One of the great Australian writers, Don Watson has done much to hold a mirror up to the nation. His latest title, The Passion of Private White, tells the true story of an anthropologist and Vietnam veteran, Neville White who has devoted fifty years to the Yolngu clans of the Donydji homeland in north-east Arnhem Land; at once mapping and recording their culture, law, lands and languages and helping them build a successful community – one precariously poised between their traditions and European ideology and institutions. Don speaks with Laura Tingle about his storied career and his new book, which brings unique insight into the deep past and the troubled present.

Supported by ARA.

This episode was recorded live at the 2023 Sydney Writers’ Festival.  

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Home cooking is at the heart of our food cultures and brings a comfort that can satisfy our physical and emotional needs. Join a panel of celebrated chefs and writers as they discuss their own home cooking, compare comfort dishes and consider the rich conversation between time-honoured ways of preparing meals and the sometimes-showy food culture of today. Featuring restaurateur Durkhanai Ayubi (Parwana: Recipes and Stories from an Afghan Kitchen), prize-winning chef Rosheen Kaul (Chinese-ish), cook and star of Netflix’s Chef’s Table Asma Khan (Ammu) and culinary writer Alice Zaslavsky (The Joy of Better Cooking) in conversation with writer and comedian Jennifer Wong.

This episode was recorded live at the 2023 Sydney Writers’ Festival.  

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

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Admonished or admired for their moxie, ‘difficult women’ make themselves heard, challenge the status quo and shun gendered notions of niceness. In this panel event, two authors reflect on the difficult women who grace the pages of their books, sometimes with no grace at all. What makes these characters so striking? And why do we need them in the world? Anne Casey-Hardy (Cautionary Tales for Excitable Girls) and Fiona Kelly McGregor (Iris) share the stage with interviewer Sophie Cunningham.

This episode was recorded live at the 2023 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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Bestselling author Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai and debut Australian author André Dao come together to discuss their new books in which the tumult of Vietnamese history converges with the present day. The follow-up to The Mountains Sing, Quế Mai’s Dust Child is a suspenseful saga of family secrets, hidden trauma and the overriding power of forgiveness. André’s Anam moves through a series of displacements from Hanoi to Paris and Melbourne to explore themes of memory, colonialism, inheritance and belonging. They appear in conversation with Sheila Ngọc Phạm.

This episode was recorded live at the 2023 Sydney Writers’ Festival.  

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

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Trinidadian-British poet, novelist and musician Anthony Joseph was awarded the prestigious T.S. Eliot Prize in 2022 for Sonnets for Albert. A series of elegies to his mostly absent father, it explores the wider edges of Caribbean masculinity, loss and longing, drawing praise from the judges as “a luminous collection which celebrates humanity in all its contradictions and breathes new life into this enduring form.” Hear from Anthony as he discusses his craft and career, spanning five poetry collections and three novels, in conversation with Felicity Plunkett.

Supported by Jibb Foundation.

This episode was recorded live at the 2023 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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Award-winning journalist Kate Legge discusses her search for answers after she learned of her husband’s affair, as chronicled in her memoir, Infidelity and Other Affairs. She reflects on a journey that led to the discovery of a fault line of betrayal spanning generations, and the ensuing path to healing. Kate is in conversation with Ailsa Piper.

This episode was recorded live at the 2023 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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Can’t get enough romance literature in your life? Join bestselling historical fantasy romance author Freya Marske (A Restless Truth), acclaimed debut novelist Saman Shad (The Matchmaker) and Wiradjuri councillor turned fiction-writer Yvonne Weldon (Sixty-Seven Days) for a panel event that reveals the thrills, spills and secrets of penning page-turning love stories that bring fresh life to the genre while making our hearts beat a little faster. They chat with ABC radio host and self-professed romance novel addict Rudi Bremer.

This episode was recorded live at the 2023 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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In the inspiring field guide to dropping out of the attention economy, How to Do Nothing: Resisting the Attention Economy, artist and The New York Times–bestselling author Jenny Odell extolled the value of rest as resistance in a culture that always expects us to be productive. In conversation with Jess Scully she takes the discussion further and introduces her new book Saving Time: Discovering a Life Beyond the Clock which makes a radical argument about our concept of time and offers a hopeful antidote for anyone grappling with burnout and anxiety about the future.

Supported by ARA.

This episode was recorded live at the 2023 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 penning the Pulitzer Prize–winning novels The Underground Railroad and The Nickel Boys, American author Colson Whitehead set out to write a trilogy of stories centred on a furniture salesman-turned-crook named Ray Carney. The first in the series, Harlem Shuffle, is a hugely entertaining tale of race, power and the history of New York in the guise of a page-turning heist novel. Join Colson in conversation with Michael Williams about the book and its forthcoming follow up, Crook Manifesto, which continues the saga in an increasingly combustible 1970s Manhattan.

Colson Whitehead appears thanks to the support of Matthew and Fiona Playfair.

This episode was recorded live at the 2023 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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Although many of us are lucky enough to eat well, we live in a food system that is broken. Ultra-processed products abound, food workers are exploited, hunger coexists with massive food waste, and farming methods have toxic consequences. Hear from a panel of inspiring advocates as they consider solutions to these problems and the path towards a better food future. Featuring champion of First Nations food practices and Warndu co-founders Damien Coulthard and Rebecca Sullivan, chef and writer Matthew Evans and food rescue activist Ronni Kahn in conversation with Margot Saville.

This episode was recorded live at the 2023 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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See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.