Sydney Writers' Festival

Translation allows a writer to reach readers around the world but what is the experience of having your words altered like?

Video game translator Matt Alt, speculative fiction writer Bora Chung (The Midnight Timetable), who writes in Korean and translates from contemporary Russian and Polish, and Mariana Enriquez, (Somebody is Walking on Your Grave), who writes in Spanish and has had her work translated into more than 20 languages, discuss the nitty-gritty of translation from both sides of the exchange.

Hear Matt, Bora and Mariana share their experiences and insights in conversation with award-winning translator Daniel Hahn.

This episode was recorded live in May at the 2026 Sydney Writers’ Festival.

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You can take the kid off the stage, but you can’t take the stage off the kid.

These writers are theatre kids through-and-through but they’re trying their hands at another, quieter, form with their debut books.

In this panel discussion, actor and playwright George Kemp (Soft Serve), playwright of acclaimed Counting and Cracking S. Shakthidharan (Gather Up Your World in One Long Breath) and actor Zoe Terakes (Eros) discuss the influence of their theatrical sensibilities on their writing and share a reading of their work. Hosted by theatremaker, music director and cabaret artist, Victoria Falconer.

This episode was recorded live in May at the 2026 Sydney Writers’ Festival.

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Professor of Philosophy and author A.C. Grayling outlines the fragility of democracy and the freedoms we take for granted and risk losing in For The People: Fighting Authoritarianism, Saving Democracy.

In recent years, the democratic foundations and civil liberties of Western nations that once seemed unshakeable have been shown to be remarkably fragile – vulnerable to authoritarianism, the whims of the wealthy and powerful and the erosion of civil liberties. As with previous works like Who Owns the Moon? and Discriminations, A.C. interrogates complex political realities and offers bold solutions.

Hear from a Festival favourite as he asks the critical questions of our time, followed by a discussion chaired by Nick Bryant (The Forever War) and Rosalind Dixon (The People's Guide to the Australian Constitution).

The Future of Democracy series, hosted by Nick Bryant and Rosalind Dixon, is a collaboration between Sydney Writers’ Festival and the Resilient Democracy Lab at UNSW Sydney.

This episode was recorded live in May at the 2026 Sydney Writers’ Festival.

If you enjoyed this episode, please rate and follow our channel. Sydney Writers’ Festival podcasts are available on all major podcast platforms. 

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Dubbed the “undisputed laureate of ordinary lives” by The Sunday Times, Irish Booker Prize winner Roddy Doyle has kept us laughing and crying in equal measure.

From his prize-winning Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha to The Commitments, which was adapted into a BAFTA-winning screenplay, Roddy’s customary humour and dialogue capture beautiful relationships between lifelike characters, making him a literary icon.

Listen as Roddy reflects on his storytelling career and discusses his latest novel, The Women Behind the Door, which marks the return of beloved character Paula Spencer. In conversation with Kate Evans.

This episode was recorded live in May at the 2026 Sydney Writers’ Festival.

If you enjoyed this episode, please rate and follow our channel. Sydney Writers’ Festival podcasts are available on all major podcast platforms. 

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After her New York Times bestseller, Writers & Lovers, Lily King returns to themes of love, desire, forgiveness and loss in Heart the Lover.    

Our narrator is a successful writer who is familiar with the classic tropes of love stories. She lives her life with her husband and children until a surprise forces her to confront the lingering strings of her own romantic past. This is Lily at her masterful best, with an epic story that celebrates literature and young love.    

Revel in unforgettable connection and untangle the pieces of this love story with Lily, in conversation with Melanie Kembrey.  

This episode was recorded live in May at the 2026 Sydney Writers’ Festival.

If you enjoyed this episode, please rate and follow our channel. Sydney Writers’ Festival podcasts are available on all major podcast platforms. 

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After being crowned the number one book of the 21st century by ABC Radio National, Australian literary sensation Trent Dalton’s newest book mixes gruesome true crime with a personal exploration of love and marriage.

Noah Cork had the scoop of his journalistic career hand-delivered to his mailbox. But his decision to pursue the lead of a cold-blooded killer while the case is still under investigation invites more chaos and destruction into his life than he anticipated. In Gravity Let Me Go, Trent returns to age-old themes of love and family in this story of ambition, truth and deception.

Listen in as Trent discusses his latest hit novel with Cassie McCullagh.

This episode was recorded live in May at the 2026 Sydney Writers’ Festival.

If you enjoyed this episode, please rate and follow our channel.

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There used to be a time when political leaders didn’t limit themselves to an election cycle.

In his latest book, Grand Ambition, international affairs expert and historian James Curran draws on never-before-seen archival documents and extensive interviews to present former prime minister Paul Keating’s dynamic, compelling and contested vision for Australia’s role on the world stage.

Listen in as Curran and Keating reflect on the bold politics of the past and ask how we should approach questions of independence, security and identity in these turbulent and unpredictable times.

Hear Paul Keating and James Curran for a fascinating in-depth analysis of Australia’s national identity and its place in the world.

This episode was recorded live at a Sydney Writers' Festival event at City Recital Hall in September 2026.

If you enjoyed this episode, please rate and follow our channel. Sydney Writers’ Festival podcasts are available on all major podcast platforms. 

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Two motherless girls begin their lives in Honeysuckle, Louisiana, but they take paths that are worlds apart.

Tayari Jones, author of An American Marriage, winner of the 2019 Women’s Prize for Fiction, has written another unforgettable story. Her new novel, Kin, centres a complex relationship between childhood best friends, showing how the bonds between mothers, daughters and friends are tested by affluence and inequality, love and desire and a wide world of adventure.

Hear Tayari talking with Miles Franklin Literary Award winner Shankari Chandran about her rich and emotional new work.

This episode was recorded live in May at the 2026 Sydney Writers’ Festival. If you enjoyed this episode, please rate and follow our channel. 

Sydney Writers’ Festival podcasts are available on all major podcast platforms.

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Louisa goes for a walk along the beach with her father, but only she returns.

The new novel from Susan Choi, multi-award-winning writer including the National Book Award and a Lambda Literary Award, is a sweeping, international family drama that was shortlisted for the 2025 Booker Prize. Flashlight, described by The Guardian as a return to the great American novel of the 20th century, beguiled readers for its examination of absence and silence in a small family rocked by the assumed death of Louisa’s father.

Listen to Susan as discuss relationships and alienation in her new novel, in conversation with Beejay Silcox.

This episode was recorded live in May at the 2026 Sydney Writers’ Festival. If you enjoyed this episode, please rate and follow our channel. 

Sydney Writers’ Festival podcasts are available on all major podcast platforms.

After more? Follow Sydney Writers’ Festival on social media:

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Longlisted for the 2025 Booker Prize, Endling is an inventive, bold and original debut which follows three angry women and one endangered snail on a road trip across contemporary Ukraine.

Named a Best Book of 2025 by The Guardian, The Observer, The Washington Post, The New Yorker and NPR, Maria Reva’s debut novel Endling took the world by storm, delighting readers with its playfulness, dark humour, gripping plot and heartfelt message.

Hear Maria discuss her wildly successful debut in conversation with Beejay Silcox.

This episode was recorded live in May at the 2026 Sydney Writers’ Festival. If you enjoyed this episode, please rate and follow our channel. 

Sydney Writers’ Festival podcasts are available on all major podcast platforms.

After more? Follow Sydney Writers’ Festival on social media:

Instagram: @sydwritersfest
Facebook: @SydWritersFest
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See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.