When Malcolm Turnbull became Prime Minister in September 2015, Australians of all political persuasion breathed a sigh of relief that the hyperpartisan chaos of the Abbott Administration was over. They forgave him the way he claimed the top job in a way they never did Julia Gillard. Three years and one knife-edge election later, he too was gone. Malcolm talks to Anthony Durkin about his journey to the top of Australian politics, what it is like to lead and to be so peremptorily dispatched, and what he makes of it all now.

Chaired by Anthony Durkin

Kate Grenville’s latest novel A Room Made of Leaves continues the disruption of conventional colonial narratives that began with her acclaimed The Secret River. What if Elizabeth, wife of the colonial monster John Macarthur, left behind brutally frank secret memoirs, she asks? And they told the real story behind the myth of the 18th century wife? Playful and audacious, this astonishing literary achievement delves into history to examine the very contemporary issues of fake stories and hidden truths, and where stories originate.

Chaired by Clare Wright

Winner of the Prime Minister’s Literary Award for his debut novel, The Zookeeper’s War, Steven Conte returns to World War II for his stunning new book, The Tolstoy Estate. It is 1941 and Hitler has repeated Napoleon’s fatal misstep of invading Russia. In winter. A German medical unit find themselves quartered at Yasnaya Polyana, the ancestral estate of Tolstoy, where surgeon Paul Bauer becomes enthralled by its Director and the legacy of the great Tolstoy that surrounds them. An epic, ambitious tale of love, war and literature.

Chaired by Ashley Hay

Based on the oral histories of the Darug people, Julie Janson has said that her ambitious and illuminating new novel, Benevolence, was written as an Aboriginal response to The Secret River. Muraging – a character inspired by Julie’s own great-great-grandmother – is given over to the Native Institution as a pupil by her father, a “benevolent” institution providing Christian discipline and education, and thereby becomes the first person in the novel to be sacrificed to the good intentions of the waibala.

Chaired by Caroline Baum

Musician, writer, author, activist, cultural commentator and all-round powerhouse, Briggs speaks truth to power in a myriad of poetic, hilarious, high impact ways. His latest project is a celebration of Aboriginal excellence, children’s book Our Home, Our Heartbeat. He talks about the many avenues of his activism, and the inspiration he provides for and draws from the next generation of Black leaders.

Chaired by Karen Wyld

Rebecca Huntley (How to Talk About Climate Change in a Way That Makes a Difference) and Jonica Newby (Beyond Climate Grief) discuss ways to shake off ennui and/or exit the echo chamber to effect change on the most pressing issue of our time, the climate crisis. These two leading thinkers offer a way to move beyond our polarised debate and create understanding and incite action.

Chaired by Linda Jaivin

Developing a clear vision, a fairer world, a utopia, is done slowly, over time, with care, commitment, courage and creativity. Jess Scully has travelled the world, exploring the many ways people of imagination are grasping the mettle to reshape our world into a fairer and more sustainable place. How can we help? In Glimpses of Utopia, Jess counts the ways.

Chaired by Hannah Critchlow

Effecting change can be hard, requiring effort, energy and organisation. Sally Rugg (How Powerful We Are) demonstrated all these, and no small degree of elan, when she assumed a leading role in the successful campaign for marriage equality. Jean Hinchliffe (Lead the Way) is following in her impressive footsteps as leader of the School Strikes 4 Climate. These two inspiring leaders discuss the power of taking action.

Chaired by Sophie Cunningham

Australian crime writers are riding a wave of global success, consistently creating compelling and charismatic characters who investigate heinous crimes with tenacity and often dry humour. Emma Viskic’s celebrated Caleb Zelic series, featuring a Deaf, articulate, obstinate, brilliant outsider as the private investigator protagonist, launched in 2016 with Resurrection Bay, with the recent Darkness for Light the third in the series.  Chris Hammer’s debut Scrublands (2018) was a bestselling sensation, and his two follow up novels, Silver and Trust, all featuring the gritty and emotionally scarred journalist Martin Scarsden, have been equally acclaimed.  

Emma and Chris talk to Cath Kenneally about crafting compelling protagonists, and the long-term commitment required to write a series.

The shocking image of planes smashing into the World Trade Centre on September 11, 2001 was a defining moment in the modern era. We now have a generation – Muslim and non-Muslim – who have grown up in the shadow of the War on Terror, with its associated Islamophobia, surveillance and suspicion. In her ambitious, rigorous and deeply compassionate new book, Coming of Age in the War on Terror, Randa Abdel-Fattah hears from the young people most affected by our polarised politics, providing important insight into their resilience, humour and heartbreak.

Chaired by Sami Shah