The 2023 Festival is an unmissable adventure from beginning to end with over 150 live events including author talks, panel discussions, workshops and all-new Literary Salons.

More than 60 Brisbane authors will feature alongside a star-studded line-up of national and international guests.

Australian headline authors include Stan Grant, Grace Tame, Tim Winton and Kate Morton while international highlights include Booker Prize winner Shehan Karunatilaka, Scottish novelist Irvine Welsh and US author Gabrielle Zevin.

BWF’s 2023 Country of Focus is South Korea and guest curator Sung-Ae Lee has developed a program examining the nuanced and coded approach of South Korean authors as they tackle topics still culturally taboo in their homeland.

Lee is joined by guest curators Daniel Browning (Aboriginal First Nations), Samantha Faulkner (Torres Strait Islander First Nations), Matthew Condon (Brisbane Stories), Megan Daley (Word Play) and Karen Lee (LoveYA).

BWF Artistic Director Jackie Ryan said her inaugural 2023 program would spin a rollicking tale of festive entertainment from blockbuster bestsellers to literary luminaries and everything in between.

“After a difficult time for many with fire, flood and plague, we’re looking to put the ‘festive’ in Festival,” Ryan said.

“Festive means different things to different people, of course, so we’ve prepared a literary feast to suit all tastes: we’ve got spies, romance, politics, science, history, poetry, comedy, crime, philosophy, self-help, technology, social issues, monsters, performance, conflict and food – and that’s just the entrée!

“Your literary dishes will be served by some of the most acclaimed writers and emerging talents in their fields. Dig in.”

Irvine Welsh returns to BWF to talk about his latest release, The Long Knives, as well as reflects on his grungy modern classic, Trainspotting, 30 years after its release. He also lends insight to the Blockbuster Crime panel alongside crime fiction luminaries Tracey Lien, Candice Fox and Garry Disher.

Australia’s traditional storytellers share culture and spark connections with panels and conversations featuring First Nations authors including Lionel Fogarty, Brooke Blurton, Alexis Wright and Lystra Rose.

New Zealand duo Matt and Sarah Brown reveal how their heart-rending book, She is Not Your Rehab, sparked a global movement to break the cycle of intergenerational abuse.

Sharing insight, innovation and inspiration for BWF’s 2023 Country of Focus is a diverse line-up of South Korean authors including Bora Chung, Park Sang Young, Krys Lee and Kim Min Jeong.

From page to stage, Regurgitator’s Ben Ely reflects on the 30th anniversary of the iconic Brisbane band while writer and music aficionado Tony Wellington heads down memory lane with Brisbane rock scholar Andrew Stafford.

A Fine Romance rewrites love stories for a new era and diehard romantics Trent Dalton and Samuel Johnson will sweep Lovers of Love off their feet with affairs of the heart.

Social structures are considered in sessions such as Class, Rich People’s Problems and Green, Teals and Ideals, and politics is assessed in What’s Democracy, Anyway?

Matthew Condon infuses the program with placemaking stories told by Brisbane’s local legends including Walter Sofronoff, Hedley Thomas, Frances Whiting and Susan Johnson.

Stepping on set, Bryan Brown talks about his noir-ish novel Sweet Jimmy, and joins Trent Dalton, Holly Ringland and Witi Ihimaera to discuss adapting books for the screen.

Nobel Laureate Peter Doherty, Inga Simpson and Aaron Fa’aoso examine the inextricable links between national identity and sport in Australia in This Sporting Life.

The five-day festival sees the return of the internationally renowned Literary Death Match as well as an elegant Mother’s Day High Tea at Customs House with special guest Holly Wainwright interviewed by Frances Whiting.

Word Play, BWF’s program for students from Prep to Year 12, returns as well as Love YA, presented in partnership with Brisbane City Council Libraries.

BWF runs from 10 to 14 May 2023 with most events held in the Festival hub at the State Library of Queensland in the South Bank Cultural Precinct.

With a diverse program of author panels, speeches and performances, BWF has a story for everyone. Tickets are on sale from Wednesday 29 March 2023.

For more information and to purchase tickets, visit bwf.org.au or download the app at bwf.org.au/app.

Brisbane Writers Festival 2023
10 to 14 May 2023
State Library of Queensland
www.bwf.org.au

From suburban restaurants to Valley nightclubs, the 2022 program exemplifies BWF’s ‘Where our stories live’ vision, sharing stories that range from the intimate to the epic, told by unique voices from across Australia and the Pacific.

“The spaces of our city plus the stories we tell create the place we live, and we hope this year’s Festival does Brisbane proud as it reflects our city’s culture, diversity and literary depth,” BWF CEO Sarah Runcie said.

The 60th anniversary program, curated with input from guest curators Ellen van Neerven, Benjamin Law, Anne-Marie Te Whiu, Michaela Kolowski and Rhianna Patrick, combines BWF fan favourite formats and programs alongside a range of exciting new initiatives.

“Alongside the return of popular programs Word Play and In Your Suburb, we are excited to launch three new parts of the program at this year’s Festival,” Ms Runcie said.

“Our Country of Focus initiative presents a lavish program of more than 30 Aotearoa New Zealand and Pasifika talents, most of whom are new to BWF audiences.

“Whether it’s spoken word poetry of New Caledonia, vital feminist writing from Samoa, or pocket poetry from Papua New Guinea, we have so much to inspire literary adventuring,” Runcie said.

Another program debuting at BWF 2022 is Brisbane as a Storied City, curated by Nick Earls, which pairs 10 superb writers and poets with the places they have drawn inspiration from.

“This collection of intimate events allows audiences to get up close and personal with some of Australia’s top literary talents and thought leaders in unexpected locations,” Runcie said.

Highlights include a banquet dinner with Benjamin Law (The Family Law) at Sunnybank’s Landmark Restaurant; Yumi Stynes in conversation with Pig City writer Andrew Stafford at iconic music venue The Zoo; and a special presentation of Clare McFadden’s The Flying Orchestra, featuring Queensland Youth Orchestra, at Brisbane City Hall.

“Rounding out our new experiences is our program exploring the intersection between books and visual arts, including the Book Design Exhibit, Books by Artists and Concrete Poetry Exhibit at the State Library of Queensland.”

The six-day Festival also sees an expanded special event series, including a Mother’s Day High Tea at Customs House with bestselling author Sally Hepworth and Those Two Girls’ Lise Carlaw and Sarah Wills, plus a special picnic event for families, Bluey on the Green, featuring Brisbane’s most famous residents, Bluey & Bingo, live at South Bank Parklands.

Additional Festival highlights include bookend events First Word and Last Word by one of Australia’s finest Indigenous writers, Tony Birch; the Brisbane debut of internationallyrenowned writers’ battle royale Literary Death Match at The Princess Theatre; and acclaimed actor Bryan Brown in his Festival debut to discuss Sweet Jimmy, his first collection of crime fiction short stories.

Adding an extra chapter is the Festival’s new smartphone app, bringing Brisbane’s local anecdotes, yarns and story snippets to life as users visit the very places they occurred.

Word Play, BWF’s program for students from Prep to Year 12, returns with workshops and presentations from 3 – 6 May and Word Play Online, a diverse, curriculum-driven suite of video resources.

Presented in partnership with Brisbane City Council Libraries, the free Love YA returns to Brisbane Square Library on 7 May with author panels, games, giveaways, book signings and
workshops spanning genres from fantasy and romance to horror and graphic novels.

In Your Suburb returns in 2022 with renowned authors visiting Brisbane City Council Libraries across the city for a series of free events.

Literary lovers can secure their place on the Festival’s 60th anniversary guestlist with invitations to exclusive events and discounts on Festival tickets, passes and online and special events by becoming a Festival Friend for just $75.

BWF acknowledges the generous support of its donors with special thanks to the Taylor Family. BWF is supported by Queensland Government, through Arts Queensland, part of the Department of Premier and Cabinet. BWF also acknowledges the ongoing support of the Australia Council and the Brisbane City Council.

Brisbane Writers Festival
3 – 8 May 2022
Various locations around Brisbane
www.bwf.org.au