Festivals | Books+Publishing

MWF releases 2026 program and ventures into the suburbs

Friday, 20 March 2026
Melbourne Writers Festival (MWF) has released its program for 2026, featuring more than 150 artists participating in readings, panels and workshops from 7 to 10 May. This year marks MWF’s...

Canberra Writers Festival announces anniversary events

Tuesday, 17 March 2026
Canberra Writers Festival is hosting a series of events this year, celebrating its tenth anniversary in the lead-up to the festival, which runs from 15 to 18 October. These events...

Fitzroy Writers Festival 2026 program announced

Tuesday, 17 March 2026
Yarra Libraries has released the program for this year’s Fitzroy Writers Festival, running on 18 April. To be held in inner Melbourne’s Fitzroy Town Hall, sessions are set to cover...

Apollo Bay WORDfest 2026 line-up announced

Monday, 16 March 2026
The Apollo Bay WORDfest has released the program for its 2026 festival, to be held in the Victorian coastal town from Friday 24 July to Sunday 26 July. Authors scheduled...

Manly Writers’ Festival announces 2026 program

Thursday, 12 March 2026
The Manly Writers’ Festival has released its program, which will run from 19 to 22 March 2026, bringing together almost 90 writers, journalists, historians, thinkers and musicians, while examining “how...

Auckland Writers Festival Waituhi o Tāmaki 2026 program announced

Thursday, 12 March 2026
The program for the 2026 Auckland Writers Festival Waituhi o Tāmaki, to run from 12 to 17 May, has been announced. This third program by artistic director Lyndsey Fineran features...

Sydney Writers’ Festival program announced

Wednesday, 11 March 2026
The program for this year’s Sydney Writers’ Festival, running from 17–24 May, has been announced. The festival is hosting 200+ in-person and live-streamed events featuring 39 international guests and over...

French booksellers boycott Paris Book Festival over Amazon

Wednesday, 4 March 2026
The French booksellers’ association, the Syndicat de la Librairie Française (SLF), has pulled out of the annual Paris Book Festival, running 17 to 19 April, in protest over the festival’s...

Sorrento Writers Festival program launched

Monday, 2 March 2026
Described as “Victoria’s biggest literary event”, Sorrento Writers Festival has launched a 155-session program across 10 venues in the Victorian beachside towns of Sorrento and Portsea from 23 to 26...

Trans Book Festival program launched

Monday, 2 March 2026
The full program has been launched for the second annual Trans Book Festival, which focuses on “uplifting and celebrating trans and gender diverse (TGD) literary excellence in all narrative forms.”...

Constellations: Not Writers’ Week releases full program

Wednesday, 25 February 2026
Constellations: Not Writers’ Week, created following the cancellation of this year’s Adelaide Writers' Week (AWW), has named more than 100 authors who will appear at 50 events in 19 venues,...

Sorrento Writers Festival announces full 2026 program

Monday, 9 February 2026
The Sorrento Writers Festival (SWF) has announced its 2026 festival program, running from 23 to 26 April 2026 in Sorrento, Victoria. This year's festival will feature over 180 speakers across...

Clunes Booktown Festival announces 20th anniversary program

Wednesday, 4 February 2026
Clunes Booktown Festival has released program details for its 2026 festival, to be held in the main street of the Victorian town of Clunes from 21 to 22 March. Festival...

Frankfurt Book Fair names new CEO

Thursday, 29 January 2026
Joachim Kaufmann has been named the next president and CEO of the Frankfurt Book Fair (Frankfurter Buchmesse), effective September 2026, reported Publishers Weekly (PW). Kaufmann will take over after this...

Claims of hypocrisy levelled over AWW as Abdel-Fattah invitation reissued

Monday, 19 January 2026
The new Adelaide Festival Board has invited Randa Abdel-Fattah to speak at the 2027 Adelaide Writers’ Week (AWW) and apologised “unreservedly for the harm the Adelaide Festival Corporation has caused...

Mildura Writers Festival director, board changes

Monday, 19 January 2026
The Mildura Writers Festival has announced the appointment of Finley Japp as the new festival director, replacing co-founder Donata Carazza who has been director for the past 5 years. Born...

Adelaide Writers’ Week cancelled

Wednesday, 14 January 2026
The outgoing Adelaide Festival board announced yesterday that Adelaide Writers’ Week (AWW) will not be held this year. The decision follows the withdrawal of more than 100 writers from the...

Adler resigns as Adelaide Writers’ Week director

Tuesday, 13 January 2026
Louise Adler, director of Adelaide Writers’ Week (AWW) since 2023, has resigned in response to the Adelaide Festival board’s decision to withdraw Randa Abdel-Fattah’s invitation to attend this year’s festival....

Ward apppointed GM of Byron Writers Festival

Monday, 12 January 2026
Byron Writers Festival has named Molly Ward as its new general manager, commencing in mid-January. Ward has wide experience managing major festivals, large-scale cultural events, and placemaking initiatives. “Passionate about...