association of Psychotherapy), being on its teaching
EMMA BATCHELOR
Emma Batchelor is a writer and author from Canberra.
After university and travel, Emma eventually embraced
her desire to write and created her own online
publication. Emma lives part-time with her partner Jesse
Now
That I See You, won the 2021 Australian/Vogel’s Literary
Award for an unpublished manuscript by an author
under the age of 35.
CAROLINE BAUM
Caroline Baum is a writer, journalist, former broadcaster,
occasional moderator, curator and photographer. In
2021 she launched her new podcast, Life Sentences,
about contemporary biography. In 2020 she was
appointed ambassador for the Older Women’s
Network in New South Wales. She is the author of
Only: A Singular Memoir and is currently working on a
second book.
ALLAN BEHM
at The Australia Institute in Canberra. He specialises
in political and security risk evaluation, policy analysis
and development, and negotiating the policy/politics
interface. He has a substantial publishing record,
including No, Minister, which is a ‘go to’ text on
leadership, political management, policy development
and reform. His most recent book is No Enemies No
Friends: Restoring Australia’s Global Relevance.
CADANCE BELL
Cadance ‘Cady’ Bell is an openly transgender Australian
storyteller whose writing has appeared in publications
including The Guardian
Rainbow Roo and I Miss Pockets. She has written,
produced and directed dozens of award-winning short
at events such as Queerstories and the Antidote Festival
at the Sydney Opera House. Cadance lives in New South
Letters to Our Robot Son.
AARTI BETIGERI
Aarti Betigeri is a multi-platform journalist and former
foreign correspondent based in Canberra. She is a
correspondent for Monocle magazine and contributes
to various local and foreign media outlets. She recently
returned to Australia after almost a decade in India.
Before moving to India, she was a television news
journalist and presenter with the ABC and SBS.
JONATHAN BIGGINS
Jonathan Biggins is an Australian actor, singer, writer,
director and comedian. He has appeared for all the
major state theatre companies in Australia and co-
The Wharf
Revue
Good Weekend Magazine, his
The 700 Habits of Highly Ineective
PeopleThe 700 Habits of Highly Ineective Parents
POWER PASSION POLITICS PROGRAM 10–14 AUGUST 2022 19
LECH BLAINE
Lech Blaine is a writer from Toowoomba. He is the
Car Crash
The MonthlyGuardian
AustraliaThe Best Australian Essays and
Meanjin
PAUL BONGIORNO
Paul Bongiorno is a columnist for The Saturday Paper
and a 30-year veteran of the Canberra press gallery.
MIKE BOWERS
Talking
PicturesInsiders
Gallipoli Untold StoriesThe
Big Picture: Diary of a Nation, featuring 175 years of
reportage from TheSydney Morning Herald.
BENJAMIN BRAVERY
Originally a zoologist and science communicator,
Ben Bravery worked for the Australian and Chinese
governments before being diagnosed with stage
3 colorectal cancer at age 28. After undergoing
eighteen months of cancer treatment, Ben decided
on a career change. He became a doctor in 2018 and
is now undertaking speciality training in psychiatry.
Ben volunteers, advocates, writes and speaks about
colorectal cancer, living with cancer, cancer in young
adults, medicine and medical education, and is
healthcare system.
BILL BROWDER
Bill Browder is the founder and CEO of Hermitage
Capital Management and was the largest foreign
lawyer, Sergei Magnitsky, was murdered in prison after
uncovering a $230 million fraud committed by Russian
campaign to expose Russia’s endemic corruption and
New
York TimesFreezing Order: A True Story
of Russian Money Laundering, State-Sponsored Murder,
and Surviving Vladimir Putin's Wrath.
BRYAN BROWN
Iconic Australian actor Bryan Brown became an
international success in the early eighties with critical
Breaker Morant
A Town Like Alice. A stream of
Australian hits and Hollywood productions followed. In
novel, Sweet Jimmy.
SHELLEY BURR
between the two. When not writing, she works in
environmental policy in Canberra and is studying
agriculture at the University of New England, with a
focus on soil science. She is an alumnus of the ACT
Writers Hardcopy program (2018) and a Varuna fellow.
WAKE
was shortlisted for the Kill Your Darlings Unpublished
Manuscript Award and the Bath Novel Award.
C
OCEANE CAMPBELL
The Silence
Between Us: A Mother and Daughter’s Conversation
Through Suicide and into Life
a mother and daughter trying to understand and rebuild
their relationship after the daughter’s suicide attempt.
also completed a psychology degree and worked in
corporate advisory and policy writing. In 2022, she was
named Newcastle Woman of the Year for her advocacy
work in mental health and work as a midwife with
KRISTY CAMPION
right-wing extremism and terrorism. She is a lecturer
in Terrorism Studies in the Australian Graduate School of
Policing and Security at Charles Sturt University.
She has advised government in Australia and
New Zealand, been an invited speaker at security
seminars, and delivered high-level training to federal
and state authorities.
JANE CARO
Jane Caro AM is a Walkley Award-winning
Australian columnist, author, novelist, broadcaster,
advertising writer, documentary maker, feminist and
social commentator.
TABITHA CARVAN
This Is Not a Book
About Benedict Cumberbatch, a memoir with a
message about embracing our passions. She is Senior
Writer in the sciences for the Australian National
University and has contributed to publications in the US,
Australia and Asia on topics including identity, family,
GABRIELLE CHAN
Gabrielle Chan has been a journalist for more than
30 years. She has written and edited history books,
biographies and even a recipe book. The daughter
of a Singaporean migrant, Gabrielle moved from the
Canberra press gallery to marry a sheep and wheat
divide between the city and the country, so she
swapped interviews with politicians for interviews with
ordinary people. Her most recent book is Why You
Should Give a F*ck About Farming.
STEPHEN CHARLES
After a distinguished career at the Victorian Bar and
as a Judge of Appeal in the Supreme Court of Victoria,
Stephen Charles AO, QC, is now a board member of
the Accountable Round Table and the Centre for Public
Integrity. He has been for many years a tireless advocate
for the creation of a federal anti-corruption watchdog.
ROBBIE COBURN
Robbie Coburn’s work has appeared in many
Poetry,
MeanjinIslandWesterly
Writing to the WireTo End
All Wars. He is the author of two full-length volumes of
Rain SeasonThe Other Flesh
ED COPER
Ed was on the front lines when the internet collided
movement, GetUp, to quickly amass more members
than every political party combined. He is a leading
political communications expert who pioneered
techniques to bring politics into the digital age. He
countries and has been behind the scenes of many of
Ed is based in Sydney and is the author of Facts* and
other Lies.
ZOE COYLE
Zoë Coyle has spent over 15 years in corporate and
communication training, building on her 20 years’
and Australia. She is the communication coach of
choice for the CEOs of some of Australia’s largest
Where The Light Gets In
DAVID CROWE
The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald
Insiders, Radio
National, the Nine Network and Sky News, and is the
president of the Canberra press gallery. He is the author
of The Digital Edge and Venom.
D
TRENT DALTON
bestselling novels Boy Swallows UniverseAll Our
Shimmering Skies. He is an award-winning journalist
at The Weekend Australian Magazine and has written
a two-time winner of a Walkley Award for Excellence in
Journalism, a four-time winner of a Kennedy Award for
Excellence in NSW Journalism and a four-time winner of
the national News Awards Features Journalist of
the Year.
RACHEL DELOACHE WILLIAMS
Rachel DeLoache Williams was born and raised in
Knoxville, Tennessee, and is a graduate of Kenyon
College. In 2010, she moved to New York City and
Vanity
FairMy FriendAnna, documents her
friendship with the infamous Anna Sorokin (aka Anna
Inventing Anna
JONATHAN DRORI
Jonathan Drori is a Trustee of The Eden Project and
Cambridge Science Centre and an ambassador for
the World Wildlife Fund. He is on the Cambridge
University Botanic Garden board and is a Fellow of the
Linnean Society, the Zoological Society of London and
the Royal Geographical Society. Previously, he was
executive producer of more than 50 prime-time science
documentaries and popular series at the BBC. Around
the World in 80 Plants is his latest book.
CANBERRAWRITERSFESTIVAL.COM.AU20 10–14 AUGUST 2022
JO DYER
Jo is a writer, literary curator and producer of theatre
Week, Jo has held leadership roles at national cultural
institutions such as Sydney Writers’ Festival, Sydney
Theatre Company and Bangarra Dance Theatre. Her
at the Berlin International Film Festival. In 2021, Jo was
unexpectedly thrust into the national spotlight when
she became an advocate for her deceased friend Kate,
after Kate’s accusations of rape against then
attorney-general Christian Porter were posthumously
made public.
E
BRIAN EDWARDS
Brian is a proud Wiradjuri man and a disability
advocate with Absec and the NDIS. Before becoming
blind, he played rugby league for more than ten years
with the Redfern All Blacks. Now he plays cricket with
people who are blind. He is a DJ and has travelled the
F
JOHN FAULKNER
John Philip Faulkner is an Australian former Labor Party
politician who was a Senator for New South Wales from
Rudd and Gillard Governments.
MEHREEN FARUQI
Dr Mehreen Faruqi is the Greens’ senator for New South
Wales. She is a civil and environmental engineer and a
life-long activist for social and environmental justice. In
Australian parliament (NSW). In 2018, Mehreen became
advocate against racism and misogyny and is the author
of Too Migrant, Too Muslim, Too Loud.
NIGEL FEATHERSTONE
Bodies of Men
was longlisted for the 2020 ARA Historical Novel Prize,
Highly Commended for the 2020 ACT Book of the Year,
lives on the Southern Tablelands of New South Wales
and spends considerable time in Canberra, the national
capital of Australia. His new novel My Heart is a Little
Wild Thing will be released in early 2022.
RICHARD FIDLER
Richard Fidler is the author of the bestselling Ghost
Empire
Saga Land, which was awarded the 2018
Indie Non-Fiction Book of the Year. Richard is best
known as the presenter of Australia’s most popular
podcast, the ABC’s Conversations. In another life,
Richard was a member of Australian comedy trio The
The Golden
Maze
CHRIS FLYNN
MammothThe Glass
KingdomA Tiger in Eden
presenter at literary festivals across Australia. His latest
book, Horridus: Journey of a Triceratops, chronicles the
67-million-year voyage across deep time of one of the
most remarkable fossils ever discovered.
FIONA FOLEY
Dr Fiona Foley is a Maryborough-born Badtjala
(Butchulla) artist, academic and writer whose work is
held in many Australian state, national and university
collections. She was recipient of the 2020
Monica Clare Research Fellowship from the State
Library of Queensland for her publication Bogimbah
Creek Mission: The First Aboriginal Experiment. Her
book Biting the Clouds: A Badtjala perspective on the
Aboriginals Protection and Restriction of the
Sale of Opium Act, 1897, was awarded the
Queensland Premier’s Award for a Work of State
MARION FRITH
Marion Frith is a former journalist, communications
specialist and speechwriter. She has written and worked
for major Australian newspapers and the ABC as a social
and political commentator. She was based for many
years in the Canberra Press Gallery and regularly wrote
as a journalist on the political becoming personal, and
how government policy and decision-making impacts
individual lives from a social justice perspective.
Marion’s debut novel, Here in the After, is the story of
the aftermath of terrorism, based loosely on the 2014
siege in the Lindt café in Sydney.
G
GENEVIEVE GANNON
Genevieve Gannon is an award-winning Sydney-based
The Gifted Son
The Mothers. Previously the chief court reporter
for Australian Associated Press in Melbourne, she is now
The Australian Women's Weekly,
HELEN GARNER
Helen Garner writes novels, stories, screenplays
inaugural Melbourne Prize for Literature, the prestigious
she was honoured with the Australia Council Award for
Lifetime Achievement in Literature, and in 2020 she
received the Lloyd O’Neill Award for her outstanding
contribution to the industry. Her most recent book is
How to End a Story.
EMILY GARRETT
Emily Garrett is based in Sydney’s inner west. She
is the author of The Village Dogs of Pucklechuck
passionate about street photography.
PETER GARRETT
Peter Garrett is a long-time advocate and campaigner
on a range of local and global issues. A member of
iconic Australian rock band Midnight Oil, he served as
a cabinet minister in the Rudd and Gillard governments
from 2007-13. Peter is a member of the Order of
Australia for contributions to the music industry and
Letters (France). Peter’s bestselling memoir is Big
Blue Sky. He also contributed on the subject of the
environment to the anthology Upturn: A Better Normal
After Covid-19 (edited by Tanya Plibersek).
SULARI GENTILL
Sulari Gentill is the author of the multi-award-winning
Rowland Sinclair Mysteries, a series of (currently) ten
name S. D. Gentill, she wrote The Hero Trilogy, a fantasy
adventure series based on the myths and legends
of the ancient world. Her widely praised standalone
novel, Crossing the Lines, won the Ned Kelly Award for
Best Crime Novel. Most recently, Sulari was awarded
a Copyright Agency Cultural Fund Fellowship for The
Woman in the Library.
TOM GIBSON
Tom Gibson burst onto the Australian comedy scene by
winning the Green Faces national comedy competition
and the Canberra heat of Triple J’s Raw Comedy
competition. He has since written and performed solo
stand-up comedy shows for each of the last 12 years,
including at the Melbourne, Sydney and Canberra
comedy festivals. Tom is currently completing a
Creative PhD at the University of Canberra that focuses
identity development in their protagonists. His PhD
this research.
RICHARD GLOVER
Flesh Wounds,
described as a comic romp for anyone whose family
was not what they ordered, and of The Land Before
Avocado: Journeys in a lost Australia. His most recent
Love, Clancy – A Dog’s Letters Home. He writes
The Sydney Morning HeraldThe
Washington PostThank
God It’s Friday!
IRMA GOLD
Irma Gold is an award-winning author and editor of
Seree’s StoryWhere
the Heart Is
The Breaking, was released to critical acclaim
and won a Canberra Critics Circle Award. She is also
Two Steps
Forward
GINGER GORMAN
Ginger Gorman is an award-winning print and radio
journalist based in the Australian Capital Territory.
She is also a 2006 World Press Institute Fellow. Her
freelance work has been published in print and online in
publications such as news.com.au, The Hungton
Post, Guardian Australia, The Age and the ABC’s
Drum website.
POWER PASSION POLITICS PROGRAM 10–14 AUGUST 2022 21
A. C. GRAYLING
A. C. Grayling is the Founder and Principal of the New
College of the Humanities at Northeastern University,
London, and its Professor of Philosophy. Among his
many books are The God Argument, Democracy and
Its Crisis, The History of Philosophy, The Good State
and The Frontiers of Knowledge. He has been a regular
contributor to The Times, Guardian, Financial Times,
Independent on Sunday, Economist, New Statesman,
Prospect and New European. Grayling appears
frequently on radio and TV, including Newsnight and
CNN News. He lives in London.
GERMAINE GREER
Germaine Greer is an Australian writer and public
intellectual, regarded as one of the major voices of the
radical feminist movement in the latter half of the
20th century.
H
MARION HALLIGAN
Marion Halligan was born in Newcastle and grew up by
Canberra. She always believed she was going to be a
writer, though took a while to get started. Halligan has
The Midwife's Daughters) and has written short
stories, articles, book reviews and essays for various
Shooting the Fox.
DUANE HAMACHER
Duane is Associate Professor of Cultural Astronomy in
the School of Physics at the University of Melbourne.
He earned graduate degrees in astrophysics and the
The Story of
God with Morgan Freeman
local and international programs. He serves as an expert
consultant for UNESCO and works for Indigenous elders
in the Torres Strait and around the world to document
traditional star knowledge for educational programs and
public understanding.
CHRIS HAMMER
Chris Hammer is a leading Australian author of crime
Scrublands, was an instant
bestseller when it was published in mid-2018. It won
the prestigious UK Crime Writers Association New
His follow up books – SilverTrust (2020) and
Treasure & Dirt (2021) – are also bestsellers and have all
been shortlisted for major literary prizes.
VIRGINIA HAUSSEGGER
Virginia Haussegger AM is a passionate women’s
advocate and communication specialist. She is also
an award-winning television journalist, writer and
commentator whose extensive media career spans
more than 25 years. In 2014 Virginia was made a
Member of the Order of Australia (AM) for service to
gender equity, and to the media.
VERONICA HERITAGE-GORRIE
Veronica Gorrie is a Gunai/Kurnai woman, a writer and
the author of Black and Blue
Aboriginality and the decade she spent in the police
force. Black and Blue
Nullung
featured in a stage performance.
JACK HEATH
Kill
Your Brother10
Minutes of Danger. He lives on Ngunnawal land.
PAUL HETHERINGTON
Professor Paul Hetherington is an Australian poet
and academic who has published numerous poetry
collections and won or been nominated for more
than thirty national and international awards and
Library of Australia and is Professor of Writing at the
University of Canberra, where he heads the university’s
International Poetry Studies Institute.
KATHRYN HEYMAN
numerous awards including the CAL Author Fellowship
Fury
Writers Mentoring Program and Honorary Professor of
Humanities at the University of Newcastle. Her memoir,
There is a Green HillGrith Review 72:
States of Mind.
HILDE HINTON
Hilde avoided being a writer for many years. But after
her critically acclaimed debut novel, The Loudness
of Unsaid Things, made a number of bestseller lists,
lives in a boisterous house in Melbourne with a revolving
door for the temporarily defeated and takes great pride
in people leaving slightly better than when they arrived.
Her children are mostly loved. And so are her books.
JENNY HOCKING
Jenny Hocking is emeritus professor at Monash
University, Distinguished Whitlam Fellow at the Whitlam
Institute at Western Sydney University, and Gough
Whitlam’s award-winning biographer. Her latest book is
The Palace Letters: The Queen, the Governor-General,
and the Plot to Dismiss Gough Whitlam.
SARAH HOLLAND-BATT
Professor Sarah Holland-Batt is an award-winning
poet, editor and critic, and a member of QUT’s Creative
Aria, was the recipient of
the Thomas Shapcott Poetry Prize, the Judith Wright
Poetry Prize and the Anne Elder Award. Her second
The Hazards, won the 2016 Prime Minister’s
Literary Award for Poetry. Sarah’s most recent books are
Fishing for Lightning: The Spark of Poetry, a collection
of her columns on contemporary Australian poetry
The Weekend Australian, and her poetry collection
The Jaguar.
CHLOE HOOPER
Chloe’s most recent book is the bestselling The
Arsonist: A Mind on Fire. Her 2008 book The Tall Man:
Death and Life on Palm Island
South Wales, West Australian and Queensland Premiers’
Literary Awards, as well as the John Button Prize for
Political Writing and a Ned Kelly Award for crime writing.
She is also the author of two other acclaimed novels, A
Child’s Book of True Crime and The Engagement.
JOANNA HU
Joanna Hu is an illustrator and ex front-of-house at Vue
de Monde, Saint Crispin and Fat Duck restaurants. The
daughter of Chinese Australian parents, she eschewed
a career in law for a whirlwind few years in hospitality
before settling into a life of painting, knitting, watching
crime procedurals and buying an excess of charity shop
tweed blazers.
JACKIE HUGGINS
Dr Jackie Huggins AM FAHA, a member of the Bidjara
and Birri Gubba Juru peoples, is currently leading the
work for Treaty/Treaties in Queensland. In popular
demand as a speaker on Aboriginal issues, she is a
well-known historian and author, with articles published
widely in Australia and internationally. Her widely
acclaimed books include Auntie RitaSister Girl, and
her most recent, a co-authored biography of her
Jack of Hearts QX11594.
ELIZA HULL
Eliza is a contemporary musician, disability advocate
and writer based in regional Victoria. She has been
Growing Up Disabled in Australia
We’ve Got
This, was one of Radio National’s and ABC Life’s most
successful series of all time. She was awarded the Arts
SHAKIRA HUSSEIN
Shakira Hussein is a writer and researcher based at
From
Victims to Suspects: Muslim Women Since 9/11
University Press/New South), and her work has been
published in a wide range of academic, literary and
KIM HUYNH
Kim Huynh is an ANU scholar who teaches a popular
course on “Political Belief and Deceit” which covers
everything from Plato to Post-Truth. He has published
The Culture
Wars: Australian and American Politics in the 21st
CenturySunday
Brunch
with the Kim for Canberra party.
J
GENEVIEVE JACOBS
Genevieve Jacobs is the group editor for Region Media,
has been a journalist for 30 years, working in print
and radio. She works with a wide range of Canberra
Creative Advisory Council and co-chairs the ACT
Reconciliation Council.
CANBERRAWRITERSFESTIVAL.COM.AU22 10–14 AUGUST 2022
LINDA JAIVIN
The Shortest History of China
cultural commentator and literary translator from
China Story Yearbook published by the Australian
Centre on China in the World at The ANU. Linda lived for
nine years in Taiwan, Hong Kong and mainland China
before settling in Australia.
SAMUEL JOHNSON
Samuel Johnson won a Gold Logie for his portrayal of
Molly Meldrum and danced his way to the Mirrorball
trophy on Dancing with the Stars. He prefers to be
known as a brother to his sister Connie, who died of
cancer in September 2017. Since Connie’s diagnosis,
Samuel has unicycled 16,000 km around Australia,
pieces and helped raise more than $13m for cancer
research. He was the 2018 Victorian of the Year for his
charity work to vanquish cancer. Samuel is a bestselling
Love Your Sister. His
latest book is Dear Mum.
K
YUMNA KASSAB
Yumna Kassab is a writer from Western Sydney. She
studied medical science and neuroscience at university.
The House of Youssef,
has been listed for numerous prizes, including the
Stella Prize.
FIONA KATAUSKAS
Fiona Katauskas is a freelance cartoonist and illustrator
based in Sydney. Her cartoons have appeared in a wide
range of publications, including The Sydney Morning
Herald, The Australian, The Australian Financial Review,
The Chaser and Eureka Street. Fiona is the author
The
Amazing True Story of How Babies Are Made.
ROSHEEN KAUL
Rosheen Kaul is head chef at Melbourne’s Etta
restaurant, where she cooks a menu as culturally
diverse as she is. She was nominated for ‘Best New
Talent’ in the Gourmet Traveller 2022 Restaurant
Awards, named one of Rare Medium magazine’s
‘Young Guns’ for 2021 and selected as the Restaurant &
Catering Association Young Achiever of the Year 2021.
As a writer, she’s contributed essays and recipes to the
Home MadeNew Voices on
FoodTart MagazineVeraison. She’s also
co-author of the popular The Isol(asian)
Cookbook series.
FRAN KELLY
and political correspondent. She hosted ABC Radio
National’s Breakfast for 16 years. Fran is a feature of the
and television. She worked in the heart of politics in
various roles in the Canberra press gallery, as
7.30 Report, and as the ABC’s
Europe correspondent.
PAUL KELLY
Paul Kelly is Editor-at-Large at The Australian. He was
previously Editor-in-Chief of the paper and he writes
on Australian politics, public policy and international
from Gough Whitlam to Scott Morrison. He is a regular
television commentator on Sky News. He is the author
of numerous books, including Triumph and Demise
on the Rudd-Gillard era and The March of Patriots, a
re-interpretation of Paul Keating and John Howard in
Morrison’s Mission: How
a Beginner Reshaped Australian Foreign Policy.
IAN KEMISH
Ian Kemish AM served as Australian High Commissioner
to Papua New Guinea, Ambassador to Germany, an
international adviser to the Prime Minister, and Head of
the consular service in a diplomatic career that spanned
25 years. He was awarded membership of the Order of
Australia for his leadership of Australia’s response to
the 2002 Bali bombings. He is an Adjunct Professor in
History at the University of Queensland, a non-resident
fellow with the Lowy Institute and a New Colombo Plan
business champion.
LEE KOFMAN
Dr Lee Kofman is a Russian-born, Israeli-Australian
novelist, short story writer, essayist, memoirist and
sometimes-poet. Her short works have been published
in Australia, Scotland, the UK, Israel, USA and Canada.
Israel in Hebrew) and three memoirs, her most recent
being The Writer Laid Bare, about writing and
emotional honesty.
L
SUZANNE LEAL
Suzanne Leal is the author of novels The Deceptions,
The Teacher’s Secret and Border Street. Suzanne chairs
Literary Awards. She is a lawyer experienced in child
protection, criminal law and refugee law, and a senior
member of the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal.
STEVE LEWIS
Steve Lewis is a best-selling author whose novels
Marmalade Files, Mandarin Code and Shadow Game
(written with Chris Uhlmann) inspired the global
smash TV hit Secret City. A former senior journalist
in the Canberra press gallery, Steve now works as a
political and media consultant and is a Board Member
of the National Press Club. He is currently developing
several new political and spy thrillers for TV through
his company, Lewis & Uhlmann Productions, and is
determined to put Canberra on the global map for
high-quality and high-rating political drama. Steve
was also instrumental in establishing the Canberra
Writers Festival.
DAVID LINDENMAYER
Professor David Lindenmayer AO is a world-leading
expert on forest conservation and is ranked among
National University, he has led some of the largest-scale
environmental research programs in Australia,
The Great Forest.
SANDI LOGAN
After a career in journalism spanning a decade from
and undertook stints in PNG, Bonn and Washington,
DC, before returning to Canberra as a spokesperson
for various departments, agencies and ministers until
consulting in communications strategy from 2014. He
is the author of Betrayed: The Incredible Untold Inside
Story of the Two Most Unlikely Drug-running Grannies in
Australian History.
NATHAN LYNCH
Nathan Lynch is a writer and international speaker who
has spent two decades investigating the hidden world
of dark money that fuels organised crime, corruption
and violent extremism around the globe. He has
clean their dirty money. He is the author of The Lucky
Laundry.
JOHN LYONS
John Lyons is one of Australia’s most experienced
journalists and foreign correspondents. He is currently
Head of Investigative Journalism at the ABC and was
the past 40 years, he has held leadership positions in
The
Sydney Morning Herald
SundayThe
Australian’s Middle East correspondent, based in
Jerusalem, an experience that led him to write the
Balcony over Jerusalem.
M
EMMA MACDONALD
Emma is a multi-award-winning journalist who devoted
23 years of her life to newspaper journalism before
moving to the new media online platform HerCanberra in
2016. She is the Canberra convenor of Women in Media
and co-founded an international maternal health charity
Send Hope Not Flowers, which funds safe birth projects
SAMANTHA MAIDEN
Samantha Maiden is the political editor for news.com.
au. She won a Walkley Award for her coverage of federal
in 2020. She has covered federal politics for more than
20 years, including for The Australian
Insiders and The ProjectParty Animals,
was published in 2020, and her second book, Cause and
Solutions, is forthcoming in September 2022.
KATRINA MARSON
Katrina Marson has been a criminal lawyer since 2013,
primarily in the areas of family violence and sexual
Legitimate
Sexpectations: The Power of Sex-Ed, is forthcoming
in 2022.
POWER PASSION POLITICS PROGRAM 10–14 AUGUST 2022 23
KAREN MARTINI
Karen Martini’s acclaimed career includes two-hatted
stints at Melbourne Wine Room and Sydney’s Icebergs
Dining Room, as well as her own ventures – the latest of
building, where she is a founding partner and creative
food director. For more than a decade, Karen has been
television series, Better Homes and Gardens. She is a
regular columnist for Good Weekend. Her newest book,
Cook, is by far her most comprehensive and ambitious,
cementing her place as the voice of a generation and an
to come.
CHARLES MASSY
before going farming for 35 years and developing the
prominent merino sheep stud ‘Severn Park’. Concern at
ongoing land degradation and humanity’s sustainability
challenge led him to undertake a PhD in Human Ecology.
His revised and updated Call of the Reed Warbler: A New
Agriculture, A New Earth, will change the way you farm,
eat and think about food.
WENDY MCCARTHY
Wendy McCarthy is an experienced manager and
company director who began her career as a secondary
school teacher. She moved out of the classroom into
across the public, private and community sectors. She
has a long track record of advocating, campaigning, and
recent book is a memoir titled, Don't Be Too Polite, Girls.
RICHIE MERZIAN
Richie Merzian is the inaugural Climate & Energy
Program Director at The Australia Institute. He is
currently on the Advisory Committee for the Climate
Change Institute at the Australian National University
(ANU). Richie has degrees in Law and Economics from
Sydney University.
CARLY-JAY METCALFE
A Queensland-based writer of memoir, poetry and
Kill Your
Darlings, Cordite Poetry Review, Verity La Magazine and
The Guardian. Most recently, she was awarded a
Varuna Fellowship. Carly-Jay is a passionate advocate
for organ donation after becoming a double lung
completed her memoir Breath.
KAREN MIDDLETON
Karen Middleton is chief political correspondent
The Saturday PaperAn
Unwinnable War: Australia in AfghanistanAlbanese:
Telling it Straight. Karen has worked in the Canberra
for four years. An experienced television, radio and
newspaper commentator, she appears regularly on the
InsidersThe Project. She is a
freelance contributor to ABC radio, Monocle 24 Radio
UK and Radio New Zealand and is based in Canberra.
LISA MILLAR
and is currently co-host of the ABC’s News Breakfast.
Lisa returned to the ABC in Australia after a decade-long
posting as bureau chief in both London and Washington
DC, covering some of the world’s biggest stories. She
won a Walkley Award in 2005 for investigative reporting.
Daring to Fly is Lisa’s story of conquering fear and
LOUISE MILLIGAN
Louise Milligan is an investigative reporter for the
Four Corners. She covered the Royal Commission
into Institutional Responses to Child Abuse. Her
7.30 on the allegations
against George Pell won her two Quill Awards from the
Melbourne Press Club, including the Gold Quill for best
story of the year. In 2017 she was awarded the Walkley
Book Award and the Sir Owen Dixon Chambers Law
Reporter of the Year Award for Cardinal. Her latest book
is Witness.
ROSEMARIE MILSOM
Rosemarie Milsom is the founding director of the
Newcastle Writers Festival, which is in its tenth year.
Rosemarie is also an award-winning journalist who
has worked mainly with Fairfax Media in Sydney and
Newcastle, as well as ABC Newcastle.
KYLIE MOORE-GILBERT
Kylie Moore-Gilbert is a scholar of Middle Eastern and
Islamic Studies. Kylie speaks several Middle Eastern
and conducting academic research in the region. She
was falsely charged with espionage and imprisoned in
Iran from September 2018 to November 2020 before
being released in a prisoner exchange deal negotiated
by the Australian government. This is the subject of her
book, The Uncaged Sky: My 804 Days in an
Iranian Prison.
LIANE MORIARTY
Three Wishes
The Last AnniversaryWhat Alice ForgotThe
Hypnotist’s Love StoryNew
York TimesThe Husband’s SecretBig
Little LiesTruly Madly GuiltyNine Perfect
StrangersApples Never Fall. Her books have sold
over twenty million copies worldwide, including three
million in Australia and New Zealand.
RICK MORTON
Rick Morton is the senior reporter with TheSaturday
PaperOne
Hundred Years of Dirt. He is the recipient of the 2017
Kennedy Award for Outstanding Columnist, and his
book was shortlisted for the National Biography Award
Year. His latest book is My Year of Living Vulnerably.
KATHARINE MURPHY
Guardian Australia’s political editor.
She has worked in the Canberra press gallery for 15
years. In 2008, she won the Paul Lyneham Award for
Excellence in press gallery journalism. Her latest book is
On Disruption.
N
INDIRA NAIDOO
and authors. During her 30-year award-winning
journalistic career, she has hosted and reported for
Weekend Nightlife. A passionate advocate
for environmental and food sustainability issues, she is
The Edible BalconyThe
Edible CityThe Space Between
the Stars: On Love, Loss and the Magical Power of
Nature to Heal.
ABBAS NAZARI
Taliban in Afghanistan as a child and was resettled
in New Zealand after his family was rescued by the
awarded a Fulbright scholarship to the United States,
where he graduated with a Masters in Security Studies
from Georgetown University, Washington DC. His
After the Tampa: From Afghanistan to New
Zealand
MARGO NEALE
Margo Neale is Head of the National Museum of
Australia’s Indigenous Knowledges Curatorial Centre
and is an Adjunct Professor in the Australian National
University’s Centre for Indigenous History. Margo
has published widely and curated major pioneering
exhibitions, including the multi-award-winning
Songlines: Tracking the Seven Sisters. She is also
editor of the First Knowledges book series and co-
Songlines: The Power and Promise
Lynne Kelly.
LUCY NEAVE
Believe in Me
Who We Were, a Grith Review prize-winning
novella set in a horse hospital in Dubai. She spent
several years living in the US as a Fulbright scholar and
currently works at The ANU.
JONICA NEWBY
Jonica Newby is a TV producer, writer and director. She
journalism prize, the Eureka Award, and is best known
as a presenter/reporter on the long-running ABC TV
Catalyst. Newby grew up in Perth,
WA, where phase one of her professional career was a
degree in Veterinary Medicine and Surgery, followed by
The
Animal Attraction, about how the domestication of
animals created human civilisation.
0
DIANNE ‘AUNTY DI’ O’BRIEN
Auntie Di is the chairperson of Mingaletta Corporation,
an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community hub.
In 2017, she was named ‘NSW Grandparent of the Year’.
She has held many senior positions in government
organisations and has also worked in legal services and
as a drug and alcohol counsellor. A victim of the Stolen
Generations, Daughter of the River Country is Auntie
Di’s remarkable memoir of abuse, survival and hope.
JANE O’DWYER
Jane O’Dwyer is CEO of the Cooperative Research
Australia. Jane has more than 25 years of Australian and
international experience across politics, media, peak
bodies and higher education.
CANBERRAWRITERSFESTIVAL.COM.AU24 10–14 AUGUST 2022
JASON OM
Jason is a Walkley Award-winning reporter with the
7.30
News
BreakfastLifeLateline
won widespread praise for his personal story about his
dad’s 16-year struggle to accept him as gay. The article
and TV piece ran Australia-wide, attracting a million
All Mixed Up
DEBRA OSWALD
Debra is a two-time winner of the NSW Premier’s
Ospring. Her stage
plays have been performed around the world. She has
written television scripts (including Bananas in Pyjamas
and Police Rescue), nine books for children and three
adult novels. Her new novel is The Doctor's Wife. Debra
of her one-woman show, Is There Something Wrong
With That Lady?
P
EMO PARSONSON
Emo Parsonson is an ex-shearing comedy maverick
and father of three hailing from Wee Jasper. Faster
than he would like, Emo is becoming a comedy veteran
with 15 years of experience performing and touring
shows throughout Australia and entertaining our
troops deployed in the Middle East. He absolutely loves
stand-up comedy and is happiest on stage, delighting
HUGH POATE
Hugh Poate is the father of Private Robert Poate, who
agricultural economist, Hugh has been undertaking
economic research for most of his professional life
and has put this experience to use in researching, for
Compelling and enraging, Failures of Command:The
death of Private Robert Poate, is the story of the true
DAVID POPE
David Pope worked as a freelance cartoonist and
illustrator for many years, including at the Sun-
HeraldTheCanberra Times
artist in 2008. His cartoons have appeared in a range
AEUNews, ArenaCommon
CauseThe DiplomatHard HatThe New Doctor,
Northern Rivers EchoOverlandThe Queensland
NurseThe Republican
RICHARD POTTER
Richard is a Sydney silk who specialises in all aspects
of media law, including defamation. Richard represents
media publishers, major Australian book publishers,
television broadcasters and online news publishers
in relation to defamation, contempt, suppression and
copyright issues, including pre-publication advice and
Recent cases include acting for Fairfax v Voller in the
High Court (as junior counsel) and for Shane Bazzi in the
trial of Dutton v Bazzi in the Federal Court.
SALLY PRYOR
Born-and-bred Canberra, Sally is features editor at The
Canberra Times, where she sifts through large piles of
books every week. She has worked there for more than
a decade.
Q
ANDREW QUILTY
Andrew is the recipient of nine Walkley Awards,
including the Gold Walkley, for his work on Afghanistan,
where he has been based since 2013. He has also
received the George Polk Award, the World Press Photo
Award and the Overseas Press Club of America award
for his investigation into massacres committed by a CIA-
August in Kabul
R
DIANA REID
Diana Reid is a Sydney-based writer, who graduated
from the University of Sydney last year with a Bachelor
of Arts (First Class Hons Philosophy)/Laws. In January
1984!
The Musical!, debuted and she was set to direct and
write theatre performances in Sydney and over to the
of global theatre, she decided she’d spend her time
Love & Virtue
debut novel.
AMY REMEIKIS
Amy is the political reporter for The Guardian. She writes
on the major political issues in Australia, crime, the
courts and the environment. She is a regular panellist
Insiders
On
Reckoning
the On Series.
RICHARD ROXBURGH
Richard Roxburgh is an Australian actor, writer, producer,
and director. He has won acclaim for his performances
on the stage in productions by the Sydney Theatre
series, and in a number of Hollywood productions.
S
JOANNA SAVILL
Long-time food journalist and dedicated food explorer,
Joanna has written books, made television shows,
created festivals, edited restaurant guides, hosted
events and written for most of Australia’s leading
publications, almost always about food – a subject so
fascinating and inspiring she never tires of it.
JULIANNE SCHULTZ
Chair of The Conversation. She was the publisher and
founding editor of Grith Review, and is Professor
for Social and Cultural Research, and a member of
the advisory board of the Gradient Institute. She is an
acclaimed author of several books, including Reviving
the Fourth Estate (Cambridge) and Steel City Blues
(Penguin), and the librettos to the award-winning operas
Black River and Going Into Shadows
JOHN SCHUMANN
John Lewis Schumann AM is an Australian singer-
songwriter and guitarist from Adelaide. He is best known
as the lead singer for the folk group Redgum, with their
Australian forces during the Vietnam War.
MICHELE SEMINARA
Michele Seminara is a poet and editor from Sydney. Her
books include Engraft, Scar to Scar (written with Robbie
Coburn), HUSH and Suburban Fantasy.
NATASHA SHOLL
Natasha Sholl is a Melbourne-based writer and lapsed
The AgeSydney
Morning HeraldGood WeekendThe
GuardianSBS VoicesMamamia
She graduated from the University of Melbourne,
majoring in Creative Writing. In 2020 she completed
Found, Wanting
debut book.
LIONEL SHRIVER
Lionel Shriver’s novels include the National Book
So Much for That, TheNew York
TimesThe Post-Birthday World, and the
international bestseller and Orange Prize-winning We
Need to Talk About Kevin. Her journalism has appeared
in TheGuardianTheNew York Times, TheWall
Street Journal
in London and Brooklyn, New York. Her latest book is
Should We Stay or Should We Go.
BEEJAY SILCOX
Beejay Silcox is a writer and literary critic. Her reviews
and cultural essays regularly appear in national arts
audience. Beejay has stories to tell. She’s been kicked
in the head by a gorilla, blessed by a voodoo priest, and
stuck in quicksand; she eloped in Las Vegas and drove
to Timbuktu in a car held together with a bra-strap. She’s
recently returned to Canberra after a stint in Cairo.
ALEX SLOAN
Alex Sloan has been a journalist for 30 years, including
over 27 years as a broadcaster with the ABC. An award-
winning journalist, Alex is highly regarded as an MC,
interviewer and facilitator. In 2017 Alex was named
Canberra Citizen of the Year.
JEFF SPARROW
award-winning journalist. He is a columnist for The
Guardian Australia, a former Breakfaster at Melbourne’s
Overland
His most recent books are Fascists Among Us: online
hate and the Christchurch massacre; Trigger Warnings:
political correctness and the rise of the right; and No
Way But This: in search of Paul Robeson. He lectures at
the Centre for Advancing Journalism at the University
of Melbourne.
POWER PASSION POLITICS PROGRAM 10–14 AUGUST 2022 25
DAVID SPEERS
of Insiders. David also writes political analysis each
week for ABC news online, appears across television
unfolding coronavirus economic crisis for Four Corners.
Journalist of the Year Award.
PETER SUTTON
who has lived and worked with Australian Aboriginal
tenure, languages and material culture and has acted in
87 land claim legal cases. He has written or edited 20
books. His most recent is Farmers or Hunter-Gatherers.
NORMAN SWAN
broadcast career spanning more than 30 years.
The Health
ReportCoronacast. He also reports on
7.30Four Corners, appears
The Drum
Breakfast.
CHRISTINE SYKES
The Changing Room, was
inspired by her experience as a volunteer stylist helping
retired, Christine enjoys life’s simple pleasures and is
regularly involved in tap dancing, acting, painting and
Gough and Me is Christine’s deeply
personal memoir of social mobility, cultural diversity, and
the unprecedented opportunities that the Whitlam era
gave one Australian working-class woman.
T
LAURA TINGLE
Journalist, essayist and author, Laura Tingle has
reported on Australian politics and policy for more than
35 years. In 2018, she joined the ABC as chief political
7.30, after 16 years with The Australian Financial
Review where she was political editor, and previously,
senior reporting positions with other major Australian
mastheads. A multi-award-winning journalist, she is the
author of Chasing the Future and four Quarterly essays.
AMANDA TYLER
Amanda Tyler is the Shannon Cecil Turner Professor
of Law at the University of California, Berkeley School
of Law. She is a former clerk to Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
She is the author of Habeas Corpus in Wartime: From
the Tower of London to Guantanamo Bay and Habeas
Corpus: A Very Short Introduction, and co-author, with
Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, of Justice, Justice Thou
Shalt Pursue: A Life's Work Fighting for a More
Perfect Union.
V
KAREN VIGGERS
Karen Viggers is a wildlife veterinarian who has worked
with native animals in many remote parts of Australia
from the Kimberley to Antarctica. She is an award-
winning, internationally bestselling author of The
Stranding, The Lightkeeper’s Wife, The Grass Castle
and The Orchardist’s Daughter. Her novels have been
translated into several languages. Karen regularly
reviews works of literature for The Australian, The
Canberra Times and Nine.
SAM VINCENT
The MonthlyThe
Saturday PaperGrith ReviewThe Best Australian
EssaysBlood and Guts, was longlisted for
Award for longform feature writing. He runs a cattle and
some of the best restaurants in the Canberra region.
W
CHRIS WALLACE
Dr Chris Wallace is an Australian Research Council
DECRA Fellow at the School of History, ANU, specialising
in modern and contemporary political history. She
was a longstanding member of the Canberra press
gallery where she worked for The Australian Financial
Review, The Australian, Channel 7 and ABC television.
Chris is the author of several books including the
Greer, Untamed Shrew and The Private Don.
How to Win an Election.
KERRY-ANNE WALSH
Kerry-Anne Walsh was in the Canberra press gallery
for 25 years, occupying senior posts in print, radio and
TV. Disenchanted with political spin and the nature
to establish her consultancy, KA Communications.
Her book The Stalking of Julia Gillard won the 2014
book of the year. Kerry-Anne and her son Kieran live in
Canberra, and she continues to be a keen questioner of
Australian politics.
DON WATSON
Over the past 40 years, Don Watson’s essays and
reviews on politics, history and culture have appeared
in most major Australian journals and newspapers. He
Recollections
of a Bleeding HeartThe Bush, and the Quarterly
Enemy Within
election. He has twice won The Age Book of the Year
and has also received a Walkley Award, the NSW
Premier’s Award and the Phillip Hodgins Medal for
Watsonia.
MICHAEL WEST
who has worked as a stockbroker and business editor.
He started his career with TheAustralian Financial
ReviewTheSydney
Morning Herald
multinational tax avoidance and bank fraud among other
things. He is the founder of MichaelWestMedia, a news
website specialising in investigative journalism in the
PAUL WEST
Paul West is a chef, passionate gardener,
sustainability advocate and popular media
River Cottage
Australia
Gardening Australia, Back
RoadsCatalyst. Paul’s philosophy is simple — grow
your ingredients with love, prepare them simply and
share them with family and friends. He advocates real
food, community and gardening, and loves to show
people how easy it is to prepare delicious meals using
vibrant produce, all without blowing the budget. Paul is
The Edible Garden Cookbook and Growing
Guide. He lives with his wife and children on the south
coast of NSW.
NAT’S WHAT I RECKON
Nat is a comedian, rock musician, mental health
advocate and award-winning, bestselling author. Nat’s
What I Reckon rocketed to global prominence when he
took the world by storm in early 2020 with his isolation
cooking content. His bestselling debut book,Un-cook
Yourself
of the Year at the Australian Book Industry Awards and
won the Booktopia Favourite Australian Book Award for
2020, the proceeds of which Nat donated to
Beyond Blue.
SUE WILLIAMS
Sue Williams is an award-winning journalist and author
who has written in a variety of genres. Her last book was
the best-selling Women of the Outback: Inspiring True
Stories of Tragedy and Triumph. Sue’s latest book is
Diane O’Brien’s memoir Daughter of the River Country.
KAYA WILSON
Kaya Wilson is a writer and tsunami scientist based
memoir to explore universal themes of identity, gender
NSW Varuna Fellowship. Beautiful As Any Other is
Kaya’s trailblazing memoir.
RUTH WILSON
In 2021, at the age of 88, she graduated from The
University of Sydney with a PhD suggesting a new
eight great-grandchildren to read widely, wisely and
well. She and her husband are LATs, a married couple
who live apart together. She is the author of The Jane
Austen Remedy.
CHARLOTTE WOOD
Charlotte Wood is the award-winning and acclaimed
author of six novels, a collection of interviews and a
book about cooking. She has won the Stella Prize, the
Prime Minister’s Award, the Indie Book of the Year, and
most recently the ABIA for Literary Fiction. She lives in
Sydney with her husband.
CANBERRAWRITERSFESTIVAL.COM.AU26 10–14 AUGUST 2022
WEDNESDAY
10 AUGUST
NATIONAL MUSEUM
OF AUSTRALIA
GANDEL ATRIUM
NATIONAL PRESS CLUB
OF AUSTRALIA
4 NATIONAL CIRCUIT
BARTON
KAMBRI CULTURAL
CENTRE (ANU)
aMBUSH GALLERY
MUSEUM OF
AUSTRALIAN
DEMOCRACY
KING’S HALL
SPECIAL EVENT
OPENING NIGHT: DINNER
AT SWEETHEARTS
PAGE 4
THURSDAY
11 AUGUST
NATIONAL MUSEUM
OF AUSTRALIA
GANDEL ATRIUM
NATIONAL PRESS CLUB
OF AUSTRALIA
4 NATIONAL CIRCUIT
BARTON
KAMBRI CULTURAL
CENTRE (ANU)
aMBUSH GALLERY
MUSEUM OF
AUSTRALIAN
DEMOCRACY
KING’S HALL
SPECIAL EVENT
FREEZING ORDER:
SURVIVING PUTIN’S
WRATH
PAGE 4
FREE EVENT
WE’VE GOT THIS
PAGE 4
SPECIAL EVENT
THE LUCKY LAUNDRY
PAGE 4
SPECIAL EVENT
NOVEL GRAZING LUNCH:
PAGE 4
FREE EVENT
THE POETICS OF REFUGE
PAGE 5
SPECIAL EVENT
INSIDERS LIVE
PAGE 5
FRIDAY
12 AUGUST
NATIONAL MUSEUM
OF AUSTRALIA
GANDEL ATRIUM
NATIONAL PRESS CLUB
OF AUSTRALIA
4 NATIONAL CIRCUIT
BARTON
KAMBRI CULTURAL
CENTRE (ANU)
aMBUSH GALLERY
MUSEUM OF
AUSTRALIAN
DEMOCRACY
KING’S HALL
SPECIAL EVENT
FOR THE GOOD OF
THE WORLD
PAGE 5
SPECIAL EVENT
WATSONIA: A WRITING LIFE
PAGE 5
FREE EVENT
WORDS FOR LUCY
PAGE 6
FREE EVENT
COMING THROUGH
THE DARKNESS
PAGE 5
SPECIAL EVENT
NOVEL GRAZING LUNCH:
COOK
PAGE 6
FREE EVENT
THE POWER WITHIN
PAGE 6
SPECIAL EVENT
AFTER THE TAMPA
PAGE 6
SPECIAL EVENT
SO, SUE ME!
PAGE 6
POWER PASSION POLITICS PROGRAM 10–14 AUGUST 2022 27
SATURDAY
13 AUGUST
NATIONAL
MUSEUM OF
AUSTRALIA
VISIONS
THEATRE
NATIONAL
MUSEUM OF
AUSTRALIA
PENINSULA
ROOM
KAMBRI
CULTURAL
CENTRE (ANU)
MANNING
CLARK
THEATRE
KAMBRI
CULTURAL
CENTRE (ANU)
CINEMA
KAMBRI
CULTURAL
CENTRE (ANU)
T2
KAMBRI
CULTURAL
CENTRE (ANU)
aMBUSH
GALLERY
MUSEUM OF
AUSTRALIAN
DEMOCRACY
MEMBERS
DINING ROOM
MUSEUM OF
AUSTRALIAN
DEMOCRACY
HOUSE OF
REPS
11.00 AM
THE FIRST
ASTRONOMERS
PAGE 7
CHILDREN’S EVENT
THE LAST
DRAGON
PAGE 7
THE PASSIONS
OF ALLENDE
PAGE 7
DON’T BE TOO
POLITE, GIRLS
PAGE 7
WRITING THE
PRECIPICE
PAGE 7
THE GENTLE ART
OF PERSUASION
PAGE 8
A NATION OF
PAGE 8
1.00 PM
THE WORLD
ACCORDING
TO RICHARD
GLOVER
PAGE 9
CHILDREN’S EVENT
SEREE’S STORY
PAGE 8
THE INSPIRING
LIFE AND
LEGACY OF
RUTH BADER
GINSBURG
PAGE 9
BOGANS,
BICKERING
BROODS AND
BENEDICT
CUMBERBATCH
PAGE 8
MY YEAR OF JOY
PAGE 9
UNDER
PRESSURE
PAGE 9
GRILLING THE
DEMOCRACY
SAUSAGE
PAGE 10
2.00 PM
SPECIAL EVENT
NOVEL GRAZING
LUNCH: DEATH
TO JAR SAUCE
PAGE 8
3.00 PM
FARMERS
GATHERERS?
PAGE 10
GERMAINE
GREER IN
CONVERSATION
WITH RICK
MORTON
PAGE 10
DO WE STILL
HAVE TIME FOR
HENRY LAWSON?
PAGE 10
BREAKING
THE CODE OF
SILENCE
PAGE 11
CATCH ME IF
YOU CAN
PAGE 10
I’M NOT RACIST,
BUT WHERE ARE
YOU REALLY
FROM?
PAGE 11
5.00 PM
NO COUNTRY
FOR FARMERS
PAGE 12
LOVE STORIES
PAGE 11
THE SPACE
BETWEEN THE
STARS
PAGE 11
LET ME TELL
YOU A STORY
PAGE 12
THE WRITE
STUFF
PAGE 12
DYING IS EASY,
COMEDY IS
HARD
PAGE 12
SUNDAY
14 AUGUST
NATIONAL
MUSEUM OF
AUSTRALIA
VISIONS
THEATRE
NATIONAL
MUSEUM OF
AUSTRALIA
PENINSULA
ROOM
KAMBRI
CULTURAL
CENTRE (ANU)
MANNING
CLARK
THEATRE
KAMBRI
CULTURAL
CENTRE (ANU)
CINEMA
KAMBRI
CULTURAL
CENTRE (ANU)
T2
KAMBRI
CULTURAL
CENTRE (ANU)
aMBUSH
GALLERY
MUSEUM OF
AUSTRALIAN
DEMOCRACY
MEMBERS
DINING ROOM
MUSEUM OF
AUSTRALIAN
DEMOCRACY
HOUSE OF
REPS
11.00 AM
CHILDREN’S EVENT
THE MOST
DANGEROUS
BOOKS IN THE
WORLD
PAGE 13
WAS IT
SOMETHING I
SAID?
PAGE 13
THE GOSPEL
ACCORDING
TO PAUL
PAGE 13
RETHINKING
POSSIBLE
PAGE 13
THE PRICE OF
FREEDOM
PAGE 13
NATURAL BORN
STORYTELLERS
PAGE 14
1.00 PM
CHILDREN’S EVENT
THE VILLAGE
DOGS OF
PUCKLECHUCK
PAGE 14
IT’S TIME AGAIN!
PAGE 14
MY FRIEND ANNA
PAGE 15
DAUGHTER
OF THE RIVER
COUNTRY
PAGE 15
THE CHANGE
MAKERS
PAGE 15
THE LUMINOUS
CHARLOTTE
WOOD
PAGE 15
2.00 PM
SPECIAL EVENT
NOVEL GRAZING
LUNCH:
HOMEGROWN
PAGE 14
3.00 PM
HOW TO END
A STORY
PAGE 16
THE MEANING OF
LIFE, DEATH AND
EVERYTHING
BETWEEN
PAGE 15
THE TOUGHEST
ASSIGNMENT
PAGE 16
YOU CAN TAKE
THE PERSON
OUT OF THE
COUNTRY...
PAGE 16
ALL MIXED UP
PAGE 16
5.00 PM
ALL IN THE
FAMILY
PAGE 16
AROUND THE
WORLD IN 80
PLANTS
PAGE 17
CRIMES AGAINST
NATURE
PAGE 17
WINTER TALES
PAGE 17
7.30 PM
SPECIAL EVENT
CLOSING NIGHT:
LIGHT BULB
MOMENT
PAGE 17
Acknowledgement of Country
We acknowledge the Traditional Custodians of the ACT, the Ngunnawal people. We acknowledge and respect
their continuing culture and the contribution they make to the life of this city and this region.
SUPPORTING PARTNER
FOUNDATION PARTNERS
PARTNERS
MEDIA PARTNERS
CULTURAL PARTNERS
HER LAST WORDS:
THE INSPIRING
LIFE AND LEGACY
OF RUTH BADER
GINSBURG
AMANDA TYLER IN CONVERSATION
WITH FRAN KELLY
SATURDAY 13 AUGUST
12.00 PM – 1.00 PM
MANNING CLARK HALL
KAMBRI CULTURAL CENTRE
Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s passing last
year — just as her book, co-authored with
her former law clerk Amanda Tyler — was
heading into production, was met with a
public outpouring of grief. Tyler shares RBG’s
optimistic vision of a just society and a ‘more
perfect union’.
