Garmus, Patchett, Connelly, Ng to headline SWF

The program for this year’s Sydney Writers’ Festival (SWF), which runs 20–26 May under the theme Take Me Away, has been announced.

The program includes almost 300 guests and comprises 223 events. Among the international headliners are US author of the bestselling Lessons in Chemistry Bonnie Garmus; multi–award winning US author Ann Patchett; US novelist Celeste Ng, author of Little Fires Everywhere; and the author of the bestselling Bosch series Michael Connelly. Also among the international guests are Paul Lynch, Paul Murray, Sebastian Barry, Abdulrazak Gurnah, Viet Thanh Nguyen and Jennifer Doudna.

Among the local headliners are Miles Franklin winners Shankari Chandran, Melissa Lucashenko and Anna Funder, as well as authors Richard Flanagan, Bryan Brown, Trent Dalton, Julia Baird and Holly Ringland.

The festival’s opening event will feature Ann Patchett in conversation with Annabel Crabb, accompanied by a poetry performance by Jazz Money; and philosopher Kate Manne will deliver the Closing Address.

The festival also includes six events curated by Wiradjuri Nation poet and artist Jazz Money (how to make a basket) and Gomeroi writer Amy Thunig (Tell Me Again), an All-Day YA event on 25 May, and a Family Day on 26 May.

SWF 2024 will be held at Carriageworks, Sydney Town Hall, City Recital Hall, and the State Library of NSW, and streamed to venues across Greater Sydney and Australia through the Live & Local program. The full program is available on the SWF site.

Category: Local news