Adelaide Festival Writers’ Week has announced its first wave of events, in a six-day festival which is already filling a bibliophile-shaped hole in the city. Taking place from Thursday 1–Thursday 6 March, the full programme will be unveiled this January. 

The line-up includes Pulitzer prize-winner Geraldine Brooks, alongside author Helen Garner, essayist Robert Dessaix and The Honeyeater writer Jessie Tu. Marcus Zusak will celebrate 20 years since the publication of The Book Thief in a dedicated event, while Tim Winton will discuss writing, climate change and the fate of the planet. There will also be appearances from drama and crime writers Andrew Knight and Anthony Horowitz (main picture), who will discuss mysteries, murder and mayhem.

‘True friends stab you in the front,’ declared Oscar Wilde, and that’s the subject of The Great Debate, hosted by team captains Annabel Crabb and David Marr. Other events will focus on the United States’ position in the world (ABC 7.30’s Sarah Ferguson and editor of The New Yorker, David Remnick); Islamophobia (Waleed Aly and Susan Carland); Antisemitism (Sir Simon Schama); and uses and abuses of language in Kyiv, Mar-a-Lago and Gaza (Masha Gessen). 

An unforgettable evening of literary trivia is promised in the inaugural Book Nerd’s Quiz Of Quizzes, hosted by Shaun Micallef plus beloved events Insiders (hosted by David Speers) and Breakfast With Papers, the daily news discussion, both return.  

Adelaide Festival Writers’ Week runs from Saturday 1–Thursday 6 March 2025. Look out for the latest news and previews in The List’s Guide To Adelaide’s Summer Festivals, available across the city from Tuesday 28 January.