The Byron Writers Festival will return in August 2026 with a 30th anniversary program bringing together more than 150 writers, thinkers, poets and storytellers for three days of talks and performances on Bundjalung Country in Byron Bay.
The festival runs from Friday 14 to Sunday 16 August 2026 and will be held in a new central Byron Bay precinct, with organisers expanding accessibility and free programming across the weekend. The theme for the year is “sanctuary”, with the program shaped around reflection, exchange and connection in a shifting global environment.
Among the headline guests are Richard Flanagan, Antoinette Lattouf and Kerry O’Brien. Flanagan will present Heresies, a collection of essays and speeches, while Lattouf will appear in conversation about Women Who Win with Louise Adler, focusing on women who have challenged expectations in public life.
International Booker Prize winner Geetanjali Shree also features in the program. Her novel Tomb of Sand made literary history in 2022 as the first work written in Hindi, or any Indian language, to receive the prize, and she joins a line-up of international and Australian writers including Roman Krznaric and Thammika Songkaeo.
The program also includes Trent Dalton in conversation with Richard Glover, Richard Fidler and Kári Gíslason presenting a live recording exploring Norse sagas, Kerry O’Brien leading the Thea Astley Address, and Wesley Enoch delivering the inaugural Rhoda Roberts Oration.
Other participants include Meg Mason, Robert Forster, Osher Günsberg, Amy Remeikis, Niki Savva and Bob Carr, with new releases featured across the weekend such as George Megalogenis’ Three Shocks, Meg Mason’s Sophie, Standing There, and Richard Denniss’ More Fool Me, examining Australia’s gas industry.
Melissa Lucashenko will also appear as part of the program, presenting Not Quite White in the Head, a collection bringing together essays and journalism.
First Nations voices are woven through the festival, with Delta Kay opening the program with a Calling to Country, alongside Ella Noah Bancroft, Dakota Feirer, Victor Steffensen and Tasma Walton, focusing on storytelling, knowledge systems and connection to Country.
Environmental and public affairs discussions will run across the weekend, including sessions featuring Marian Wilkinson, Richard Denniss and others examining climate policy, fossil fuels and ocean systems. Programming for younger audiences includes appearances from Tom Forrest (Outback Tom), Luke Bateman and children’s events hosted by Tristan Bancks.
Festival director Jessica Alice said the anniversary program reflects the festival’s focus on storytelling and place, with Bundjalung Country central to the gathering.
The Byron Writers Festival will take place from 14 to 16 August 2026 in Byron Bay.
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