Thursday 1 October: Writing NSW board member Nardi Simpson is launching her first novel, a captivating Australian drama Song of the Crocodile with Avid Reader. Free entry, register here.
Thursday 1 October: Best-selling author Jane Harper is launching her new novel, The Survivors with Better Read than Dead Books via Zoom. $5 tickets, register for the link here.
Thursday 1 October: Better Reading Kids will be streaming live on Facebook for this event Kids Top 50 Favourites, featuring Adrian Beck and Jacqueline Harvey discussing their favourites.
1 – 15 October: CBCA and Copyright Agency have teamed up with the Taronga Zoo to present Curious Creatures, Wild Minds at the zoo! Tune into the CBCA NSW web-page across October for short films featuring your favourite authors and illustrators.
1 – 31 October: Sign up to Booktober this month as a bookworm and fundraise to help disadvantaged kids in the Greater Western Sydney region.
Friday 2 October: Join us for First Friday Club from 12:30pm as Senior Program Officer Ashley Kalagian Blunt chats to Sydney Review of Books editor Catriona Menzies-Pike. RSVP free here.
Saturday 3 October: Celebrate what makes your local bookseller great on Love Your Bookshop Day! Find your local bookshop and see what events are happening here.
1 – 4 October: The National Young Writers Festival will be coming to you this year via a series of online panels, so you can participate from anywhere with an internet connection. All core events are free, but RSVP is essential.
Monday 5 October: WestWords’ monthly poetry night, Hemingway’s Polydactyl Kitten Club & Speakeasy returns in October featuring 2020 WestWords/Western Sydney Uni Writer-In-Residence Rawah Arja. Free online event.
Wednesday 7 October: For the first time, the best of ABC presenter Roly Sussex’s popular ‘Words for Today’ program are collected in book form. A must-read for all language lovers. Join Roly in conversation with Avid Reader for the launch of the book Word for Today. Free event, register here.
Wednesday 7 October: Harry Hartog Booksellers presents this live stream event with Ginger Gorman and Gemma Carey for the launch of her book No Matter Our Wreckage. RSVP for the link here.
Thursday 8 October: Tune into Avid Reader to watch Bri Lee in-conversation with Ewa Ramsey discussing her novel The Morbids. Free event, register here.
Thursday 8 October: Trent Dalton will be talking about his new novel All Our Shimmering Skies, with Michaela Kalowski online with Better Read than Dead. Tickets are $7, register for the link here.
10 October – 21 November: Bankstown Arts Centre will be holding a series of exhibitions, events and panels as part of Symbiosis: Bankstown Biennale. Already announced are writer Bruce Pascoe and writer and poet Christine Lai, with more to be announced.
Wednesday 14 October: As part of the ongoing Broadly Speaking series, The Wheeler Centre presents a conversation between Mieko Kawakami and Fernanda Melchor, on publishing in English, representations of womanhood in fiction and the possibilities in translation. Hosted by Roanna Gonsalves. Free event but donations encouraged on booking.
Wednesday 14 October: Dog lovers, this one if for you. Harry Hartog Booksellers presents an online celebration of the launch of Richard Glover’s new book Love, Clancy with a chat all things canine with Glover and author of Good Dog, Kate Leaver. Register for the link here.
15 October – 15 November: The Heroines Festival presents it’s 2020 program as a month-long online book club, with author discussions and writing workshops. Ticketing system on a pay-what-you-can basis.
17 – 23 October: The CBCA Book Week works with schools and public libraries to spend a glorious week celebrating books and children’s authors and illustrators. Visit the CBCA website to find events near you. This year’s theme is Curious Creatures, Wild Minds.
Monday 19 October: Join Melanie Kembrey as she chats to best-selling author Craig Silvey about his new book Honeybee in this online event with Better Read than Dead Books. Tickets $7, register for the link here.
Tuesday 20 October: Timba: The Show will be presented in Bathurst, featuring live storytelling cast from members of the community sharing their stories of living experience of mental health issues and recovery.
Wednesday 21 October: Harry Hartog Booksellers, in partnership with the ANU Meet the Author series, presents this online conversation with Robert Dessaix on age and the art of growing old well, with his new book The Time of Our Lives. Register for the link here.
Thursday 22 October: History shows that people often turn to arts and culture, and to the people who create them, during difficult times. In Creative Careers, Liminal magazine founder and PhD student Leah Jing McIntosh and journalist and documentary filmmaker Santilla Chingaipe will survey the changing landscape of the arts in Australia, in conversation with Footscray High School student Felix Briggs.
Friday 23 October: ACT Writers will be hosting writer, author, and broadcaster Benjamin Law in this special Q&A session, Ask Benjamin Law Anything About Writing. Submit your questions in advance or live online – whether it’s about time management, interviewing techniques, pitching, writers’ block, invoicing, how to approach agents or anything else, he’ll answer them all in this special Q&A.
Tuesday 27 October: As part of the ongoing Broadly Speaking series, The Wheeler Centre presents a conversation with Robin Wall Kimmerer and Tara June Winch, two writers whose work reflects on Indigenous languages and the languages of the natural world.
Wednesday 28 October: Harry Hartog Booksellers presents Untwisted: A Conversation with Paul Jennings and James O’Loghlin, launching Jennings’ memoir about writing, teaching and life. Tickets $5, register for the link.
29 – 31 October: From our friends at Spineless Wonders, the Microflix online festival celebrates the filmmakers and authors through workshops, awards and symposium. See the 2020 selection and award here.
29 October – 8 November: The Ubud Writers & Readers Festival this year presents as Kembali 2020, an online celebration on literature, food and culture. The program features an international line-up of authors, artists, activists, chefs, farmers, thinkers and performers.
More from Writing NSW
Check out our full range of in-person writing courses in Sydney, our online writing courses and our feedback programs to see how we can help you on your 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.