StoryFest

An author, doctor-come-eco-entreprener, an award-winning podcaster and a social change communicator take the stage to discuss the power of words and stories to drive positive change.

Inga Simpson
Pia Winberg
Caitlin Chang

Facilitator - Richard Glover

Storyfest Website - ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.storyfest.org.au/ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

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Two of the genre’s biggest Australian names take the stage with a successful debutant to unpack the keys to success and how to keep the genre fresh and captivating.

Candice Fox
Chris Hammer
Mitch Jennings 

Facilitator - Michaela Kalowski

Storyfest Website - ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.storyfest.org.au/ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

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Join rewilding facilitator, adventurer, writer and inaugural winner of Alone Australia Gina Chick, and social activist, radical entrepreneur and founder of the Moroccan Soup Bar Hana Assafiri as they share the life journeys that, in their own unique ways, underline the importance of kindness and connection.

Gina Chick
Hana Assafiri

Facilitator - Michelle Barraclough 

Storyfest Website - ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.storyfest.org.au/ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

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Great authors capture our imagination not just through their latest publications, but across a body of must-read work. Rarely do we take time to discuss a writer’s work in detail and explore what shapes their stories individually and collectively. From The Underdog to The Book Thief to his recent memoir Three Wild Dogs and the Truth, this session is sure to be a fascinating insight into Markus Zusak’s creative career.

Markus Zusak

Facilitator: Michaela Kalowski

Storyfest Website - ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.storyfest.org.au/ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

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Technology makes life easier, right? But how easy is too easy? How do we manage the consequences - expected or otherwise - of AI on society, and with it the future of employment, health, education and democracy? Join multiple Walkley Award-winning author, journalist, broadcaster and the inaugural national convenor of Women in Media Tracey Spicer AM, and Toby Walsh, Scientia Professor of Artificial Intelligence at the University of New South Wales and CSIRO’s Data61 and author of five books on AI including A Short History of AI (release April 2025), in conversation with journalist Anne Markey as they unpick the ramifications of our brave new world.

Toby Walsh
Tracey Spicer AM

Facilitator - Anne Markey

Storyfest Website - ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.storyfest.org.au/ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

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Join us for the opening of StoryFest 2023 when key storytellers with strong connections to our community shared their own perspectives of what makes the Milton Mollymook Ulladulla area on Murramarang country so special.

Featuring author and Walkley Award-winning journalist Bronwyn Adcock (Currowan), proud Gunai woman, award-winning author, multidisciplinary artist and consultant Kirli Saunders, StoryFest Patron Markus Zusak, local musician Paul Greene, and other special guests as we kicked off the festival weekend in style.

In a world of fake news, AI, and concentrated media ownership this session explores the nature of truth and our increasingly tenuous grip on it. Author, businesswoman and activist Wendy McCarthy will host a lively (and no doubt honest) discussion with veteran SMH cartoonist Alan Moir, journalist Bronwyn Adcock, and historian David Hunt.

Storyfest Website - ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.storyfest.org.au/ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

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Join us as we dive into the world of character and caricature in our nation’s storytelling, and what makes the Australian character and character writing unique. Featuring host Kirk Docker (ABC’s You Can’t Ask That) with Michael Winkler (Grimmish), Chris Hammer (Scrublands, The Tilt) and Holly Wainwright (The Couple Upstairs). 

Storyfest Website - ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.storyfest.org.au/ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

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Stories can be transformative and none more so than real-life writing. Writer and mentor, Lee Kofman (The Writer Laid Bare: Emotional Honesty in a Writer’s Art, Craft and Life) will lead an exploration of how memoir and life writing can help both writers and readers gain new insights, and find resilience, resolution or new ways to thrive in the face of adversity, with authors Jackie Bailey (The Eulogy), Dominic Frawley (Malachy) and Frances Peters-Little (Jimmy Little: A Yorta Yorta Man).

Laughter may be the best medicine, but comedy is the hardest thing to write. Leading authors Holly Wainwright (I Give my Marriage a Year), Jackie Bailey (The Eulogy) and Katharine Pollock (Her Fidelity) have tackled the task more successfully than most, and will take the stage with irreverent moderator David Hunt (Girt series) for what’s sure to be a lively and laughter filled session.

Storyfest Website - ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.storyfest.org.au/ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

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