Newcastle Writers Festival is back and bigger than ever, and with support from our University as a major partner. The program, managed by alum Rosemarie Milsom and Dr Amy Lovat, features 155 writers and 95 ticketed and free events across Newcastle and surrounds, including at our campuses at NUspace and Callaghan, the weekend of Friday 4 April to Sunday 6 April.

As Festival Director Rosemarie Milsom states: “The Festival and the University are both committed to creativity and critical thinking. When I first began planning the inaugural event in 2012, I felt strongly that the University - of which I am a graduate - was an essential partner. It has been a meaningful journey; one that has enlivened the Festival program and engaged our audiences." 

With a thriving inner-city presence at NUspace building, Watt Space Gallery and the Conservatorium of Music, as well as the annual  Yarn Up at the Wollotuka Institute at Callaghan, the festival program boasts a stellar line-up of local, national and international authors and creatives, as well as featuring our talented staff and students.

The festival also creates exciting real-world learning opportunities for our creative writing students.  Students have participated as panelists and volunteers; they have also had opportunities to attend masterclasses hosted by guest writers. This has allowed them to make connections with nationally recognised writers and to have a platform for sharing their own work with large audiences.

Our staff, alum and students involved this year

Uncovering Your Family History a session hosted by Julie McIntyre, who is also hosting Close To Home: Colonial Violence and Family Histories featuring John Maynard, Mark Dunn, Stephen Gapps and Kate Grenville, presented in partnership with The History Council of NSW. John Maynard is also part of the always amazing Yarn Up program held at Wollotuka, and is in conversation with Ray Kelly at Australia's First Golfers: John Maynard in Conversation.

Keri Glastonbury is hosting Host City: David Owen Kelly in Conversation, with alumni author David Owen Kelly on his book Host City, set in Darlinghurst in the 1980s. Keri will also deliver a community short course on writing environmental non-fiction with three authors from the program following the Festival- watch this space for more information soon.

Another event Breaking Out: Student Readings hosted by Michael Sala will feature four students from our Creative Writing program: Honey Kassel, Bronwyn Rennex, Cade Turner-Mann and Jackson Turton. Kate Nash will also present the 2024 Karen Thrift Poetry Prize at this session.

And current HDR student in Creative Writing Bastian Fox Phelan will be on a panel The Zine Collection celebrating the Newcastle Library’s new zine collection and the DIY ethos of zine culture.

Creative Writing program alumni and current lecturer in Midwifery Katharine Gillett will speak with authors Oceane Campbell and Ariane Beetson on the panel Things We Don't Speak About: Motherhood and Mental Health.

Event info

Find out more about the Newcastle Writers Festival

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