News & Editorial

As one of Australia’s most successful international artists, selected to represent Australia at the prestigious Venice Biennale in 2017, Tracey Moffatt lets her work do the talking.

'If you take the long view, they've been giving us beads and blankets since 1788, and it's not good enough.'

Disappointed parents, swearing, and public outrage: the life of a comedian is fraught with danger for Mandy Nolan, Kitty Flanagan and Andrew Hansen.

Come off the beaten track with Jessie Cole, Miriam Lancewood and Gregory Smith, who have all spent years living - and healing - in the wilderness.

Did a book change your life? Gareth Evans, Josephine Wilson and Chris Womersley discuss the transformative power of literature and the books that changed their lives.

Courtney Sina Meredith and Lemn Sissay share stories of how their life experiences influenced their poetry.

What is the function of a name? Imagine our different conception of the world if our language described what it means ‘to tree’… Just one of the propositions at the Stories from Nature’s Great Connectors session.

Roger Cohen, Madeline Gleeson and Jock Serong on ‘talking about stories which matter’, giving a voice to asylum seekers, and questioning Australia’s ethical involvement in offshore detention.

Imagine growing up with parents who were affected by appalling trauma.

Jock Serong and Michael Sala explore the nature of violence in their books and within their own lives in a discussion with Anneli Knight.

There could hardly be a more appropriate place to discuss what it means to writing about the landscape than Byron Bay, but it is the connections to country that count.

What's this appetite for faith? Comedian and converted buddhist Meshel Laurie, Islamic convert Susan Carland and retired Catholic priest Tony Doherty explore what drives our spiritual hunger.

There were no holds barred when David Marr and Erik Jensen discussed 'the White Queen' Pauline Hanson and the rise of the One Nation party in Australia.

How China’s ‘throwaway’ kids and the appalling orphanage conditions they were forced to live in were overshadowed by its economic prosperity.

What is the value of history in a world so concerned with the future? For the three authors in the Journey to the Past session at Byron Writers Festival 2017, history is invaluable. Each of them chose to research very different moments in history.

Do our current politicians fear change, or are they too tied up in party politics to carry out their ambitions?