Ah yes, more rain – just what we needed.
But amidst the deluge, there is the occasional day or two of sun. In all, it makes for an ideal time to curl up inside with a good book and then dash outside for a spot of gardening when the storm clouds have rolled on. Why gardening, you ask? Why indeed …
So in that multitasking spirit, we’re outrageously excited to announce our final author announcement before all is revealed in the full program. Hold on to your hats, folks – it’s going to be a wild festival!
Kevin Rudd
Former PM Kevin Rudd’s latest book The Avoidable War demystifies the actions of both China and the United States, explaining and translating them for the benefit of the other. Appearing livestreamed from New York.
Fran Kelly
Fran is Australia’s leading political and current affairs broadcaster. Fran presented Radio National’s flagship Breakfast program for 17 years before stepping down in December 2021 in the pursuit of more sleep. She is currently working on other projects for the ABC.
Costa Georgiadis
Costa is a landscape architect, environmental educator and television presenter who has an all-consuming passion for plants and people. Since 2013, Costa has continued his journey as the much-loved host of one of the ABC’s most iconic and Logie award-winning programs, Gardening Australia.
Jessica Au
Jessica is a writer based in Melbourne. Her novel Cold Enough for Snow won the inaugural Novel Prize in 2021 and has been translated into fourteen languages. Jessica’s debut, Cargo, was published to wide acclaim in 2011. It is a masterful, evocative novel that follows the lives of three intertwined characters over the course of one lazy summer in a small coastal town.
Bryan Brown
Iconic Australian actor Bryan Brown became an international success in the early eighties with critical acclaim from performances in Breaker Morant and the TV series A Town Like Alice. Sweet Jimmy is his first novel.
Emily Bitto
Emily is an award-winning Melbourne based writer of fiction, poetry and non-fiction. Her debut novel The Strays won the Stella Prize in 2015, and her second novel Wild Abandon was published in 2021. Emily has been teaching for over a decade, and is currently a tutor and course director at the Faber Writing Academy.
Peter Doherty
We’re proud to welcome our first Nobel Prize-winning guest Peter Doherty. Peter won the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine in 1996 for his work with Rolf Zinkernagel on the body’s immune system. As we continue to navigate a Covid-struck global landscape, we’re certain to witness some very timely conversations on the festival stage.
Our full program will be released April 25. Buy passes now.
For media enquiries, please contact info@bellingenwritersfestival.com.au.
