Adelaide Writers' Week

First Nations people in Australia and Palestinians share a history of struggle and resistance against the racism of settler colonial states. Join Palestinian-American writer Susan Abulhawa and Wiradjuri and Gamilaroi woman Lorna Munro in conversation with award-winning author Karen Wyld for a discussion on resistance, survival and international solidarity. Through writing and activism, both fights have carved a voice for independence, self-determination and justice.

Presented by Writers SA.

Event details: Thu 09 Mar, 12:00pm on the North Stage

Chair: Patrick Flanery

Join novelist and University of Adelaide Chair of Creative Writing Patrick Flanery for an hour of reading and conversation about what it means to be studying and working as a creative writer today. The session features a line-up of emerging Adelaide writers, including celebrated memoirist Shannon Burns, psychologist and novelist Jane Turner Goldsmith, and poet and critic Gemma Parker, as well as up-andcoming young writers Alex Sutcliffe and Gillian Hagenus.

Event details: Thu 09 Mar, 10:45am on the North Stage

Writer, political activist and cultural commentator Ahdaf Soueif is the Eminence Grise of the Arab literary world. Over a 40-year career, she has published short stories, essays and a novel, The Map of Love, which was shortlisted for the Booker Prize. In 2007, Soueif founded the Palestine Festival of Literature. Samah Sabawi, a Palestinian playwright and poet, joins Soueif to discuss her oeuvre and the context of her writing.

Event details: Thu 09 Mar, 9:30am on the North Stage

ABOUT THIS SESSION
Sally Hepworth, the author of The Soulmate, in conversation with Alex Lloyd, Publisher at Pan Macmillan.

ABOUT THIS SERIES
Many an editor has described herself – and yes, it is usually a ’her’ – as a handmaiden to the creativity of the author. What does an author want from an editor? Should an editor be there to tell the truth, to act as a one-person cheer squad or as an intelligent interlocutor? And what is the 21st century equivalent of the editor’s blue pencil? Some of our finest editors talk with their bestselling authors about the editorial process. 

Event details: Wed 08 Mar, 12:00pm on the North Stage

ABOUT THIS SESSION
​Catherine Therese, the author of Things She Would Have Said Herself, tells editor Vanessa Radnidge, Head of Nonfiction & Literary at Hachette Australia, what she would say now.

ABOUT THIS SERIES
Many an editor has described herself – and yes, it is usually a ’her’ – as a handmaiden to the creativity of the author. What does an author want from an editor? Should an editor be there to tell the truth, to act as a one-person cheer squad or as an intelligent interlocutor? And what is the 21st century equivalent of the editor’s blue pencil? Some of our finest editors talk with their bestselling authors about the editorial process. 

Event details: Wed 08 Mar, 10:45am on the North Stage

ABOUT THIS SESSION
Holly Ringland, the author of The Seven Skins of Esther Wilding, in conversation with Catherine Milne, Publisher & Head of Fiction at HarperCollins Australia.

ABOUT THIS SERIES
Many an editor has described herself – and yes, it is usually a ’her’ – as a handmaiden to the creativity of the author. What does an author want from an editor? Should an editor be there to tell the truth, to act as a one-person cheer squad or as an intelligent interlocutor? And what is the 21st century equivalent of the editor’s blue pencil? Some of our finest editors talk with their bestselling authors about the editorial process. 

Event details: Wed 08 Mar, 9:30am on the North Stage

With Helen Morse / Introduced by Peter Goldsworthy

Gwen Harwood’s reputation, already stellar at the time of her death in 1995, has only grown since. Her Collected Poems includes many previously unpublished works and has been reprinted multiple times. More recently, a biography by Anne-Marie Priest and a selection of 100 poems by Harwood’s son, John, have added to her status as a national treasure. Always a deft technician, her poetry ranges from the philosophically dense to the metaphorically beautiful to the sheer irreverent – often in the same poem. It’s only fitting that another national treasure, Helen Morse, adds her voice to the unique voices, plural, of Gwen Harwood.

Event details: Wed 08 Mar, 5:00pm on the West Stage

Chair: Kerryn Goldsworthy

When Ann-Marie Priest set out to write the first biography of renowned but notoriously elusive Australian poet Gwen Harwood, the Harwood estate declined to authorise her project. In this conversation with writer and critic Kerryn Goldsworthy, Priest canvasses both the challenges and the freedoms of writing without the approval of the literary executor and reveals the unexpected conclusion of her biographer’s journey in cordiality and friendship. This session is followed by the announcement of the recipient of the 2023 Hazel Rowley Literary Fellowship.

Event details: Wed 08 Mar, 3:45pm on the West Stage

Chair: Paul Barclay

Join Jon Faine as he explains to journalist Paul Barclay how, as a young lawyer turned formidable ABC broadcaster, he discovered the story behind his new book, Apollo and Thelma: A True Tall Tale. Faine describes how the tale of the world’s strongest man, Apollo, and his publican sister, Thelma, has changed the way he sees the world.

Event details: Wed 08 Mar, 2:30pm on the West Stage

Chair: Sarah Kanowski

In Gail Jones’ ninth novel, the Great Fire of Salonika that broke out in August 1917 is the backdrop for a drama that weaves together actual historical figures and four fictional characters. Through the eyes of these characters, all of whom are enlisted in the medical services, we witness a very particular and local tragedy. Jones speaks with Sarah Kanowski about this timely and powerful antiwar novel.

Event details: Wed 08 Mar, 1:15pm on the West Stage