Canberra Writer's Festival on Ngunawal Country

Words that Shine (with Evelyn Araluen and Anne-Marie Te Whiu)

Smith's Alternative

Saturday 25 October, 2:30pm

Join an intimate yet lively afternoon filled with the power and passion of poetry and spoken word. On stage, we will bring some of Australia and New Zealand's most accomplished stars including Evelyn Araluen, Anne-Marie Te Whiu, Dominic Hoey and Dakota Feirer together with much acclaimed poets and spoken word artists from our region including Judith Nangala Crispin, Barrina South, Andrew Cox and Melinda Smith. This will be a searing but joyous event where POETRY and SLAM are held on high, we give a warm welcome to our overseas and interstate poet champions and celebrate the wonderful poetry scene of our town. There will be a 45-minute poetry set, chance to mingle and grab drinks, and then a second 45-minute set.

The event will be moderated by Martin Dolan, Canberra poet, long-time supporter of That Poetry Thing and chair of Australian Poetry.

Tickets available here.

Our Worlds, Our Way (with Evelyn Araluen, Jasmin McGaughey and Lisa Fuller)

Theatre

Sunday 26 October, 10am

Join this exciting First Nations panel including Evelyn Araluen, Jasmin McCaughey and Lisa Fuller to explore how culture and Country influence each author’s writing. Spanning poetry, YA and children’s novels, how do Indigenous worldviews emerge? As First Nations writing and publishing thrives in Australia, this event offers a unique chance to look across genres and celebrate creativity and connection. Moderated by Ballardong Noongar educator and writer Casey Mulder, co-curator of Rivers Flow.

Tickets available here.

Ghosts of the Past (with Steve MinOn)

Liangis Theatre

Sunday 26 October, 10am

How do the ghosts of our ancestors and their legacies shape us? This conversation explores how books help us journey into the past to question identity, intergenerational debt, and complicity. Acclaimed Bornean-Australian poet and author Omar Musa discusses his new novel Fierceland, about siblings confronting their father’s destructive fortune in Borneo. He is joined by rising star Steve MinOn, who shares his family’s diverse history - from Chinese goldfields to Scottish migration - and his own coming of age and coming out. Moderated by Associate Professor of English, Julieanne Lamond.

Tickets available here.

Caught in Conflict (with Peter Greste)

ANU Lowitja O’Donoghue Cultural Centre

Sunday 26 October, 12pm

Reporting from hostile environments is increasingly dangerous, especially under regimes that suppress free speech. In this powerful conversation, panellists Peter Greste, Cheng Lei, and John Lyons share their unique experiences. Peter Greste in The Correspondent, recounts reporting from war zones before being imprisoned in Egypt for 400 days. Cheng Lei, author of A Memoir of Freedom, was falsely charged with espionage and discovered the extent of China’s state security paranoia and powers to quash dissent through her three years’ imprisonment in China. John Lyons, in A Bunker in Kyiv, sheltered alongside Ukrainians as they resisted the first onslaughts of the Russian military. Hosted by journalist Karen Middleton, this discussion explores the growing threat to media freedom.

John Lyons appearing live from the US.

Tickets available here.

Poems of Love and Rage (with Evelyn Araluen)

Patrick White Lawns

Sunday 26 October, 12pm

An electrifying highlight of this year’s program, our poetry panel features some of Australia’s most acclaimed and innovative poets putting love and rage on the page. Overland Poetry Prize winner Evelyn Araluen (The Rot) joins Maxine Beneba Clarke with Beautiful Changelings, and hometown spoken word artist Omar Musa. This session delves into the power of love, and the ongoing fight against oppression in its many forms. Don’t miss this powerful event. Moderated by Canberra author, artist and performance poet, Jacqui Malins

Tickets available here.

Reimagining Worlds, Reclaiming Power (with Sandy Bigna, Jasmin McGaughey and Lisa Fuller)

Visions Theatre

Sunday 26 October, 1:30pm

From parallel portals, supernatural powers, and gothic magic – this session has them all!  Lisa Fuller, Jasmin McGaughey, and Sandy Bigna know how to blend mind-bending fantasy to reveal truths about our real world. Their characters navigate messy, transitional spaces, using magic to explore grief, discrimination, friendship, and what it means to belong somewhere. Come hear how these authors create fictional worlds that feel authentic, represent cultures respectfully, and give us all the power to tell our own stories. #LoveOzYA

Tickets available here.

One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This: Omar El Akkad and Peter Greste

ANU Lowitja O’Donoghue Cultural Centre

Sunday 26 October, 2.30pm

Omar El Akkad’s memoir One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This is a powerful, heartfelt plea from a man who lost faith with the promise of America. This book has received international acclaim for exposing Western cowardice in the face of the destruction of Gaza. Beyond political disillusionment, it’s a deeply personal exploration of loss and hope, shaped by his experiences growing up in Egypt and Qatar, then moving to the West. Omar joins us in Canberra for a compelling conversation with author, former journalist and media freedom advocate Peter Greste. This is an unmissable conversation.

Tickets available here.

Whitlam’s Dismissal: On These Very Steps (with Evelyn Araluen)

Senate

Sunday 26 October, 3.30pm

Australia transformed itself under Whitlam, with advances in childcare, equal pay, education, Indigenous land rights, and national independence. But tensions rose in the months before his dismissal. Join Virginia Haussegger, Esther Anatolitis, poet Evelyn Araluen, and Whitlam biographer Troy Bramston for a panel exploring diverse views on Whitlam’s legacy and dismissal. They’ll discuss the 1975 Woman and Politics Conference, media reactions, Whitlam’s impact on Australia’s path to a republic, and his role in shaping Indigenous land rights - all leading to the dramatic events on the very steps of Old Parliament House.

Tickets available here.