This is a reading of the 2024 Newcastle Writers Festival program for Sunday, 7 April 2024. Thank you to ABC Newcastle's Dan Cox for assisting. This is a condensed version and more detail can be found on the website. If you would like to contact our accessibility coordinator please email [email protected]  

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this session, which was recorded at the 2023 festival, University of Newcastle researcher Phillip McIntyre discusses with Scott Bevan his most recent book Paul McCartney and His Creative Practice. Phillip shares fresh insight into the creative practice developed by Paul McCartney during his extended career as a songwriter, record producer and performing musician. 

The Stories to You podcast series is supported by Create NSW. If you would like to contribute to the valuable work of Newcastle Writers Festival in fostering a culture of reading and writing, please consider a tax-deductible donation.  

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this session recorded at the 2023 festival, writer and much-loved broadcaster Richard Fidler discusses The Book of Roads & Kingdoms, which is inspired by the tales of medieval Arab and Persian travellers who ventured to the edges of the known world. He discusses with Paul Bevan the ways in which the expansion of geographical frontiers shaped knowledge.

The Stories to You podcast series is supported by Create NSW. If you would like to contribute to the valuable work of Newcastle Writers Festival in fostering a culture of reading and writing, please consider a tax-deductible donation.  

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

At the 2023 festival, Pip Williams’s participation coincided with the launch of her highly anticipated second book, The Bookbinder of Jericho. It tells the story of the onset of World War I from the perspective of a young woman, Peggy, who works in the bindery of the Oxford University Press. In this wide-ranging discussion, Pip speaks to Ailsa Piper about language, censorship and women’s access to knowledge.

The Stories to You podcast series is supported by Create NSW. If you would like to contribute to the valuable work of Newcastle Writers Festival in fostering a culture of reading and writing, please consider a tax-deductible donation.  

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this session, which was recorded at the 2023 festival, acclaimed poets Andy Jackson, Kerri Shying and Gaele Sobott discuss Raging Grace, an anthology of collaborative poems and essays on disability.

The Stories to You podcast series is supported by Create NSW. If you would like to support the valuable work of Newcastle Writers Festival, which fosters a culture of reading and writing, please consider a tax-deductible donation. 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this session, which was recorded at the 2023 festival, Norman Swan explores the science, myths and mistruths that surround ageing. Hosted by Cassie McCullagh.

The Stories to You podcast series is supported by Create NSW. If you would like to contribute to the valuable work of Newcastle Writers Festival in fostering a culture of reading and writing, please consider a tax-deductible donation.  

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this session recorded at the 2023 festival, Tim Baker and Chloe Hooper share their perspectives on the role that hope can play in helping us cope with life’s darkest moments. Hosted by Ailsa Piper.

The Stories to You podcast series is supported by Create NSW. If you would like to contribute to the valuable work of Newcastle Writers Festival in supporting a culture of reading and writing, please consider a tax-deductible donation.  

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Literary critic Declan Fry has described Chris Flynn as ‘a restless experimenter, a fabulist’. In his compelling new collection of short stories, Here Be Leviathans, Chris gives a voice to the world around us, with narrators including a bear, a river, a platypus and a hotel room. 

At the 2023 festival, he spoke to Kate Mildenhall about embracing the absurd, breaking rules, and finding your voice as a writer.

The Stories to You podcast series is supported by Create NSW. If you would like to support the valuable work of Newcastle Writers Festival, which fosters a culture of reading and writing, please consider a tax-deductible donation. 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

At the 2023 festival, Anna Downes spoke to three writers about their critically acclaimed debut crime books. 

Shelley Burr was awarded the prestigious Crime Writers’ Association Debut Dagger for Wake, which explores how the unsolved disappearance of a girl continues to haunt a small town. James McKenzie Watson’s Denizen won the 2021 Penguin Literary Prize and is informed by his upbringing in regional NSW. Matthew Spencer’s Black River sees a serial killer preying on victims along the banks of the Parramatta River.

The Stories to You podcast series is supported by Create NSW. If you would like to contribute to the valuable work of the festival in fostering a culture of reading and writing, please consider a donation.  

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this session recorded at the 2023 festival, investigative journalist Paddy Manning turns his attention to Lachlan Murdoch, one of the world’s most influential  – and enigmatic  – people. 

In his compelling biography The Successor, Manning explores Murdoch’s upbringing and political beliefs. He shares with host Antony Loewenstein what he has learnt about the head of Fox Corporation and how power and politics continue to shape him.

The Stories to You podcast series is supported by Create NSW. If you would like to contribute to the valuable work of Newcastle Writers Festival in fostering a culture of reading and writing, please consider a tax-deductible donation.  

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.