text: Byron WF Digital
  We invite you to explore the Byron Writers Festival Digital Program, with a host of wonderful conversations on offer.
  Listen to live recordings from some of our recent events, tune into our podcast series featuring fresh conversations with writers from our annual Festival line-up and watch a selection of our 2020 Schools Program videos.
  Available free and on-demand via this webpage, or search 'Byron Writers Festival' on your podcast app.
  Food: It starts on the farm with Pam Brook, Gabrielle Chan and Matthew Evans
  An ABC Radio National Big Ideas Collaboration
  A Griffith Review Collaboration
  Ginger Meggs – 100th Anniversary
  The Power of Words: Randa Abdel-Fattah, Melissa Lucashenko and Arnold Zable in conversation with Paul Barclay
  Soil: Matthew Evans in conversation with Paul Barclay
  First Do No Harm: Ethics and Medicine
  Raina MacIntyre, John Rasko and Norman Swan in conversation with Paul Barclay. An ABC Radio National Big Ideas Collaboration
  Recorded live at Lennox Head Cultural Centre
  2020 Conversations from Byron
  Recorded live at Mullumbimby Civic Centre
  Recorded live at Byron Theatre
  The Age of Online Outrage: Ashley Dotty Charles in conversation with Paul Barclay
  Can suffering lead to personal growth? With David Roland in conversation with Paul Barclay.
  Big Tech and screen-based learning in schools: Anna Krien in conversation with Paul Barclay
  Untethered: Hayley Katzen in conversation with Sarah Armstrong
  Ghost Species: James Bradley in conversation with Sophie Cunningham
  Byron Writers Festival 2020 Schools Program provides an insight into storytelling, debate, and big ideas, eloquently delivered by some of Australia's foremost writers and thinkers. The program is proudly supported by Southern Cross University.
  Being Black 'N Chicken & Chips: A Story about Growing Up (when everything is falling apart)
  Matt Okine in conversation with Sunil Badami
  Writer, comedian and broadcaster Matt Okine talks with Sunil Badami about the writing of his novel Being Black and Chicken and Chips, a work of fiction inspired by true events in Matt's early life, including the loss of his mother to cancer. He discusses the difficult task of merging fact and fiction, of writing about your friends and family, and the role of humour in working through trauma.
  Love, Language, and Land: Telling the Stories that Make Us Who We Are
  Ellen van Neerven in conversation with Benjamin Law
  Ellen van Neerven is an award-winning writer of Mununjali Yugambeh (South East Queensland) and Dutch heritage. In this session they talk with Benjamin Law about their journey into writing, and their experiences at university as a young person, that eventually lead them to discover First Nations literature and stories of resistance. Ellen discusses the recurring themes of their work, from gender queer identity, to inter-racial relationships and black pride, ending with a powerful reading from their new collection Throat, titled 'The Only Black Queer in the World'.
  Fighting for Justice: The Triumph of People Power
  Craig Foster in conversation with Maeve Marsden
  Craig Foster, former captain of the Socceroos and refugee advocate talks with Maeve Marsden about his role in the fight to save fellow footballer and refugee Hakeem al-Araibi from imprisonment and imminent extradition by the Bahraini Government. Craig discusses his reasons for writing the book and the place of activism in sport more broadly, declaring that sport should not separate itself from social, cultural and political life.
  Teen Author: From Story Factory to Publication
  Vivian Pham in conversation with Cath Keenan
  19-year old author Vivian Pham talks with mentor and Executive Director of Story Factory, Dr Cath Keenan, about the writing of her novel The Coconut Children – a story of love, loss and migration set in Sydney's Cabramatta in the 1990s. Vivian reflects on the complexities of writing about your friends, family and community, and considers how her heritage and history informed this story.
  Finding Your Unique Writing Style and Voice
  Christos Tsiolkas in conversation with Benjamin Law
  Christos Tsiolkas is the celebrated author of six novels including Loaded, which was made into the feature film Head-On, The Slap and Barracuda. In this session he discusses his early reading life and his journey into writing as a young man. He offers wisdom and insight for any young person considering pursuing the artistic life. Christos also talks about the themes that connect his latest novel, Damascus, to his back catalogue. These are some of the very same themes that have obsessed him throughout his writing life: the nature of goodness, faith and doubt, sexuality, and the bonds and obligation of family.