The festival began with satellite-events in late May, including a sold-out Enough Said Poetry Slam featuring poet Anne-Marie Te Whiu, and a weekend of satellite events in Kiama as part of Kiama’s Revel In May festival. On Creativity, an event in two parts, began with social networking drinks for local creatives and was followed by a hypnotically engaging conversation between authors Bem Le Hunte and Kate Forsyth about the nature of creativity. The satellite weekend concluded with Publishing School for Writers, a full day masterclass led by esteemed publisher and agent Mary Cunnane.  

The festival weekend in Wollongong kicked off on the first Friday in June with three children’s events: a young writer’s workshop with well-known children’s author A.L. Tait, and free author talks and readings from Kirli Saunders and Claire Zorn in the Wollongong Library. The official Opening Night of the festival followed in Wollongong’s Music Lounge with performance poetry and readings from Medusa’s Daughter, plus author Christine Sykes in conversation with Walkley award-winning journalist Jane Caro about Gough Whitlam’s Australia.  

The main festival day was a day filled with ideas and conversation across a wide range of topics from the literary to the political. It began with a Welcome to Country from Aunty Barb Nicholson, and discussion of her trajectory from a Black Deaths in Custody activist to producing ten years of the Dreaming Inside prison writing anthology project. From This Hot Mess to Hope had the audience transfixed as ex-senator Scott Ludlam and science presenter Jonica Newby sat down with Robyn Williams to talk about our current climate situation, and what can be done about it. In The New Queens of Crime, authors Hayley Scrivenor, Dinuka McKenzie, and Andy Muir explored the ins and outs of writing successful debut crime fiction. Beyond Representation featured Helena Fox, Jamilla Dempsey, Vivian Pham and Kirli Saunders in conversation about the controversy and nuance of diversity in fiction. Jane Caro and Meredith Jaffé spoke about feminist politics, domestic abuse and Caro’s latest novel The Mother. Jackie Bailey discussed The Eulogy, the process of grief and writing autofiction with Roanna Gonsalves. Nadia Wheatley and Caroline Baum discussed Sneaky Little Revolutions, a new edited collection of renowned local writer Charmian Clift’s essays, her life, and her legacy. In Telling Hard Stories authors Gary Lonesborough and Larissa Behrendt yarned with Judi Morison about otherness, our common humanity, untold stories which become too hard to bear, and the healing power of culture. Western Sydney's West Words Academy presented a curated panel introducing three of their exceptional emerging writers: authors Zaheda Ghani and Vivian Pham, and playwright James Elazzi, in conversation with James Roy. As part of the festival’s program of free events, Meredith Jaffe discussed her latest book The Tricky Art of Forgiveness with Pamela Cook at Wollongong Public Library. 

Saturday’s main festival day closed with a poetry showcase featuring award-winning local poets, Peter Ramm, Peter Frankis, Lore White, Bella Luna and Adara Enthaler. On Sunday, the final day of the festival, the SCWC’s Young Writers Collective launched their first print anthology, Uncommon Words at Wollongong Art Gallery. Introduced by program leader Helena Fox, the launch featured readings from some of the Collective, including Paris Barker, Sky Carrall, Rhys Lorenc, India Goss Maher, Sophie Miller, Josh Sorensen and Holly Trenaman. 

The South Coast Writers Centre would like to thank our partners Wollongong Art Gallery, Wollongong City Library, Merrigong Theatre Company, The Illawarra Flame, Enough Said Poetry Slam and Enough Said Books, our sponsor BAD Sydney Crime Writers Festival, and our funders Australia Council for the Arts RISE program, Create NSW, and Wollongong City Council. We especially thank our staff, volunteers, presenters, and everyone who came along to support the literary arts on the south coast!