International writers to visit Newcastle

Acclaimed US science historian and best-selling author Dava Sobel and London-based journalist Lucia Osborne-Crowley will appear in special events in the lead up to the 2025 Newcastle Writers Festival in April.

Lucia Osborne-Crowley will be in Newcastle on February 28 to speak with festival director Rosemarie Milsom about her powerful book The Lasting Harm: Witnessing the Trial of Ghislaine Maxwell. Maxwell’s trial and ultimate conviction is powerfully reported by Osborne-Crowley, who is an Australian-trained lawyer. Her account amplifies the voices of Maxwell’s victims and interrogates a hamstrung legal system. Please note, this event is recommended for those aged 18+.

Dava Sobel will appear on March 9 to discuss science and storytelling. Sobel is the author of several scientific biographies: Longitude was a best-seller and centres on John Harrison, an 18th-century clockmaker who created the first clock sufficiently accurate to be used to determine longitude at sea; Galileo’s Daughter: A Historical Memoir of Faith, Science and Love was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize; and her most recent book The Elements of Marie Curie sets out to show how Curie’s discovery of radium ‘lit a path for women in science’, namely, the 45 aspiring female scientists who spent a formative period in the Curie lab at the Sorbonne.

Sobel’s appearance is in collaboration with Adelaide Writers’ Week.

Both events will be held at the University of Newcastle’s Conservatorium of Music and the festival acknowledges the support of our major partner.

Tickets are $33/$25 concession and are on sale from 9am December 12.