Adelaide Writers' Week

AWW25: Dirrayawadha: Resistance, Resilience and Love During the Frontier Wars - Anita Heiss

20 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

With Nicole Abadee.Anita Heiss, the award-winning author of 23 books, talks to Nicole Abadee about her latest historical novel, Dirrayawadha, a tribu...

AWW25: Crimes Against Humanity - Tobias Buck (live stream), Geoffrey Robertson, and Dorcy Rugamba

20 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

With Gareth Evans.The catalogue of crimes against humanity should engender both collective and individual shame, but has it? Who should we hold respon...

AWW25: Dog Days - Markus Zusak

20 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

With Nicole Abadee.Markus Zusak’s family has taken on three feral dogs over the years. The author of Three Wild Dogs speaks with Nicole Abadee (wh...

AWW25: Drawing a Line - Mandy Beaumont, Louise Milligan, and Michael Robotham

20 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

With Beejay Silcox.Does a moral compass matter in crime fiction? What if a protagonist is untested by ethical boundaries? Does erasing the line betwee...

AWW25: The Stage of the Self - Julia Baird, Geraldine Brooks, and Rachel Kushner

20 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

With David Marr.Despite the promise that we were “all in it together”, the COVID-19 pandemic led to a flight from sociability: life no longer live...

AWW25: We Are the Stars - Gina Chick

20 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

With David Lesar.In conversation with David Leser, Alone Australia inaugural winner Gina Chick discusses her memoir, We Are the Stars, about a self...

AWW25: How the People of Yirrkala Changed the Course of Australian Democracy - Clare Wright

20 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

With Kerry O'Brien.Professor Clare Wright discusses her latest work with Kerry O’Brien. Näku Dhäruk: The Bark Petitions is the story of a fo...

AWW25: The State of the Nation - Bob Carr, Rebecca Huntley, and Rick Morton

20 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

With Late Night Live's David Marr.Has the Australian myth of a fair go finally been broken? Are we as divided as ever by class, ethnicity and iden...

AWW25: A Song of Time - Stan Grant

20 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

With Anton Enus.Journalist and author Stan Grant’s new book is Murriyang, a meditation on love, art and the memories, history and relationships tha...

AWW25: Fiction, Memoir and the Boundaries of Art - Michelle de Kretser

20 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

With Georgina Godwin.One of Australia’s most esteemed writers, Michelle de Kretser, discusses her seventh novel, Theory and Practice, with Georgina...

AWW25: It's Christmas 1962 and a Baby Arrives... - Niall Williams

20 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

With Kate EvansInternationally bestselling author Niall Williams talks to Kate Evans about his latest novel, Time of the Child, a tale of familial lo...

AWW25: Boys and Men and Aussie Rules – Helen Garner

20 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

With Nicole AbadeeAustralia’s most iconic author, Helen Garner, talks to Nicole Abadee about her latest book, The Season, a reflection on the theat...

AWW24: Homecoming - Kate Morton

25 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

With Sarah Martin | Kate Morton is one of Australia’s best-selling authors. A fascination with secrets and their impact has shaped her writing. She ...

AWW24: I Do, I Don't - Clementine Ford

25 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

With Susan Johnson | 'Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue' is the stating point for Clementine Ford's case ag...

AWW24: Frank Moorhouse - Catharine Lumby

25 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

With Jo Case | Author Catharine Lumby knew Frank Moorhouse for many years. A decade before his death in 2022, Moorhouse asked her to be his biograph...

AWW24: So I have been cancelled... - Umut Özkırımlı

25 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

With Amanda Vanstone | Umut Özkırımlı, the author of Cancelled: The Left Way Back from Woke, joins Amanda Vanstone to discuss the question: “Wh...

AWW24: Non-Essential Work - Omar Sakr

25 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

With Mike Ladd | Omar Sakr is an award-winning poet and novelist. His latest collection, Non-Essential Work, confronts issues of gender, race and ide...

AWW24: Tell Me What I Am - Una Mannion

25 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

With Helen Elliott | Una Mannion’s second novel, Tell Me What I Am, is a superbly literary novel masquerading as a compelling thriller. In conversa...

AWW24: Voices of Place - Jonathan Lethem & Nathan Thrall

25 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

With Jo Case | Brooklyn and Jerusalem are places that have powerfully informed the recent writing of two leading American writers – Jonathan Lethem ...

AWW24: Cool Water - Myfanwy Jones

25 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

With Hannah Kent | Myfanwy Jones, the Miles Franklin-shortlisted author of Leap, has just published a new novel about fathers, sons and the damage th...

AWW24: The Israel/Palestine Question - Ilan Pappé

25 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

With Annabelle Quince | Ilan Pappé is one of the most influential historians writing today on the history of Israel and Palestine. He joins Annabelle...

AWW24: Wifedom - Anna Funder

25 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

With Nicole Abadee | Anna Funder’s Wifedom shines a light on the woman who George Orwell described as his wife thirty-seven times without ever usi...

AWW24: An Uneasy Inheritance - Polly Toynbee

25 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

With Sarah Martin | Polly Toynbee has been a columnist for The Guardian for over twenty-five years. In conversation with Sarah Martin, Toynbee speak...

AWW24: The Writing School

25 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

With Louise Adler and Sian Cain | By exploring an episode of her own life in the context of a residential creative writing course, Miranda France exam...

AWW24: Tomorrow Perhaps the Future - Sarah Watling

25 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

With Tory Shepherd | Women have long been written out of history, marginalised and ignored. Tory Shepherd interviews Sarah Watling about the remarkabl...

AWW24: The Rebel's Clinic - Adam Shatz

25 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

With Lucia Sorbera | Adam Shatz is the US editor of the London Review of Books and his most recent work has focused on engaged writers. He tells Luc...

AWW24: The History of Hamas - Tareq Baconi

25 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

With Annabelle Quince | Understanding the Middle East conflict requires us to consider the origins of Hamas: the organisation, its political ambitions...

AWW24: A Revolution in Poetic Language

25 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Evelyn Araluen, Madison Godfrey, Jill Jones and Ellen van Neerven with Jessica Alice | Join renowned Australian poets Evelyn Araluen, Madison Godfrey,...

AWW24: Aphrodite's Breath - Susan Johnson

25 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

With Anne Pender | Susan Johnson is a brave writer. She is also a brave daughter. Johnson tells Anne Pender why and how she decided to bring her elder...

AWW24: What Stays On Tour...

25 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Kate Grenville, Susan Johnson, Una Mannion and Pip Williams with David Marr | Have you ever wondered what happens during a book tour? Kate Grenville, ...

AWW24: Eleven Letters to You - Helen Elliott

25 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

With Beejay Silcox | Helen Elliott, a wonderfully perceptive literary critic, finally decided to write a memoir – a letter to eleven people who infl...

AWW24: The Rocks Remain: Blak Poetry and Story

25 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Ali Cobby Eckermann, Brad Darkson, Dominic Guerrera and Karen Wyld | What remains after colonisation? After heartbreak? After protest? Like the rocks,...

AWW24: Brooklyn Crime Novel - Jonathan Lethem

25 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

With Sarah L'Estrange | Jonathan Lethem is a genre agnostic – from sci-fi to detective fiction. He explains to Sarah L’Estrange why he likes b...

AWW24: Killing for Country - David Marr

25 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

With Rachel Perkins | David Marr confronts uncomfortable truths with his customary courage and acuity in a conversation with Rachel Perkins. Supported...

AWW24: All in the Mind - Lynne Malcolm

25 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

With Jo Case | Lynne Malcolm spent many years presenting Radio National’s All in the Mind. Now she has distilled all she has learned in a book abou...

AWW24: Restless Dolly Maunder - Kate Grenville

25 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

With Nicole Abadee | Kate Grenville has been delighting readers since her very first collection, Bearded Ladies, was published in 1984. Nicole Abadee...

AWW24: Dangerous Women - Susanna Moore

25 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

With Lisa Temple | Susanna Moore joins Lisa Temple via live stream to talk about her new novel, The Lost Wife, her memoir and ‘that novel’ – I...

AWW24: The Bookbinder of Jericho - Pip Williams

25 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

With Jane Howard | Pip Williams, best-selling author of The Dictionary of Lost Words, tells Jane Howard about her new novel, The Bookbinder of Jeric...

AWW24: When Authors Took Sides - Anna Funder & Sarah Watling

25 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

With Sian Cain | Today the Spanish Civil War is remembered through writers like George Orwell and Ernest Hemingway. Anna Funder and Sarah Watling join...

AWW24: Me, Me, Me - Martin Flanagan & Polly Toynbee

25 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

With Nicole Abadee | Blake Morrison advises memoirists to remember god is in the details. Nicole Abadee tests this advice with Martin Flanagan and Pol...

AWW24: Trump, the Future and Global Influence - Bruce Wolpe

25 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

With John Lyons | Bruce Wolpe has spent years studying America’s political culture, leadership and global relationships – from Asia to Israel, Alb...

AWW24: Reality Bites - Gary Lonesborough

21 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

With Vikki Wakefield | Gary Lonesborough’s award-winning debut, The Boy From The Mish, is a powerful coming-of-age story. His follow-up, We Didn’...

AWW24: The Company She Keeps - Lynette Noni

21 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

With Margot McGovern | Across her YA series, Lynette Noni has created a host of memorable characters that fans care for deeply. She speaks with Margot...

AWW24: Personal Score - Ellen van Neerven

21 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

With Sian Cain | Racism and sexism continue to plague Australian sporting codes despite multiple reviews, diversity policies and courageous outspoken ...

AWW24: Writing the Future

21 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

With DreamYard International Poetry Exchange Program | Join chair Ellen Hagan and teen poets from Australia, South Korea and the United States as they...

AWW24: Penance - Eliza Clark

21 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

With Helen Elliott | With the publication of her first book, Eliza Clark was named one of Granta magazine’s best British novelists under forty. Her ...

AWW24: In the Air of an Afternoon Almost Past - Peter Goers

21 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

With Rick Sarre | The voice of nightly radio for legions of fans, Peter Goers has been called “the critic who ate Adelaide”. He discusses his late...

AWW24: The Idealist - Nicholas Jose

21 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

With David Marr | In Nicholas Jose’s latest novel, East Timor’s fight for independence provides the context for a story about the intersection of ...

AWW24: Muster Dogs - Lisa Millar

21 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

With Amanda Vanstone | When Muster Dogs first hit screens, the lively kelpie pups adopted into farming homes across Australia became instant stars. ...

AWW24: Birds with Personality - Georgia Angus & Darryl Jones

21 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Calling all twitchers for a conversation about Getting to Know the Birds in Your Neighbourhood and Birds with Personality between Georgia Angus an...

AWW24: The Art of Breaking Ice - Rachael Mead

21 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

With Sarah L'Estrange | Rachael Mead speaks with Sarah L’Estrange about the challenges of turning from poetry to fiction, reflecting on her late...

AWW24: Edenglassie - Melissa Lucashenko

21 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

With Claire Nichols | Miles Franklin winner Melissa Lucashenko joins The Book Show’s Claire Nichols for a discussion about her new novel, Edenglas...

AWW24: Dress Rehearsals - Madison Godfrey

21 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

With Sian Cain | Madison Godfrey describes their second poetry collection as a document of a decade of performing womanhood. The poems are about music...

AWW24: Held - Anne Michaels

21 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

With Nicole Abadee | Anne Michaels, the acclaimed novelist and poet, joins Nicole Abadee via live stream for a conversation about writing, structure a...

AWW24: The Past is Not Another Country

21 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

John Lyons, Ilan Pappé, Nathan Thrall and Bruce Wolpe with Debbie Whitmont | Edward Said described Palestinians as “the victims’ victims”. Walk...

AWW24: Going Gonzo: Immersive Research

21 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Royce Kurmelovs, Tory Shepherd and Ben Stubbs with Smriti Daniel | From reporting on the far right to journeys in the Paraguay jungle, join award-winn...

AWW24: Has the Author Died, Again?

21 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Kathryn Gledhill-Tucker, Richard King, Kate Mildenhall and Tracey Spicer with Ariel Bogle | Can AI produce literature? Writers are demanding protectio...

AWW24: A Dangerous Business - Jane Smiley

21 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

With Jonathan Green | In a writing life spanning over forty years, Jane Smiley has published seventeen novels, two short story collections, five non-f...

AWW24: Ask Me Anything: Book Publishing 101

21 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Melanie Ostell, Vanessa Radnidge and Jeanne Ryckmans with Jessica Alice | From bidding wars to MFA wunderkinds, publishers see it all. Go behind the s...

AWW24: The Cancer Finishing School - Peter Goldsworthy

21 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

With David Marr | Only Peter Goldsworthy could write a memoir titled The Cancer Finishing School. He explains to David Marr why cancer makes good cop...

AWW24: Mental Health Matters Patrick McGorry & Jonathan Rosen

21 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

With Natasha Mitchell | Mental illness is stigmatised, economic rationalism determines government funding, and the industry is dominated by big pharma...

AWW24: Writing Relationships: Authors and Their Editors

21 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Madison Godfrey, Kate Grenville and Anjum Hasan with Jessica Alice | Join Madison Godfrey, Kate Grenville and Anjum Hasan for an intimate exploration ...

AWW24: France on Trial - Julian Jackson

21 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

With Andrew Clark | After his magisterial biography of Charles de Gaulle, Julian Jackson has turned his attention to the trial of Marshall Petain – ...

AWW24: Stories of Your Life and Others - Ted Chiang

21 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

With Ariel Bogle | Award-winning short story writer Ted Chiang is often described as a humanist sci-fi writer. Ariel Bogle asks him what that means an...

AWW24: Insiders

21 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

For more than twenty years, Insiders has been unmissable television for political tragics and anyone wanting to stay up to date on federal politics. H...

AWW24: 2024 Stella Prize Longlist Announcement

21 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

With Eleanor Jackson, Cheryl Leavy, Yves Rees and Beejay Silcox | Be among the first to discover the 2024 Stella Prize longlist. Join the Judging Pa...

AWW24: Arab Jews and the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict - Avi Shlaim

21 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

With Debbie Whitmont | Historian Avi Shlaim’s Three Worlds: Memoirs of an Arab-Jew combines a fascinating family story of moving from Baghdad to I...

AWW24: Young Rupert - Walter Marsh

21 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

With Tom Wright | Rupert Murdoch has dominated the media for more than half a century. Walter Marsh takes Tom Wright back to his beginnings in Adelaid...

AWW24: Gender, Caste and Class

21 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Anjali Joseph, Meena Kandasamy, Perumal Murugan and Nilanjana S. Roy with Roanna Gonsalves | Anjali Joseph, Meena Kandasamy, Perumal Murugan and Nilan...

AWW24: 2024 MUD Literary Prize

21 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The MUD Literary Prize celebrates a debut novel of literary fiction. Hear from 2024 winner Kylie Needham and chair David Sly as they discuss Needham&#...

AWW24: Sex, Love and Death

21 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Eliza Clark, Patrick deWitt and Jonathan Lethem with Molly Murn | Three of life’s certainties are brought into question by Eliza Clark, Patrick deWi...

AWW24: A Literary Resurrection - Perumal Murugan

21 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

With Roanna Gonsalves | In 2015, Perumal Murugan said: “Perumal Murugan the writer is dead. As he is not god, he is not going to resurrect himself. ...

AWW24: Change - Édouard Louis

21 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

With Ruth Mackenzie | Writing about the impoverished village of his childhood and the ramifications of disenfranchisement on his family, Édouard Loui...

AWW24: A Day in the Life of Abed Salama - Nathan Thrall

21 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

With Debbie Whitmont | Drawing on a decade spent as the director of the International Crisis Group’s Arab-Israeli Project, Nathan Thrall’s new boo...

AWW24: Black River - Nilanjana S. Roy

21 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

With John Zubrzycki | Set in a north Indian village, Nilanjana S. Roy’s new novel, Black River, takes the form of a police procedural to ask larger...

AWW24: The Grey Zone - Ian Buruma & Julian Jackson

21 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

With Bob Carr | The modern view is that we can’t judge the actions of others in extremis, so what can we learn from Marshal Petain, Heinrich Himmler...

AWW24: Yeah, Nah! - William McInnes

21 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

With Chris Taylor | William McInnes may be known to television audiences for his role in SeaChange, but his books have also won him legions of fans. ...

AWW24: Tomorrow Someone Will Arrest You - Meena Kandasamy

21 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

With Roanna Gonsalves | Poet, novelist and activist Meena Kandasamy has been described as a “one-woman agit prop literary-political movement”. She...

AWW24: "I don't read for comfort" - Richard Ford

21 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

With Beejay Silcox | Richard Ford says: “I don’t read for comfort. Comfort I source elsewhere. I read only to learn something and to be delighted ...

AWW24: On Marriage - Devorah Baum

21 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

With Susan Johnson | Marriage, according to Devorah Baum, is a "formal relation that could arguably lay claim to being the world’s most endurin...

AWW24: History's Angel - Anjum Hasan

20 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

With John Zubrzycki | Anjum Hasan asks what happens if people cling to the once vaunted qualities of irresponsible dreaming, intellectual pride, ethic...

AWW24: Genres: Do the rules apply?

20 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Mark Brandi, Una Mannion and Lucy Treloar with Tom Wright | Are there rules that govern writing historical fiction, crime fiction or coming-of-age sto...

AWW24: The Best Minds - Jonathan Rosen

20 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

With Sarah Kanowski | Jonathan Rosen tells Sarah Kanowski about his book The Best Minds – a heartbreaking story of friendship, madness and the tra...

AWW24: Keeping in Touch - Anjali Joseph

20 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

With Claire Nichols | Anjali Joseph’s fourth novel, Keeping in Touch, involves magical lightbulbs, contemporary art and toxic bachelors. Joseph exp...

AWW24: Consent Laid Bare - Chanel Contos

20 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

With Katrina Strickland | In 2021, Chanel Contos asked young Australian women about their sexual experiences – the responses were horrifying and the...

AWW24: Lies My Mirror Told Me - Wendy Harmer

20 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

With Richard Fidler | Wendy Harmer’s memoir is the extraordinary story of a life lived in public – undaunted by naysayers, sexism and adversity. S...

AWW24: Microstory Competition

20 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Tom Rehn and Lauren DeCesare from Hello SA announce the winner of the 2024 Microstory Competition. Supported by Hello SA, this year's competition...

AWW24: Hear Me Roar!

20 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Madison Godfrey, Sara M. Saleh, Kirli Saunders, Katherine Sortini and Rob Waters | Writers’ Week’s favourite showcase of slam poetry and spoken wo...

AWW24: On Giving Up - Adam Phillips

20 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

With Sarah Kanowski | British psychoanalyst Adam Phillips says we spend most of our lives anxiously hoping we will change – and doing everything we ...

AWW24: The Future of News

20 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Alan Rusbridger, Justin Stevens and Lenore Taylor with Laura Tingle | Publishing unverified information has seemingly become routine – hence the cre...

AWW24: The Earth Transformed - Peter Frankopan

20 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

With Glyn Davis | In conversation with Glyn Davis, the bestselling author of The Earth Transformed, Peter Frankopan, explores the impact of environme...

AWW24: Best Wishes - Richard Glover

20 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

With Leigh Sales | Richard Glover’s latest book is a hilarious manual for how to make the world a better place, “one wish at a time” – which o...

AWW24: Inner Sanctum

20 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Evelyn Araluen, Ali Cobby Eckermann, Jazz Money and Ellen van Neerven | In conjunction with the 18th Adelaide Biennial of Australian Art, poets Evely...

AWW24: Mary Beard: Empress of Rome

20 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Mary Beard with Jonty Claypole | Mary Beard, one of the world’s most famous classicists, talks to Jonty Claypole about bringing the past to life. As...

AWW24: Nevermoor - Jessica Townsend

20 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

With Clare Sawyer | In 2024, Jessica Townsend will publish the fourth book in her Nevermoor series. What can we expect from the next instalment? In ...

AWW24: Ripples and Resilience: Navigating Our Rivers

20 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Richard Beasley, Margaret Cook, Sarah Hanson-Young and Kate McBride with Natasha Mitchell | The relationship between rivers and the communities and ci...

AWW24: The Wren, The Wren - Anne Enright

20 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

With Claire Nichols | Anne Enright’s eighth novel is a brilliant report on one unhappy family; an intergenerational tale framed by the self-aggrandi...

AWW24: Prima Facie - Suzie Miller

20 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

With Nicole Abadee | Prima Facie is the story of a brilliant barrister who finds herself defenceless after she is sexually abused. Suzie Miller discu...

AWW24: South Australia: Laboratory of Democracy

20 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Susan Close, Royce Kurmelovs, Noah Schultz-Byard and Tory Shepherd with Jules Schiller | Whether it’s the establishment of a First Nations Voice to ...

AWW24: Storytellers - Leigh Sales

20 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

With Lisa Millar | Two of our most highly regarded journalists, Leigh Sales and Lisa Millar, discuss their decades-long friendship, the art of storyte...