Newcastle Writers Festival

Richard Fidler talks to Gretel Killeen about his passion for the stories and personalities that have helped shape history. This session was recorded at the 2018 Newcastle Writers Festival.

The Long and Winding Way to the Top. Andrew P. Street chats to Felicity Biggins about the 50 (or so) songs that made Australia. This session was recorded at the 2018 Newcastle Writers Festival.

Robert Dessaix talks to Ed Wright about the pleasures of leisure and why we need to do less instead of more. This session was recorded at the 2018 Newcastle Writers Festival www.newcastlewritersfestival.org.au

Classic FM presenter Christopher Lawrence discusses the great love stories of classical composers with ABC Newcastle's Paul Bevan. Includes musical interludes performed by David Banney, Gavin Clark and Peter Guy. This session was recorded at the 2018 Newcastle Writers Festival and supported by the Newcastle Music Festival.

Much-loved entertainer Kitty Flanagan shares tips and cautionary tales from her book Bridge Burning and Other Hobbies. This session was hosted by Meredith Jaffe and recorded at the 2018 Newcastle Writers Festival.

Eddie Ayres talks to ABC Newcastle's Dan Cox about how teaching the cello to children in Afghanistan led him to a self-discovery almost too hard to bear. This session was recorded at the 2018 Newcastle Writers Festival. Photo by Chris Patterson.

Indigenous writer Bruce Pascoe and farmer and ecologist Charles Massy tackle myths about agriculture and discuss what it means to live in connection with the land. This session was hosted by Geordie Williamson and recorded at the 2018 Newcastle Writers Festival.

The most recent novels by Sarah Armstrong, Emily Maguire and Michael Sala all explore the impact of violence. In this session, which was recorded at the 2017 Newcastle Writers Festival, they discuss this timely issue with host Suzanne Leal.

What happens when your personal beliefs and views become politicised - and vice versa? Are you exposed to more vitriol as a woman who speaks up? This session with Randa Abdel-Fattah, Jane Caro and Clementine Ford was recorded at the 2017 Newcastle Writers Festival and was hosted by Ruby Hamad.

Writer Ailsa Piper and retired Catholic priest Tony Doherty first made contact via email after the publication of Piper's book Sinning Across Spain. What developed via a series of letters was an unlikely friendship, the details of which they share in their book, The Attachment (Allen & Unwin). This session was recorded at the 2017 Newcastle Writers Festival and was hosted by Caroline Baum.

#LoveOzYA is a campaign that celebrates the best of Young Adult writing in Australia. In this session, which was recorded at the 2017 Newcastle Writers Festival, Randa Abdul-Fattah, Kirsty Eager and Jaclyn Moriarty discuss how the genre has come of age. The host is Emily Booth.

Clementine Ford discusses her debut book, Fight Like A Girl, with host Ruby Hamad at the 2017 Newcastle Writers Festival. The book exposes just how unequal the world continues to be for women and it is a call to arms for all women to rediscover the fury that has been suppressed by a society that still considers feminism a threat.

Getting Even: The politics of resentment was recorded at the 2017 Newcastle Writers Festival and features satirist Jonathon Biggins, The Chaser's Charles Firth, and journalists George Megalogenis and Chris Uhlmann. The host is University of Newcastle lecturer Paul Scott.

Living with the Locals - Early Europeans' Experience of Indigenous Life was recorded at the 2017 Newcastle Writers Festival and features University of Newcastle researchers Victoria Haskins and John Maynard in conversation with Ray Kelly Snr.

Coming of Age: The Power of a Young Narrator was was recorded at the 2017 Newcastle Writers Festival and features Holly Throsby, Peggy Frew and Alice Pung. The facilitator is Magdalena Ball.

This session was recorded at the 2017 Newcastle Writers Festival and features Steven Amsterdam, Nikki Gemmell and Leah Kaminsky. The facilitator was Susan Wyndham.

Ashleigh Wilson speaks to Newcastle Art Gallery curator Sarah Johnson about his book, Art, Life and the Other Things, which centres on Australian artist Brett Whiteley.