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…
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Award-winning writer Markus Zusak, much-loved cookbook author and Masterchef winner Julie Goodwin, and satirist John Safran are among 155 writers participating in the 2025 Newcastle Writers Festival, which will be…
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Stuck for a gift idea for a relative or friend? We have introduced gift vouchers in time for Christmas, which are valued from $25 to $200 – with plenty of…
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Newcastle Writers Festival had the privilege of hosting the inaugural Regional Australia Writers Festival Conference on 18 and 19 November with support from Creative Australia and the University of Newcastle….
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The finalists in the 2025 joanne burns Microlit Awards have been announced. Congratulations to the 10 finalists in the Hunter region category: Joanna Atherfold Finn, Magdalena Ball, Sharon Douglas, Helen…
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Pasifika poet Selina Tusitala Marsh will be in Newcastle on Friday 11 October for a free lunchtime event hosted by the University of Newcastle. The Queen and I: A Poetic…
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Newcastle writer Acey Monaro has been awarded the 2024 Fresh Ink Emerging Writer Prize, which includes $5000 for professional development and a week-long residency at Varuna in the Blue Mountains….
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Join us on 5 October for an afternoon of poetry readings by the harbour featuring a lineup of nationally recognised poets as part of City of Newcastle’s New Annual festival….
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Acclaimed country music artist Kasey Chambers will be the special guest at a Newcastle Writers Festival event on November 2 at the University of Newcastle’s Conservatorium of Music from 4pm….
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Two Hunter region residents are among four writers shortlisted for the 2024 Fresh Ink Prize. This is the fourth year Newcastle Writers Festival has offered the prize, which is open…
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Due to popular demand, we are excited to publish video recordings of eight sessions from this year’s festival. The stellar line-up includes: Bryan Brown in conversation with Anna Downes Sally…
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We are seeking a talented Hunter region artist/graphic designer to create the main image for the 2025 festival. This year, the wonderful Caelli Brooker created a vibrant series of images…
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Tickets are now on sale for a special event with bestelling US writer Jodi Picoult on 24 October. Jodi will speak with Jessie Stephens about her brilliant new book, By…
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Newcastle Writers Festival is inviting emerging writers living in regional NSW to submit to the 2024 Fresh Ink Emerging Writers Prize. The prize seeks to elevate marginalised voices and acknowledges…
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We are thrilled to announce a special event on 19 October with award-winning Australian writer Tim Winton in partnership with the University of Newcastle and supported by Penguin Random House. …
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PROGRAM SUBMISSIONS FOR 2025 ARE NOW CLOSED We are welcoming submissions from published writers at all stages of their careers to participate in the 2025 festival, which will be held…
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The 2024 Newcastle Writers Festival program is the largest since the Covid disruption and features 150 writers across 95 free and ticketed events from April 5 to 7 in Newcastle’s…
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Newcastle Writers Festival and The University of Newcastle’s School of Humanities, Creative Industries and Social Sciences are collaborating to offer a month-long intensive creative writing short course in April 2024….
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Volunteer registration is now open for the 2024 festival. We’ve been very fortunate to have wonderful volunteers since the inaugural festival in 2013, and every year we welcome both reliable…
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Miles Franklin Literary Award winner Melissa Lucashenko, New York Times bestseller Sally Hepworth, and journalist David Marr are among 125 writers participating in the 2024 Newcastle Writers Festival from April…
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Newcastle writer Leanne Paine has been awarded the 2023 Fresh Ink Emerging Writer Prize, which includes $5000 for professional development and a week-long residency at Varuna in the Blue Mountains….
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Seven writers from the Hunter region have been announced as finalists in the 2024 joanne burns Microlit Awards. Entrants were asked to respond in 200 words or less to theme…
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Award-winning Kurdish-Iranian journalist, writer, filmmaker, and human rights activist Behrouz Boochani will speak about his most recent book Freedom, Only Freedom from 4.00pm on 3 December at a special event. …
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Volunteers are at the centre of the success of Newcastle Writers Festival and we are seeking a team leader who can oversee the administration, recruitment, training, and onsite management of…
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Matthew Reilly will visit Newcastle for a special event on Wednesday 25 October at 7pm to speak about his new novel, the epic historical thriller Mr Einstein’s Secretary. The event…
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Newcastle Writers Festival are thrilled to announce that bookings for our 2023 Schools Day Out are now open. We can’t wait to return for our first live presentation for primary…
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Newcastle Writers Festival is hosting a special event on Saturday, 16 September, at 7.30pm with consent activist Chanel Contos at the University of Newcastle Conservatorium of Music. She will speak…
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Award-winning investigative journalists Chris Masters and Nick McKenzie will visit Newcastle on Friday 28 July for a special Newcastle Writers Festival event to launch their respective books, which are centred…
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We recently invited Newcastle-based writer Ada Lester to observe one of our Story Hunter workshops at Caves Beach Public School. Flushed faces stream into the school hall. Recess has finished…
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We are welcoming submissions from published writers at all stages of their careers to participate in the 2024 festival, which will be held from April 5 to 7. Ideally, you…
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Newcastle Writers Festival and Pan Macmillan invite you to celebrate the launch of Amy Lovat’s debut novel Mistakes and Other Lovers from 7pm on Friday, July 14, at Fort Scratchley…
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Our dedicated secretary of 10 years, Jenny Blackford, is stepping down at our AGM on 20 June and we are eager to find a replacement. This is a voluntary role….
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We are looking for ‘remnant’-themed writing for the 13th annual joanne burns Microlit Awards. Co-hosted by Newcastle Writers Festival and specialist microliterature publisher Spineless Wonders, this award offers cash prizes…
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Judge Cassandra Atherton has selected the winners in the 2023 joanne burns Microlit Awards. The winner of the National category is Marion May Campbell for her entry Ania Walwicz’s Dance…
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Judge Cassandra Atherton has announced the finalists in the 2023 joanne burns Microlit Awards in which eight writers from the Hunter region have been named. They are: Magdalena Ball, Helen…
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Newcastle Writers Festival is seeking Expressions of Interest (EOI) from people who are qualified and interested in becoming our Board Treasurer. This is a voluntary position. NWF is one of…
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Join us on October 22 for a special evening event with internationally respected human rights and media lawyer Jennifer Robinson. Journalist Maddison Connaughton will host this conversation, which will centre…
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We are seeking to hire six people to be part of the Story Hunter program, an exciting new initiative that will increase creative writing opportunities for children in the Hunter…
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We are welcoming submissions from published writers at all stages of their career to participate in the 2023 festival, which will be held from March 31 to April 2. Ideally,…
Read moreNewcastle Writers Festival and publisher Spineless Wonders are excited to announce the launch of the 2023 joanne burns Microlit Award. Celebrated poet joanne burns and Melbourne writer and academic Cassandra…
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The Newcastle Writers Festival Stories To You podcast is a continuation of our 2020 digital program, which was created in response to Covid-19.
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Join us in welcoming four guest curators to the festival team. They will collaborate with director Rosemarie Milsom to help shape the 2021 program: Kirli Saunders is the First Nations curator….
Read moreNewcastle Writers Festival launches $5000 prize for an emerging writer Newcastle Writers Festival has launched the Fresh Ink Emerging Writers Prize for those living in regional New South Wales. The…
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Submissions of up to 200 words on the theme of ‘travel’ are sought for the 2022 NWF joanne burns Microlit Award. Now in its 11th year, the award is co-hosted…
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UPDATE: THIS EVENT HAS SOLD OUT Newcastle Writers Festival and City of Newcastle present Julia Gillard: Women and Leadership 6pm-7pm Sat 13 February, The Arena NEX Tickets $30 (plus fees…
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NWF is thrilled to have received Create NSW funding to appoint three guest curators in 2021: First Nations Curator; Poetry Curator; and an Emerging Curator. There is scope for the…
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Spineless Wonders and Newcastle Writers Festival are delighted to announce the names of the finalists in the 2021 NWF/joanne burns Microlit Award selected by Professor Cassandra Atherton. We warmly thank all entrants to…
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The Newcastle Writers Festival has announced new dates – 24 to 26 September, 2021. The ninth event will run alongside the first weekend of City of Newcastle’s New Annual arts…
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The 2021 joanne burns Microlit Award is now open. Entries of 200 words should be inspired by the theme ‘pulped fiction’. The award is a collaboration between Newcastle Writers Festival…
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It has been a challenging couple of days and the festival team has been focused on the job of winding down this year’s festival. It is a surreal and heart-breaking…
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Registration and training for volunteers has been cancelled for this year, as a result of the cancellation of the Newcaste Writers Festival 2020. Please note that none of the planned…
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We are thrilled to announce that Helen Garner, Ash Grunwald, Archie Roach and Sally Rugg will be among 150 writers attending next year’s festival from April 3 to 5. Their…
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The Newcastle Writers Festival has been successful in securing funding from Create NSW via the first round of the Arts and Cultural Funding Program. This cements the state government as…
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The Newcastle Writers Festival has lost one of its most treasured supporters. Much-loved ABC Newcastle presenter Jill Emberson died last night surrounded by her loved ones after a determined struggle…
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Friday 8 November // 7.30pm // The Playhouse, Hunter Street, Newcastle Tony Jones is best known as the host of ABC TV’s political panel program Q&A. He is also an…
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The Newcastle Writers Festival is thrilled to host a special event with award-winning Indian poet, novelist and dancer Tishani Doshi. This intimate evening will include dance inspired by Tishani’s most…
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On 1 August, Newcastle Writers Festival and Newcastle Library will present a panel of critically acclaimed and bestselling writers who will together unravel the mystery of what makes a great…
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The 2019 joanne burns Microlit Award is jointly sponsored by the Newcastle Writers Festival and publisher Spineless Wonders. We are looking for writing (up to 200 words) that responds imaginatively…
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Program submissions for the 2020 Newcastle Writers Festival opened on 20 May, 2019 and closed at midnight, 31 July 2019. The festival is a high quality literary event held within…
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Invitation to a Joint Book Launch You are invited to attend a joint launch of D. H. Lawrence‘s The Poems, Volume III: Uncollected Poems and Early Versions, edited by Christopher…
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Each year we try harder to make the festival experience as enjoyable as possible. We are a small team and value your feedback so we can continue to improve how…
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We won’t get change without quotas. You can change attitudes but that doesn’t mean you will change behaviour. Quotas are the random breath testing of equality – Jane Caro Australians hate…
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Wow! What a festival. It is hard to believe that just over a week ago we were in the midst of the Schools Program and getting ready for the opening…
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Volunteer registration for this year’s festival is now open! Each year we’ve had a wonderful team of volunteers, praised by writers and audiences alike, and we couldn’t run the festival…
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We are thrilled to announce the first of 120 guests for the 2019 festival, which will be held from April 5 to 7 in the Civic Precinct. The full program will be…
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The finalists in the 2018 NWF/joanne burns MicroLit Award have now been announced. Two of these finalists will go on to win the joanne burns Microlit Award for the National…
Read moreThe 2018 Newcastle Writers Festival/ joanne burns Microlit Award is open. Co-presented by Spineless Wonders Short Australian Stories, the award is seeking writing across any genre of up to 200…
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Respected journalist, editor, policy maker and feminist Anne Summers will visit Newcastle on 4 November to discuss her new memoir Unfettered and Alive. Anne has influenced and often shaped the…
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Join us for Rebels with a Cause, a very special event at Newcastle Region Library on 6 August featuring the North Korean defector and human rights activist, Hyeonseo Lee, and…
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Due to overwhelming demand a second event featuring much-loved Australian children’s author Andy Griffiths and his illustrator sidekick Terry Denton has been announced for Newcastle at 4.30pm on Sunday, July…
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What an inspiring and thought-provoking weekend! The 2018 Newcastle Writers Festival has been blessed with wonderful conversations, audiences and weather. We couldn’t do it without the support and encouragement from…
Read moreJoin Andy Griffiths and Terry Denton in their stupendous 104-storey treehouse! They’ve added 13 new levels including a stupid-hat level, a refrigerator-throwing level, a bun-fighting level, a tangled-up level and…
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Our friends at Quest Newcastle West are offering a discount to festival-goers. Book direct by phoning 02 4920 3400 or email ne***********@qu*************.au NEWCASTLE WEST ACCOMMODATION Quest Newcastle West has serviced apartments including Studios,…
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25 February 2018 // 3pm at NEX (cnr King and Union Streets) Newcastle Writers Festival presents Jacqui Lambie in Conversation. Jacqui will discuss her autobiography, Rebel With a Cause. Thanks to MacLean’s…
Read moreThe Newcastle Writers Festival team is excited to announce that the following award-winning writers will be participating in the 2018 program: * Bruce Pascoe, whose award-winning Dark Emu challenges the…
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It’s here! The 2018 Newcastle Writers Festival Schools Program includes a wonderful line-up of Australian writers and illustrators, including Children’s Laureate Leigh Hobbs, Tristan Bancks Author, Yvette Poshoglian Author, Gregg…
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SORRY, THIS EVENT IS NOW SOLD OUT We are thrilled to announce that Jimmy Barnes will be our opening night guest on Friday, 6 April 2018, in the Civic Theatre…
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Make a tax-deductible donation to help NWF to keep providing a large number of free and local events. Newcastle Writers Festival is a not-for-profit organisation with official DGR status endorsed…
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The Newcastle Writers Festival and publisher Spineless Wonders are excited to announce the launch of the 2017 joanne burns Microlit Award. Melbourne writer and academic Cassandra Atherton will judge the…
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Join us for a very special event at the University of Newcastle’s Conservatorium of Music featuring Professor of Philosophy Emrys Westacott and award-winning British journalist and best-selling author Christina Lamb….
Read moreNewcastle Writers Festival director Rosemarie Milsom outlines some of this year’s program highlights. Thanks to our major sponsor Newcastle City Council. Watch the video!
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Thanks to the Newcastle Herald for their wrap up of the 2017 Newcastle Writers Festival. Scott Bevan writes: “If a picture really is worth a thousand words, then war photographer…
Read moreA message from festival director Rosemarie Milsom: “What an extraordinary weekend. I am so thrilled that our fifth festival was such a success. Just over 9000 people joined us to…
Read morePoetry at the Pub – a wonderful Newcastle institution – will hold a special session on 10 April to wrap up NWF17, with Festival guest poets John Foulcher and Melinda…
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It is the fifth year for Newcastle Writers Festival, and the poetry program is bigger and better than ever. Over the three days of the Festival, 7-9 April 2017, there…
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NBN news interviewed the NWF Director, Rosemarie Milsom, about Newcastle Writers Festival’s 2017 spectacular line-up. Watch the video here!
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The launch of the 2017 Newcastle Writers Festival program was held at Newcastle Region Library. Festival director Rosemarie Milsom thanked sponsors, including Arts NSW, Newcastle City Council, The University of…
Read moreNewcastle writer and 2017 festival guest Michael Sala is receiving positive reviews for his debut novel, The Restorer. Set in Newcastle East during the late 1980s, the book explores the…
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The 2017 Newcastle Short Story Award, which is organised by the Hunter Writers Centre, is now open for entries of up to 2000 words. Submission are open to all Australians…
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What a fantastic event with Matthew Reilly. He was such a warm and humble guest. After his chat with festival director Rosemarie Milsom during which he revealed there will be…
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Congratulations to the Newcastle category finalists: Dael Allison for Breakwall and Amanda Berry for As We That Are Left. Congratulations also to the national category long-list finalists: After the Storm,…
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From self-publishing his first book to best-selling writer: Matthew Reilly will speak to Newcastle Writers Festival director Rosemarie Milsom about his brilliant career, hero Jack West and life in LA….
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Newcastle Writers Festival is thrilled to be hosting its first international guest – New Yorker journalist William Finnegan, whose memoir Barbarian Days was awarded the 2016 Pulitzer Prize for Biography….
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Newcastle Writers Festival is proud to be working with The Lock-Up on a special panel discussion on Saturday, 16 July, to tie in with the exhibition, It’s Timely Too. Panellists…
Read moreUPDATE: ENTRIES ARE NOW CLOSED THANK YOU FOR YOUR INTEREST We are very excited to announce that the 2016 Joanne Burns Award for Microlit will be jointly sponsored by the…
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No cause for panic if you missed seeing journalist Kerry O’Brien in conversation with David Leser about former PM Paul Keating at the 2016 Newcastle Writers Festival.
Read moreDon’t despair if you missed the fantastic session with Stan Grant and Jill Emberson at NWF16 in April 2016 – we have footage!
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Our friends at Newcastle Theatre Company have been working hard on an exciting new production that will appeal to readers of crime novels. Local theatre stalwart Stewart McGowan has adapted…
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Not only is Sarah Ferguson one of our top journalists, but she can recite Keats. Festival director Rosemarie Milsom will discuss poetry and more with Sarah during a special out-of-festival…
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Festival Director Rosemarie Milsom writes: On every level, this year’s festival was an overwhelming success. Tickets sales increased by 40 per cent, our free sessions were at capacity, the weather…
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Tim Connell writes, in the Newcastle Herald Monday March 28 2016: A PROGRAM stacked with speakers who seem on the cusp of their “moment” is partly down to timing, says…
Read moreElvira Sprogis writes, in the NEWCASTLE HERALD Saturday March 26, 2016: SMALL things matter to author Mark MacLean [one of our NWF guests]. He gathers observations and bits of information…
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Michelle Meehan writes, in intouch magazine #09: Very few authors enter into a life of writing realistically expecting their endeavours to end in fame and fortune. They simply do it…
Read moreThe festival is thrilled to announce a special event with Olympic gold medallist Leisel Jones on the opening day of the festival, Friday 1 April. From the gold medal dais at…
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The festival launched its inaugural Hunter Region Microlit Competition late last year in partnership with Spineless Wonders. The four finalists are Amanda Berry, Kelli Hawkins, Jodi Vial and Karen Whitelaw….
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Newcastle Writers Festival is thrilled to announce that Tim Flannery, Charlotte Wood and Rosie Waterland are among the 140 writers who will be participating in this year’s festival from 1…
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The Newcastle Writers Festival is now over for 2015, and exceeded all expectations. Thank you to our guest writers, volunteers, hosts, sponsors and, most importantly, our enthusiastic audiences. Special thanks…
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Helen Garner: “I would have given anything to be convinced he was innocent – and not because I ‘believed in him’, whatever that meant, but because, in spite of everything I…
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AWARD-winning Australian author Helen Garner is among 130 writers set to inspire and challenge audiences at the third annual Newcastle Writers Festival. The full program for the 2015 event, which will…
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Just 10 days out from the third Newcastle Writers Festival, the event has received a significant state government grant. Festival director and Herald journalist Rosemarie Milsom received news about the $50,000…
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We are delighted that The University of Newcastle is a major Festival Partner, and many of their graduates, staff and students will be taking part in NWF15, in events including two University of Newcastle Professors Talks, The…
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Read about the astonishing journey of our guest, surgeon Munjed Al Muderis, in a major article in the Sydney Morning Herald. Hear him talk at the NWF about The Treatment of Asylum Seekers: Australia’s…
Read moreThe Bad Mothers’ Pledge: “We acknowledge we are all bad mothers. We don’t organise play dates. We don’t chop food into small pieces and carry it around in case someone gets…
Read moreLast week I appeared on a panel at the Newcastle Writer’s Festival with Maria Takolander and Abbas El-Zein to talk about short stories. The panel was called ‘Nowhere to Hide’…
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For this very special Newcastle Writers Festival edition of Finally Friday Paul Bevan is joined by: *Wendy Harmer, broadcaster, author, journalist and stage performer *Kate Forsyth, writer, storyteller and novelist…
Read moreThe Kids Program of the Newcastle Writers Festival finished on a high yesterday with the Family Festival Hub. Loads of families turned out to enjoy stories and art in and…
Read moreThe second Newcastle Writers Festival has just wrapped up and it has been amazing! The organizers did a fabulous job and provided so much variety in content. As someone who…
Read moreThe organiser of the city’s burgeoning writers festival may increase Newcastle-focused sessions next year after recognising a hunger for local content, authors and poets over the weekend. The second annual…
Read moreExit International director Philip Nitschke will demonstrate emerging techniques that allow the elderly and seriously ill to achieve a peaceful death, at a workshop in Newcastle on Monday. Dr Nitschke…
Read moreWith the current political debate “pretty boring” and church halls “abandoned”, Wendy Harmer says there is something pretty special about writers festivals. Yesterday the Newcastle Writers Festival kicked off its…
Read moreThe days go by so fast,’ my eight-year-old said tonight as we observed a Blood Moon over Melbourne. ‘The nights, too,’ she added sagely. I know she’s got a point when I glance at my…
Read moreVisitors to the second Newcastle Writers Festival next month will have access to a host of accomplished authors, and Boat Harbour’s Joanna Atherfold Finn will be among them. At the…
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Where can you find a buzzing cafe and bar scene, beautiful beaches, plenty of boutique shopping and a celebration of Australian literature? From Friday 4 to Sunday 6 April 2014,…
Read moreLinda Drummond: Appearing at The Newcastle Writers Festival has written a guide to getting around Newcastle. Find out her top places to grab some food and get a coffee by…
Read more2014 is already off to an intense start for the NWF committee as we finalise logistics for the second festival in April. Click here to view the newsletter
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Miriam Margolyes presents the Newcastle Writers Festival opening night address, ‘Why Words Matter’, at the University of Newcastle Conservatorium, April 5. Hear audio on the Herald website
Read moreThe first chapter of what organisers expect to be an annual success story will be written in April when more than 50 Australian writers participate in the inaugural Newcastle Writers…
Read moreHave you seen that local blogger Pink Patent Mary Janes was at Newcastle Writers Festival launch last week and here is here thoughts about the upcoming event. Click Here
Read moreCelebrated writers from around Australia will head to the Hunter for the inaugural Newcastle Writers Festival. Topics and genres such as crime, climate change, romance and history will be explored…
Read moreBy Helen Gregory THE city of Newcastle is one of the most talked-about characters in crime author Jaye Ford’s chilling suspense novels about women who survive terrifying assaults. ‘‘The ‘exotic…
Read moreNewcastle Writers Festival would like to acknowledge the Awabakal and Worimi peoples, the Traditional Custodians of the land on which the festival takes place, and recognise their continuing connection to land, water and community. We pay our respects to Elders past, present and emerging and extend this respect to all First Nations people attending our festival.
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