Friday 24 May – Saturday 15 June: Vivid Sydney: Light, Music and Ideas Festival. Three weeks of game changing ideas and seminars, amazing music and light sculptures that transform Sydney. More than just a light festival, Vivid has an exciting lineup of Ideas Talks including Australia Council for the Arts event, The Space Between and Holy Cow! Creative’s X Women: How Generation X Women Shape Creativity.
Saturday June 1: Entries are now open for The Deakin University Nonfiction Prize. Entries between 5,000 and 10,000 words are welcome across all nonfiction genres, including memoir, journalism, essay, and creative nonfiction. Open to Australian residents aged 30 and under (as of the closing date September 1 2019). First prize receives $3000 and an editorial mentorship. Click here to enter and more info.
Friday 31 May – Sunday 2 June: Audiocraft Podcast Festival. An event for audio makers and podcast fans seeking to connect and collaborate with Australia’s passionate audio community. Join Audiocraft for three-days of provocative talks, live events and invaluable networking opportunities. Check out the full program here and for tickets go here.
Wednesday 5 June: Vivid Art After Hours, Omar Musa and Abdul Abdullah on ‘Other’ voices. Rapper, poet and author Omar Musaand and artist Abdul Abdullah speak about how self-expression, creativity and story-telling has given each a powerful ‘voice’ to explore issues of identity and culture in modern Australia. After the talk Omar will perform a selection of his poems. Art Gallery of NSW at 6:30pm – 10pm. Free entry.
Wednesday 5 June – Sunday 16 June: Sydney Film Festival. Australia’s premier international film festival is back for 12 days and nights showcasing the world’s best new films. In 2019, Sydney Film Festival presents more than 250 of the greatest, strangest and most exciting works that cinema has to offer. View the full lineup of events here.
Thursday 6 June: How to Write for the General Public by China Studies Centre. Join author and journalist Linda Jaivin and the acting director of the China Studies Centre, Olivier Krischer, as they discuss how researchers and students can adapt their writing or research findings to speak to the general public. This event targets research students and early career researchers working on or with China. University of Sydney at 2pm-4pm. Free entry, bookings essential.
Thursday 6 June – Sunday 9 June: The Henry Lawson Festival. The Henry Lawson Festival is an annual event held in Grenfell, NSW on the June long weekend. Grenfell is the birthplace of Henry Lawson, one of Australia’s best loved poets and writer of short stories. The Festival is one of the longest running arts events in NSW and 2019 sees it celebrate its 62nd year. Award-winning author and tutor at Writing NSW, Inga Simpson, will be the 2019 Henry Lawson Festival of Arts Official Guest. For full program of events head here.
Friday 7 June – Sunday 9 June: Bellingen Readers and Writers Festival. With a focus on contemporary Australian writers, the Bellingen Readers & Writers Festival is presenting an exciting line-up of literary talent once again including: Kerry O’Brien, Holly Throsby, Morris Gleitzman and Zohab Zee Khan. See the full program here.
Sunday 9 June: Inside Publishing: Negotiating the Publishing Industry. Each year, Writing NSW partners with regional writers’ festivals to present Inside Publishing, a panel discussion that explores the inner workings of the publishing world. This event provides networking opportunities and information about the industry to writers in regional NSW. This year the event will be held at Bellingen Readers & Writers Festival. This panel will be chaired by Writing NSW’s CEO, Jane McCredie. Cedar Bar, Bellingen at 3pm-4pm. Tickets $25
Wednesday 12 June: Lambs of God viewing with the Sydney Film Festival. See all four episodes of Jeffrey Walker’s (Ali’s Wedding, SFF 2017) dark, gothic and twistedly-erotic Foxtel mini-series, about a secluded nunnery threatened by the arrival of a handsome young priest. Dendy Opera Quays Cinema 2 at 6pm. Tickets from $14.
Lambs of God was adapted for television by Sarah Lambert (Love Child, Dance Academy, A Place to Call Home), from the novel of the same name by Marele Day, who is also a tutor with Writing NSW. We caught up with Sarah and Marele in March for a discussion on Lambs of God ahead of its release. Read about the discussion and listen to our podcast here.
Wednesday 12 June: The Society of Women Writers NSW monthly Literary Luncheon. The keynote speaker at June’s literary luncheon is Jackey Coyle. Jackey is co-writing a book on cancer breakthroughs for a 2019 release. The Macquarie Room, State Library of New South Wales at 12pm-2pm. Tickets from $40. More info
Thursday 13 June: Cuplet #11. Cuplet is a monthly poetry event run by founder Claire Albrecht. It takes place every second Wednesday of the month at The Beaumont Hamilton in Newcastle. It features touring established poets as well as a curated section of local emerging writers. This month’s lineup features Liam Ferney, Jill Jones, Autumn Royal and Jessica Wilkinson. The Beaumont Hamilton, Newcastle at 7pm-9:30pm. Free entry.
Wednesday 19 June – Saturday 29 June: Emerging Writers’ Festival. The Emerging Writers’ Festival is one of Australia’s most established and well-respected literary festivals. The festival exists to develop, nurture and promote Australia’s new writing talent, creating platforms for connecting writing communities and their audiences. The festival boasts an incredible lineup of speakers including: Michael Mohammed Ahmad, Melanie Cheng and Steven James Finch. View full program and tickets here. Note this festival is held in Melbourne, Victoria.
Thursday 20 June: Vicki Laveau-Harvie on The Erratics. Vicki Laveau-Harvie’s extraordinary memoir The Erratics won this year’s Stella Prize. Join Better Read Than Dead to hear Vicki discuss her book, writing journey, and the fascinating family experiences that spawned it. Vicki will be in-conversation with Sacha Horler. Upstairs at Better Read Than Dead, at 6:30pm. Free entry, bookings essential.
Vicki is a long-time Writing NSW member and part of a writing group with Writing NSW. You can read more about Vicki in our interview with her for Spotlight On.
Friday 21 June: My Heritage: Vietnam Fatherland Motherland, author talk with Minh Hien. Minh Hien will host a charity book reading to celebrate the contributions of Vietnamese refugees to Australian society, and to raise awareness of Motor Neurone Disease. She and her nieces will read from her first book, My Heritage Vietnam Fatherland Motherland. Glebe Town Hall at 6:30pm-9pm. Find out more here.
Friday 21 June – Sunday 23 June: Storyfest. A new festival to be held annually to celebrate storytelling in the Milton-Mollymook-Ulladulla region. The main festival day will be jam packed with 15 sessions held over 4 venues, including fiction, non-fiction and children’s events and encompassing storytelling through various forms. The program includes fantastic speakers like Emily Maguire, Pamela Cook, Candice Fox, Suzanne Leal and Christian White.
Saturday 29 June: Speculative Fiction Festival at Writing NSW. The 2019 Speculative Fiction Festival is packed with practical advice on writing, marketing and publishing, and inspirational discussions of radical concepts that will fuel your imagination. Our program includes award-winning authors such as James Bradley, Mitchell Hogan, Catherine McKinnon, Margaret Morgan and Kaaron Warren. View the full program here. Full price tickets are $90 or become a Writing NSW member for a discount.
Sunday 30 June: Sweatshop Women, Winnie Dunn in conversation with Maryam Azam. From the fabulous Sweatshop writing collective in western Sydney comes Sweatshop Women, an exciting and contemporary collection of prose and poetry written by women from Indigenous, migrant and refugee backgrounds. Editor Winnie Dunn will be in-conversation with writer and contributor Maryam Azam. Upstairs at Better Read Than Dead at 4pm. Free entry, bookings essential.
