Curated by Louise Adler, Writers’ Week 2024 returns with an impressive international line-up of star names and a particular focus on South Asian writers.
World-famous classicist Dame Mary Beard kicks things off, in conversation with Julia Baird as part of The Grande Dames Of Letters. The event also features award-winning Irish novelist Anne Enright and Jane Smiley, winner of the Lifetime Achievement Award For Literature from PEN Center USA. Pulitzer Prize-winning Elizabeth Strout will also be in attendance for this gathering of literary royalty.

For fans of a friendly debate, The Rest Is Politics features Alistair Campbell joined by his podcast partner and former Tory cabinet minister Rory Stewart (via live stream). Former UK Labour communications director Campbell will discuss leadership and liars with his friendly foe, which will no doubt spark some lively discourse (if not downright disagreement). The conversation will be marshalled by Sarah Ferguson, multi-award-winning host of ABC’s 7.30 programme. 

Also for politics and news lovers is Breakfast With Papers, where Tory Shepherd of The Guardian and Radio National’s Jonathan Green are joined by guests to mull over current events each morning during Writers’ Week. Returning spoken-word evening Hear Me Roar! platforms some of the country’s strongest voices in contemporary poetry, while elsewhere the festival’s starry line-up includes Édouard Louis, Richard Ford, Ted Chiang and Yanis Varoufakis.
Pioneer Women’s Memorial Garden, Saturday 2–Thursday 7 March.