Sydney Writers' Festival 2026 - Day One

Thursday 21 May 2026 was my first full day at SWF2026. 

Back to Back Barries

Before getting into the main event, I stopped by the live recording of The Guardian's Back to Back Barries podcast. I love journalist Barrie Cassidy (Sundays aren't the same since he left Insiders!) and it was delightful to see him again, with his co-host Tony Barry.

They started the discussion with the media and public response to the Federal budget, with confusing polling data which shows an overall disapproval of the budget, yet overwhelming approval for individual initiatives. The Barries talked about how it is easier to break a promise of something you say you will do than something you say you won't do. 

The conversation shifted to the rise of One Nation and how the party is cannibalising votes. People are misreading the One Nation voter according to the Barries. They are tapping into dissatisfaction with the main parties but are not single issue voters as previously. There was also a consensus that Opposition Leader Angus Taylor will likely not make the next election and that Tony Abbott, if appointed leader of the administrative branch, would take the spotlight.

It was an interesting conversation and a reminder that I need to listen to their podcast more often.

Barrie Cassidy and Tony Barry

The Future of Democracy: Fighting Authoritarianism with AC Grayling 

I love AC Grayling. The last time I saw him in person was the 2016 Festival of Dangerous Ideas, but I have followed his work with great interest. I was keen to attend this session as he has just written the book For the People: Fighting Authoritarianism and Saving Democracy (2025).

Grayling's session was moderated by one of my favourite writers, journalist Nick Bryant. His book The Forever War (2024) offered great insight into American political history and the fragility of its democracy.

Grayling began with a twenty minute talk about the rise of democracy in the 20th century, how things began to shift, and how today authoritarian states outnumber democracies. He says that for democracy to thrive there needs to be civil liberties, engaged voters and an independent judiciary. These pillars can get in the way of a leader's agenda. While democracies are noisy and messy, he argues that tyrannies are silent. Factionalism and party politics has invaded democratic governments around the world. But there is a remedy. Grayling went on to talk about Plato and Aristotle and the need for good, independent institutions - courts, public service, and universities. 

After his speech, Grayling sat down with Nick Bryant and constitutional lawyer Rosalind Dixon for an excellent chat. They spoke about the influence of corporations on politics and while capitalism has lifted a billion people out of poverty, corporate greed has led to the predatory behaviour of bad actors encouraging bad policy. There was discussion about how authoritarianism seems contagious but the antidote isn't. The panel also discussed the different systems of voting which enhance democracy and the flawed systems which inhibit this. 

After the session I went to the book signing and had a great conversation with Nick Bryant while he signed a copy of The Forever War.

Nick Bryant, Rosalind Dixon and A C Grayling

Secrets of The Lodge

With a gap before my next session, I wandered down to Bay 24 to see the free session called 'Secrets of the Lodge'. The panel featured journalists Amy Remeikis, Niki Savva, Troy Bramston, Sean Kelly and Margot Saville all of whom have spent time in the Canberra press gallery. The shared delicious tidbits of various Prime Ministers. For example, Bob Hawke regularly held poker games with politicians and journalists. Apparently he was also often nude. This was a fun, light-hearted session.

Troy Bramston, Amy Remeikis, Sean Kelly, Niki Savva, Margot Saville

Heather Rose: A Great Act of Love

Next up, I was off to hear Tasmanian author Heather Rose speak about her latest novel, A Great Act of Love (2025). I read this in the lead up to the Festival and was keen to hear more about the inspiration behind the story.  The session began with Rose reading the first few pages of the novel. She then spoke about how her sister was exploring their family's ancestry and investigating scraps of family lore, like a link to French nobility, and the death of someone who fell over Niagara Falls. Digging into these tales, she based the characters Jacques-Louis and Caroline on  her ancestors. 

I have great admiration for Heather Rose as a writer. Her novel The Museum of Modern Love (2016) is wonderful and I love the way she genre hops. Session facilitator Melanie Kembrey asked about her writing process and she described the volumes of research she does for all her work. For A Great Act of Love she spent a lot of time researching champagne making, reading Adam Smith and Issacson's biography of Benjamin Franklin, and re-reading Bronte to get the language of the time. 

Heather Rose and Melanie Kembrey

Tayari Jones: Kin

I am a huge fan of Tayari Jones. Her Women's Prize-winning novel An American Marriage (2018) was my  favourite read in 2019. Jones' most recent novel Kin (2026) is such a beautiful tale of friendship and family, so I was keen to hear her speak about this excellent book. Having never seen or heard her being interviewed before, I was delighted to hear her interviewed by Shankari Chandran.

Jones spoke about the friendship at the core of this novel and believes it to be a tale of loving those closest to you. She spoke about the challenges she had writing and the gap she took after her previous novel. She explained how she felt like the world was on fire and that it is a luxury to tell a story. In writing Kin, she had not planned the novel out as she did in her previous works and had anticipated the tale of Niecy and Annie to be preamble to a more modern story. But she became so invested in these girls and had to share their story. 

After the session I was able to meet Tayari and have her sign copies of her earlier works - Leaving Atlanta and Silver Sparrow - and talk with her about her travels in Australia. She is a delightful woman and I really enjoyed this session.

Shankari Chandran and Tayari Jones

Bringing The Past To Life

This panel brought together Yann Martel (Son of Nobody), Robbie Arnott (Dusk), Tasma Walton (I Am Nannertgarrook) in conversation with Kate Evans (ABC Radio National). I have not yet read the books these authors were discussing so was keen to learn more.

Tasma Walton's I Am Nannertgarrook is an attempt to correct a record on her family's story. For a long time it had been presented that her ancestor Nannertgarrook was wooed by a merchant seaman and ran off with him. But accessing historical records and digging a little deeper showed that this was no romantic love story - he was actually a brutal sealer who kidnapped her and took her away from her family. Walton wrote this novel in first person, often using the language of her people. She spoke of how colonists came to 'civilise' the land but did so with brutality and inhumanity. 

Canadian author Yann Martel's Son of Nobody came to him as he recently read Homer. He had read many retellings but not the source material. The retellings sparked his imagination and he recalls a childhood full of ancient myths. Son of Nobody is horizontally divided with the top half featuring tales of the Trojan Horse and the bottom half the footnotes of a scholar. Martel said that in researching his book he went to Mycenae, Argos and other places to get a sense of the landscape and where these tales originated.

Robbie Arnott described is novel Dusk as a Western set in the 1870s. Twins Iris and Floyd are children of bushrangers who go to a remote part of Tasmania to hunt a puma named Dusk for the bounty. Arnott says that he starts with place when writing, followed by characters and then plot. He likes to capture the feel of a place rather than an exact photo replica. 

The trio spoke about myths, fables and dreamtime stories and also about animals that appear in their books. Martel's best known work, The Life of Pi, features a tiger (among other animals) and he spoke about how animals are great vessels for storytelling as we can project symbols on to the animals. Arnott agreed and thought books should not be limited to a human point of view. 

After this interesting session I was able to meet all three authors and get books signed. I purchased a copy of Tasma Walton's book as it sounds like a fascinating tale.  

Kate Evans, Robbie Arnott, Yann Martel, Tasma Walton

David Szalay: Flesh

Canadian-Hungarian author David Szalay won the Booker Prize last year for his novel Flesh (2025). I read this in the lead up to the festival and was absolutely engrossed in this tale of a man of few words. Having not heard Szalay speak before, I was intrigued to see if he was as restrained as his character Ishtvan. Session facilitator, award winning author Michelle de Krester, joked at the outset about how she was worried that all questions would be answered with 'okay'.

Szalay is nothing like Ishtvan. Rather he is warm, humorous and erudite. De Krester and he spoke about how he made a deliberate choice to not tell the reader how to read the book. He just presents situations in a detached or neutral way. Szalay spoke about how people in novels are unreliably articulate, so he wanted to envisage characters not as groups of minds but as groups of bodies. 

They spoke about structure, sparseness, the time jumps and the physicality of life. They also discussed some of Szalay's other work like All That Man Is. This was a great session and I am glad I read the book prior to attending. After the session I met Szalay and he signed my copy of Flesh for me.

Michelle de Krester and David Szalay

And that was my first full day at the 2026 Sydney Writers' Festival.

Book Signings

Tayari Jones

Books signed by authors today:

• Robbie Arnott - Limberlost
• Nick Bryant - The Forever War
• Tayari Jones - Leaving Atlanta and Silver Sparrow
• Yann Martell - Life of Pi (for my collection of signed Booker Prize winners)
• David Szalay - Flesh (for my Booker collection)
• Tasma Walton - I Am Nannertgarrock 

My SWF2026 Experience

Read more about my time at SWF2026 here:

• Early Sessions - Lorena Allam, Robbie Arnott, Avani Dias, Lyse Doucet, Anton Enus, Nikita Gill, Lily King, Kate McClymont, Michael Pedersen, and Patrick Radden Keefe.
• Day One - Robbie Arnott, Nick Bryant, Barrie Cassidy, Rosalind Dixon, AC Grayling, Tayari Jones, Yann Martel, Amy Remeikis, Niki Savva, David Szalay, Tasma Walton
• Day Two - Michael Mohammed Ahmed, Matt Alt, Jacinda Ardern, Rebecca Armitage, Susan Choi, Bora Chung, Roddy Doyle, Mariana Enriquez, Kate Evans, Mick Herron, Florence Knapp, Yann Martel, Charlotte McConaghy, Suzie Miller, David Szalay, and Charlotte Wood.
• Day Three - Randa Abdel-Fattah, Michael Mohammed Ahmad, Roddy Doyle, Kate Evans, Jan Fran, Lev Grossman, RF Kuang, Antoinette Lattouf, Dervla McTiernan, Garth Nix, Hayley Scrivenor.
• Day Four - Michael Bennett, Tony Birch, Troy Bramston, Shankar Chandran, SA Crosby, Chris Hammer, Mick Herron, Fran Kelly, Sisonke Msimang, Ben Quilty, Amy Remeikis, Hayley Scrivenor, Amy Thunig-McGregor, Jack Toohey, Michael Williams.