MWF full program announced

Melbourne Writers Festival (MWF) has announced its full 2022 program, which runs 8–11 September, and features over 150 events. The festival makes its return to live programming after two years of being held online due to lockdowns.

British novelists Sarah Winman and Sarah Moss will appear in person in Melbourne alongside previously announced international guests Mohsin Hamid, Brian Cox and Jenny Slate, while American writers Sheila Heti, Ottessa Moshfegh and Anita Hill will appear via live cross, along with Yassmin Abdel-Magied, who will also be appearing live from overseas.

To celebrate MWF’s opening night, Hamid, 2022 Miles Franklin winner Jennifer Down, and Talkin’ Up to the White Woman (UQP) author Aileen Moreton-Robinson will deliver addresses on this year’s festival theme of ‘Ambition’, while Australian author, translator and essayist Robert Dessaix will reflect on a lifetime of ambition in his closing night address.

First Nations writers Jazz Money and Chelsea Watego have curated a series of events ‘exploring the complexities, joys and challenges of being a First Nations creative’, including a showcase of emerging First Nations poets and a debate for and against hope. Meanwhile, the online-only, pay-what-you-can MWF Digital program will return. The on-demand program features sessions with international guests Jennifer Egan, Margo Jefferson, Maggie O’Farrell, Emily St John Mandel and Alice Oseman.

Running across the weekend of 10–11 September, MWF Families offers a weekend of free activities at the Pauline Gandel Children’s Quarter, State Library Victoria (SLV), including sessions with Randa Abdel-Fattah, Maxine Beneba Clarke, Sher Rill Ng, Alice Pung, Corey Tutt and Gabrielle Wang. YA Day, featuring authors including Vanessa Len, Tobias Madden and Astrid Scholte, will also take place at SLV, on Saturday, 10 September.

‘We’ve curated conversations about Australia’s social, cultural and political ambitions, and our guests will be examining the dangerous territory of thwarted ambitions on the national and global stage,’ said MWF artistic director Michaela McGuire. ‘We can’t wait to bring writers and readers together to share stories of the soaring victories, crushing defeats and steep learning curves that come with chasing dreams.’

Tickets for the festival go on sale Thursday, 28 July. For more information, see the MWF website.

Category: Local news