Sydney Writers' Festival

Join Yumi Stynes and Artistic Director Ann Mossop as they discuss the 2026 Sydney Writers’ Festival program.
The pair talk about the 2026 Festival theme, Show Me The Truth, and how fiction, poetry and creative writing and bring us closer to the truth. Unpack the program and get a glimpse behind the scenes of the Sydney Writers' Festival office.
The 2026 Sydney Writers' Festival is out now. Head to our website to explore the program: https://www.swf.org.au/
Tickets on sale Saturday 14 March at 10am.
Thank you to 2SER for facilitating the recording of this podcast.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

‘Cancel culture’ may seem like a 21st century invention sparked by contemporary politics and stoked by social media, sometimes with deadly consequences.

However, as philosopher A.C. Grayling illustrates in Discriminations: Making Peace in the Culture Wars, disagreement and public shaming are ancient traditions.

Learn how ‘cancel culture’ evolved and what effect it’s having on intellectual discourse. Festival favourite A.C. Grayling searches for a middle ground in an environment where everything is up for debate.
This episode was recorded live in May at the 2025 Sydney Writers’ Festival. If you enjoyed this episode, please rate and follow our channel.
Sydney Writers’ Festival podcasts are available on all major podcast platforms.
After more? Follow Sydney Writers’ Festival on social media:

Instagram: @sydwritersfest
Facebook: @SydWritersFest
TikTok: @sydwritersfest
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Detective Inspector John Rebus first hit bookshelves in 1987 as a witty Scottish crime fighter but now the legendary detective is behind bars himself, living a literal locked-room mystery.

Midnight and Blue is Ian Rankin at his tense and thrilling best, mixing the police procedural genre with a literary character study of his best-known detective and his home city of Edinburgh.

Explore the latest instalment of the Inspector Rebus series and reflect on Ian’s bestselling career in crime writing, with television adaptations and translation into more than 20 languages. In conversation with Michael Williams.
This episode was recorded live in May at the 2025 Sydney Writers’ Festival.
If you enjoyed this episode, please rate and follow our channel. Sydney Writers’ Festival podcasts are available on all major podcast platforms.
After more? Follow Sydney Writers’ Festival on social media:

Instagram: @sydwritersfest
Facebook: @SydWritersFest
TikTok: @sydwritersfest
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In Your Favourites’ Favourites, our most loved writers introduce one of their favourite authors.

Bestselling Australian crime writer Michael Robotham speaks with British crime novelist Chris Whitaker about his sensational new thriller, All the Colours of the Dark, described as a “must-read” by favourite thriller writer Gillian Flynn.

Over decades, Saint Brown has been hunting the man who kidnapped her best friend, Joseph ‘Patch’ Macauley, when they were teens. Meanwhile, Patch is on his own hunt for a girl named Grace, who saved him in a dark room years ago. But his search turns to obsession with little evidence that Grace ever existed.

Hear Michael and Chris discuss his unforgettable story, already in development for the screen.
This episode was recorded live in May at the 2025 Sydney Writers’ Festival.
If you enjoyed this episode, please rate and follow our channel. Sydney Writers’ Festival podcasts are available on all major podcast platforms.
After more? Follow Sydney Writers’ Festival on social media:

Instagram: @sydwritersfest
Facebook: @SydWritersFest
TikTok: @sydwritersfest
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Over a masterful career spanning 10 novels, a memoir and various children’s books, Maggie O’Farrell has established herself as a modern literary monument.

Her two latest novels, Hamnet, inspired by Shakespeare’s family, and The Marriage Portrait, set in 16th-century Italian court, represent a turn into historical fiction. The former won the UK’s Women’s Prize for Fiction, while the latter was shortlisted for it.

In conversation with Kate Evans, Maggie teases out the details of her writing life, including her interest in the depth of women’s stories and the intricate intimacy of families, and the wild popularity of Hamnet.
This episode was recorded live in May at the 2025 Sydney Writers’ Festival.
If you enjoyed this episode, please rate and follow our channel. Sydney Writers’ Festival podcasts are available on all major podcast platforms.
After more? Follow Sydney Writers’ Festival on social media:

Instagram: @sydwritersfest
Facebook: @SydWritersFest
TikTok: @sydwritersfest
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.