Benjamin Stevenson was in conversation with Jack Heath on his new novel Everyone this Christmas has a Secret, a Christmas addition to his bestselling Ernest Cunningham mysteries. Unwrap all the Christmas staples: presents, family, an impossible murder or two, and a deadly advent calendar of clues. If Knives Out and The Thursday Murder Club kissed under the mistletoe...

Shaun Micallef was in conversation with Andrew Leigh on his new book Slivers, Shards and Skerricks. “A one-man anthology by one of Australia's most intelligent and more handsome Renaissance men.”

Canberra Writers Festival, in partnership with ANU Meet the Author and Canberra Times, and Penguin Books Australia, were proud to welcome Tim Winton to Canberra to discuss his new novel, JUICE. An epic novel of determination, survival, and the limits of the human spirit. This is Tim Winton as you’ve never read him before.

Andrew Leigh was in conversation with Lin Hatfield Dodds on his new book Battlers and Billionaires: The Updated Story of Inequality in Australia.

Is Australia fair enough? And why does inequality matter anyway? From egalitarian beginnings, Australian inequality rose through the nineteenth century. Then we became more equal again, with inequality falling markedly from the 1920s to the 1970s. Now, inequality is returning to the heights of the 1820s. The housing and cost-of-living crises we face are some of the defining issues of our time.

Gina Chick was in conversation with Kate Grarock on her memoir We Are the Stars, a misfit's story of love, connection and the glorious power of letting go.

Dr Karl was discussing his memoir A Periodic Tale: My Sciencey Memoir, supplemented by audiovisual images of his remarkable life.

How did a shy Polish immigrant kid - Karl Sven Woytek Sas Konkovitch Matthew Kruszelnicki - evolve into the fabulously eccentric Dr Karl? The only child of Holocaust survivors who fled to Australia in 1950, Karl has always forged his own destiny in an idiosyncratic way. Before he became one of the world's favourite scientific storytellers, he ambled through a convoluted cacophony of a career.

Virginia Trioli was in conversation with Allan Behm discussing her new book A Bit on the Side: Reflections on What Makes Life Delicious.

Virginia Trioli knows that enduring joy is often found not in the big moments but in the small. And as a dedicated, almost obsessive, foodie, she believes that food gives us the perfect metaphor for how to devour the real flavour of life. When the main course is unappetising, the 'bits on the side' make life really delicious. The sweet and the sour; the salty, the bitter - our small, meaningful selections are the ones that make life glorious.

Rebecca Huntley was in conversation with Karen Middleton on Rebecca's new book Sassafras. A Memoir of Love, Loss and MDMA Therapy. Rebecca Huntley didn’t know what ailed her, but she knew it was embedded deep within her mind – and her past. Sassafras is the utterly compelling story of her quest to overcome intergenerational trauma and trauma in her own life.When you’ve experienced trauma and conventional treatments have failed, where do you turn?

The Hon. Kevin Bell, following introductory remarks by Dr. Liz Allen, was in conversation with Kim Rubenstein on his new book Housing .The Great Australian Right, which reimagines ‘the great Australian dream’ of housing as ‘the great Australian right’ to housing

Ross Garnaut is in conversation on his new book, Reset: Restoring Australia after the Pandemic Recession, in which Garnaut shows how the COVID-19 crisis offers Australia the opportunity to reset its economy and build a successful future - and why the old approaches will not work. Garnaut develops the idea of a renewable superpower, calls for a basic income and explores what the 'decoupling' of China and America will mean for Australia.

In the wake of COVID-19, the world has entered its deepest recession since the 1930s. Shocks of this magnitude throw history from its established course - either for good or evil. In 1942 - in the depths of war - the Australian government established a Department of Post-War Reconstruction to plan a future that not only restored existing strengths but also rebuilt the country for a new and better future. As we strive to overcome the coronavirus challenge, we need new, practical ideas to restore Australia. This book has them.

Ross Garnaut AC is Professorial Research Fellow in Economics at the University of Melbourne. He is a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Sciences and a Distinguished Fellow of the Economic Society of Australia. He was principal economic adviser to Australian Prime Minister Bob Hawke and Australian Ambassador to China (1985-88). In 2008, he produced the Garnaut Climate Change Review for the Australian government and a follow-up review in 2011. He is the author of many books, including the bestselling Dog Days and Superpower.

Dr Steven Kennedy, Secretary to the Australian Treasury since 2 September 2019, has held numerous senior positions in the public service in a 30 year career. He was the Head of Secretariat of the Garnaut Climate Change Review - Update 2011 and was awarded a Public Service Medal in 2016 for outstanding public service in the area of climate change policy. Dr Kennedy holds a PhD and a Masters in Economics from the Australian National University, and a Bachelor of Economics (First Class Honours) from the University of Sydney.

Welcome and introduction delivered by Professor Brian P. Schmidt, ANU Vice-Chancellor.

Vote of thanks given by Professor Helen Sullivan, Director of the Crawford School of Public Policy ANU.