It is with great pleasure that we unveil the first six guests for the 2021 Bellingen Readers & Writers Festival.
The cancellation of the festival’s 10th anniversary in 2020 was a huge blow, yet less than a year later we have assembled one of the most exciting literary lineups in the country.
Please join us in welcoming…
Favel Parrett
Author of Past the Shallows, When the Night Comes and her latest There Was Still Love, winner of the 2020 Indie Book Awards Winner and shortlisted for the Stella Prize.
Bob Brown
The face of the campaign to save the Franklin River in 1982, senator for 16 years, former Greens leader, tireless advocate for the environment. And Bellingen boy!
Kate Forsyth
Dr Kate Forsyth is an internationally published award-winning poet, novelist and essayist, with a huge body of fiction and non-fiction for adults and children.
Julian Burnside
Melbourne barrister, human rights and refugee advocate and author known for his pro-bono legal work and opposition to the mistreatment of asylum seekers.
Jess Hill
Walkley-award winning investigative journalist and author who’s been reporting on domestic abuse since 2014. 2020 Stella Prize winner for See What You Made Me Do?
John Marsden
Multi-award winner, author of more than 40 books, including Tomorrow When the War Began, and passionate believer in education who’s started two schools.
More special guests will be unveiled in the weeks ahead as the festival takes shape in a new location at the Bellingen Showground, complete with food and coffee vans, live music, book sales, signing, and much more.
Tickets on sale March 22.