For our monthly Writing On Our Calendar feature, we bring you a round-up of literary events happening in NSW. Check out some of the writing events and programs this November!
Image source: Blue Mountains Writers’ Festival
30 October – 1 November: Blue Mountains Writers’ Festival (Katoomba)
The Blue Mountains Writers’ Festival is back for its sixth year, with a jam-packed program, featuring more than 80 writers across over 50 events, all celebrating the power of the written word. One of the most beloved literary events in the country, the 2026 line-up features literary greats, political icons and journalistic heavy-weights, including Pip Williams, Bruce Pascoe, Melissa Lucashenko, Waleed Aly, Chris Hammer, Benjamin Law, Bob Brown, Jane Caro, Toni Jordan and Bob Carr, as well as Gardening Australia’s Hannah Moloney, British author Josh Silver and actor and writer Zoe Terakes.
2 November – 11 December 2026: Writing Memoir with Kate Holden (online)
It’s one thing to live it; another to write it. In this six-week online memoir writing course, Kate Holden takes you through discussion, exercises and the sharing of stories to help you shake off the cobwebs and tumbleweeds and find the story inside you – and how best to make it sing.
3 November: Stuff the British Stole – Marc Fennell at History Illuminated (Lake Macquarie)
History Illuminated is Lake Macquarie’s annual celebration of people, place and the environment through the lens of history. Each November, the festival brings together authors, historians, artists and community voices for a dynamic program of talks, exhibitions, performances, tours and workshops. Join Marc Fennell and Dan Cox in a conversation about history’s most debated loot and a behind the scenes peek into the making of the award-winning series.
Image source: Berry Writers’ Festival
Are you wanting to incorporate humour into your fiction writing? Or are you interested in developing a comedic script or screenplay from scratch? Ideal for beginners as well as more advanced writers, this one-day course with screenwriter and comedian Tim Ferguson, will show you the secrets of writing comedy for page, stage and screen.
Image source: Hornsby Library
7 November: Meet the Children’s Author: Jacqueline Harvey (Hornsby)
Jacqueline Harvey, author of the best-selling Alice-Miranda and Kensy and Max books, is coming to Hornsby Library to talk about her latest book The Girl and the Ghost: Spirited Travels, the 4th book in The Girl and the Ghost series
Image source: The Book Room at Byron
7 November: Tim Winton in Conversation (Byron)
The Book Room, in partnership with Byron Writers Festival, presents Tim Winton in conversation with Songs from the Firefront on Saturday 7 November at A&I Hall Bangalow. For nearly half a century, he has been telling the lives and loves of ordinary people. Now, in his most personal book yet, Songs from the Firefront, he asks the big questions. How do we keep going in a burning world? What must we do to foster community? And how do we hold on to what is pure and precious?
11–17 November: Turn Up the Tension with Pamela Cook (online)
In this interactive online writing workshop, you’ll learn how to hook the reader from page one and keep them turning the pages by creating tension through dialogue, body language, word choice and setting. You’ll learn which details to withhold and when, how to use backstory judiciously, and the importance of characterisation and narrative structure.
Image source: The Rose Read Bookshop
13 November: Writing Sydney (Summer Hill)
Visit The Rose Read Bookshop for a panel discussion, moderated by Ruby (Literary Luddite), between three authors about how their books were inspired by, and are reflective of, Sydney. There will be drinks and light refreshments on offer as well as the opportunity to purchase the books and have them signed by the authors! The authors include: Zeynab Gamieldien (Learned Behaviours), Hannah Goldstein (Dream Girls) and Jessy Wu (Good Intentions).
14 November: The Unpublishable Poem Club with Claire Albrecht (Lilyfield)
This one-day, in-person workshop with award-winning poet and editor Claire Albrecht is a playful, slightly rebellious experiment in what happens when we stop trying to be ‘good’ poets for a few hours, and then very deliberately start trying again from a different perspective.
14 November: Writing Love and Sex in Fiction Anne Gracie (Lilyfield)
This workshop with Anne Gracie will explore techniques for showing the development of love between characters, methods of building sexual tension, and ways of approaching the writing of scenes about sex that will fit with your own personal style and avoid clichés.
21 November: Sisterhood and Suspense in the Eastern Suburbs (Bondi)
Set in Bondi, Sophie Stern’s What Is Left For Us is a beautifully rendered portrait of sisterhood driven by a gripping mystery. Katie Hoskins’s When the Party’s Over is a tense family drama about what happens when a seemingly ordinary family celebration in the Eastern suburbs takes a shocking turn. In conversation with fellow author Jessy Wu (Good Intentions), Sophie and Katie spill the tea on the complicated characters and riveting plots behind their page-turning debut novels – both deliciously set in our own backyard. This Bondi Books & Ideas Weekend event is presented by Waverley Council, with support from Gertrude & Alice Cafe Bookstore.
Image source: Harry Hartog Penrith
24 November: In Conversation with Maria Linwood (Penrith)
At Harry Hartog Penrith on Tuesday 24 November at 6pm, author Maria Linwood will be discussing the release of Mistress of Blood and Shadow. This epic fantasy plunges into the depths of friendship, sacrifice and legacies that must be defied.
Image source: Penrith City Council
26 November: A Rural Romance: Author Event (Penrith)
Join best selling authors Penelope Janu, Stella Quinn and Fiona McArthur, in conversation with Sandie Docker, for a lively discussion of rural romance. Explore evocative country settings, unforgettable characters and the enduring charm of a well earned happily ever after.
Writing NSW publishes these free listings in good faith but does not endorse or warrant the accuracy of any information. 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 prizes & opportunities, as well as writing groups across NSW, and sign up to our weekly newsletter for writing events, opportunities and giveaways.
