Poetry Month
With Red Room Poetry initiatives, community events and workshops across the country, there’s a range of ways to get involved this Poetry Month. Red Room’s Poetry Gala will be held on 12 August.
1 – 6 August: Top Coat, Sydney Theatre Company
What happens when a Chinese-Australian manicurist switches bodies with a white, latte sipping, TV executive? A new play from the hilarious and politically-charged wit of Michelle Law.
1 – 7 August: Kings X Theatre Storytellers
A one week showcase of new Australian playwriting. Selected plays will be presented as staged readings – focusing on the scripts, not the production.
4 August: Poetica Petit Poetry night
In partnership with Woollahra Council, Poetica launches a new poetry night to be held in the newly refurbished Woollahra Gallery at Redleaf at the Cultural Hub.
4 – 21 August: Darwin Festival
A vibrant program of cultural events including music, theatre, arts & more.
5 August: First Friday with Varuna
First Friday, Writing NSW’s monthly conversation with an industry professional, is a chance for our community to learn more about the writing and publishing industry. This August, we invite you to our online event with Amy Sambrooke and Veechi Stuart from Varuna, The National Writers’ House.
5 – 20 August: Summer of the Seventeenth Doll
A Genesian Theatre production of Ray Lawler’s compelling 1955 work. The play is considered to be a “turning point” in Australian theatre history in it’s portrayal of an authentic Australian life and characters.
5 August: National Family History Month: Connecting Culture: Tracing Ancestors
Online. Join First Nations Family history specialists Melissa Jackson and Kerr-Ann Tape for a Connecting Culture workshop at the State Library of NSW.
7 August: Sleeping Under the Bridge Book Launch
This free event features a walking tour and readings about the history of the Sydney Harbour Bridge. Hear Mel Baker discuss statistics of homelessness then and now.
8 August: Ronen Steinke in conversation with Michaela Kalowski
Online. This conversation event is a part of the Sydney Jewish Writer’s Festival. Anna & Dr Helmy is the remarkable story of Mohammed Helmy, the Egyptian doctor who risked his life to save Jewish Berliners from the Nazis.
8 August: Author Event with Greg Woodland
In this conversation at Mosman Library, join Greg Woodland to discuss his latest rural thriller, The Carnival is Over. Greg is also teaching our upcoming Crime Fiction course at Writing NSW.
9 August: Speaker Series: Sneaky Little Revolutions Selected essays of Charmian Clift
Charmian Clift was a writer ahead of her time. Join Nadia Wheatley at Balmain library in a discussion about the new edition of Charmian’s collected essays Sneaky little revolutions.
9 August: Tea Topics: ‘Criminals’ with James O’Loghlin
Join James O’Loghlin in conversation with Catherine du Peloux Menagé at Woollahra Library as they discuss James’ first novel for adults. James draws on his previous life as a criminal lawyer to pen Criminals: One robbery, three people, no heroes.
12 – 14 August: Canberra Writer’s Festival
An extensive program of events and discussions with renowned authors including Gabrielle Chan, Trent Dalton, Jackie Huggins, Liane Moriarty, and Don Watson.
12 August – 17 Sep: Whitefella Yella Tree
Winner of the Nick Enright prize for playwriting, Dylan Van Den Berg’s new play is a heart-warming and heartbreaking story about love, Country, and Blak queerness throughout history. Playing at Griffin Theatre Company.
12 August: National Poetry Month Gala
Hosted by Alex Lee, the Poetry Month Gala night features a host of contemporary poets, comedians, actors and musicians.
13 August: Deborah Abela at Gleebooks
Join renowned children’s author Deborah Abela at Gleebooks to launch her latest middle grade adventure, The Book of Wondrous Possibilities. Deborah joined us at the 2022 Kids & YA Festival.
16 August: The Nib Presents – The Writer Laid Bare
Join Lee Kofman at Waverley Library as she shares her insights about the writing process with author Suzanne Leal.
17 August: Poetry Across Oceans Workshop
Online. Lorna Munro and January Rogers explore what it means to collaborate with another creative poetically, discussing ways in which poetic collaboration can reveal sovereignty and Indigenous self-determination.
18 August: Talking Writing: Queer Writers on Queer Writers
Join writers Amy Lovat, George Haddad, Fiona Kelly McGregor, and Bastian Fox Phelan at Writing NSW as they discuss their creative influence and pay homage to the influential queer writers who came before them.
22 August: Writers & Readers: ‘The Rising Tide’ with Ann Cleeves
Join author Ann Cleeves in conversation with Kate Evans at Woollahra Library as they discuss Ann’s book The Rising Tide, the latest instalment in the Vera Stanhope series.
20-26 August: CBCA Book Week
Each year since 1945 the CBCA has brought children and books together across Australia through CBCA Book Week. During this time, schools and libraries create displays, activities, competitions and stories to celebrate Australian children’s literature. You will often see parades with students dressed as their favourite book character. This year’s theme is “dreaming with eyes open.”
26-28 August: Byron Writer’s Festival
Another weekend of jampacked author talks – featuring Trent Dalton, Hannah Kent, Bruce Pascoe, Indira Naidoo, Steve Toltz, Emily Bitto, Julia Baird, Costa Georgiadis, and many more.
More from Writing NSW
Check out our full range of writing courses in Sydney, our online writing courses and our feedback programs to see how we can help you on your creative writing journey. Find out about our grants and prizes, as well as writing groups across NSW, and sign up to our weekly newsletter for writing events, opportunities and giveaways.