Byron Writers Festival 2023 is fast approaching (Aug 11-13), which means it’s time to get ready for three days packed full of big ideas, inspiring storytelling and conversation.
With a similar set-up to a music festival, pass holders can wander between five venues and choose what they want to listen to on their chosen day. This year’s program is brimming with extraordinary sessions and it can be hard to figure out where to start. So, we’re here to highlight the must-see panels for you to mark off in your program ready for the weekend.
Lives Entwined: First Nations Plant Knowledge
In this session Zena Cumpston discusses Plants: Past, Present and Future, a work that celebrates the deep cultural significance of plants and shows how this heritage could be the key to a healthier, more sustainable future.
Friday 11 Aug at 10am
The Elements
Are you feeling called to reconnect with the power of nature? In this session Robbie Arnott, Debra Dank and Maggie MacKellar will discuss how landscape, the seasons and the nature of life cycles are the driving forces in our lives.
Friday 11 Aug at 12:30pm
Language, Power & Privilege
Language and who controls what is published have had great impact since the invention of the printing press. In this session, Sally Colin-James, Anna Funder and Pip Williams explore the impact of this on women and how literacy is not enough.
Friday 11 Aug at 2pm
Reasons Not to Worry: Stoicism for the Modern Age
Feeling called to try a new way of being? When Brigid Delaney wanted to change her life, she tried living like a Stoic. She shares how that old wisdom can work for us now.
Friday 11 Aug at 4:15pm
Ethics of AI
What licence should we give to data collectors to snoop on us? Can virtual reality replace our bodily selves? How bad is the sexism embedded in evolving technologies? Grace Chan, Suneel Jethani and Tracey Spicer will be exploring the wild frontier of artificial intelligence.
Sat 12 Aug at 12:15pm
Imagine a Green Future
What could our future look like if we pull off the transition to a circular economy? Experts Jeff Goodell, Ben Roche and Jess Scully tackle the greatest issue facing society today.
Sat 12 Aug at 1:15pm
The Art of Noticing
At the heart of good fiction is a piercing appreciation for human motivation. In this panel, Susan Johnson, Maggie MacKellar, Peter Polites reveal how they mine everyday life for personal stories to share.
Sun 13 Aug at 8:45am
Home, Elusive Home
It’s crystal clear that our housing is in crisis. Ownership is out of reach for many, rents are through the roof and homelessness is on the rise. Alison Page, Alison Pennington and Jess Scully explore the causes of the problem and possible pathways to a better future.
Sun 13 Aug at 11:15am
The Good Life
We all want the key to happiness, right? In this session Harvard psychiatry professor Robert Waldinger discusses a life-changing book about the lessons the directors of the longest study of happiness in the world have learnt.
Sun 12 Aug at 1:15pm
Cult Trip
Anke Richter, an investigative journalist, discusses how she immersed herself in the wild world of cults from Byron Bay to around the globe, exposing the ways they attract, entrap and destroy otherwise ordinary people.
Sun 13 Aug at 2pm
$35 Saturday tickets for Under 35s
Soak up the festival experience with a Saturday PM Under 35s Pass. This new pass gives people under 35 access to twelve sessions taking place at the festival site from 2pm, Saturday 12 August for just $35. Perfect if you’d like to get a taste of the festival.
Saturday sessions to sink your teeth into…
The Feminist Trajectory will explore how feminism(s) have changed over the years and what's possible for tomorrow. Featuring Michelle Arrow, Madison Godfrey, Nakkiah Lui and Tracey Spicer, this session is set to be an empowering one.
Madison Godfrey, who has performed at The Sydney Opera House and Glastonbury will grace the stage for Dress Rehearsals, a genre-blurring work that explores coming of age, gender euphoria and the complicated colours of memory and desire.
Hear from Grace Tame In Her Own Words. An intelligent, raw, and witty speaker, Grace Tame offers a vision for a better future for all of us.
Misinformation is rife and wreaking havoc across the globe. This must-see session with Monica Attard, Antony Loewenstein and Anke Richter covers everything from cults, to weapons manufacture, to the impact of tech and AI.
Lovers of fantasy won’t want to miss Worldbuilding - an Act of Wild Imagining, where Grace Chan, Ben Hobson and New York Times bestselling author Amie Kaufman will explain how they build mind-blowing fictional worlds.
Ellen van Neerven’s session Personal Score, delves into sport’s troubled relationship with race, gender and sexuality, from a queer, First Nations perspective.
For lovers of music and creativity Wild Notes is a must-see. Bertie Blackman, the gifted musician, writer and daughter of legendary artist Charles Blackman, and Eliza Hull, a singer and pianist who advocates for people with disabilities, reveal how they go about their craft.
Byron Writers Festival takes place Fri Aug 11 to Sun Aug 13 at Bangalow Showground, 10 mins from Byron Bay. For the full program and all ticket types go to byronwritersfestival.com