Live & Local finds a new home in Coledale
Over two days, Friday 22 and Saturday 23 May, South Coast Writers Centre and Coledale Community Hall hosted Sydney Writers’ Festival Live & Local for the first time. Sessions are livestreamed direct from festival venue Carriageworks, allowing regional audiences access to the country’s premier literary event.
We shared with our audiences five fantastic SWF sessions, plus three local authors in conversation live on stage about their new books.
Gwen Wilson, Lauren Keegan, and Starre Vartan were joined on stage to talk their new books and their writing journeys.
On Friday, Gwen Wilson’s historical novel Louisa is a heartfelt and imaginative portrayal of a woman’s quest for independence in 19th-century Australia, inspired by the real-life story of her great grandmother. In an illuminating discussion, she revealed how she adapted that family history into fiction with author and playwright Christine Sykes—plus gave audiences a clue about her next book!
Lauren Keegan then sat down with Julie Keys to discuss her second novel, The Woman in the Seal Skin. Lauren took audiences to the wild, isolated shores of the Orkney islands in the 1690s with her immersive story of Malie, caught between her duties as a woman and the selkie tales left behind by her mother. It was an immersive discussion about the power of historical fiction to explore themes of motherhood, oppression, violence and grief alongside the irresistible call of what it is we long for and hold onto for ourselves.
On Saturday, we were joined by the incredible Starre Vartan who shared the stories behind her book The Stronger Sex: What Science Tells Us About the Power of the Female Body. It was an exciting, thoughtful conversation with Enough Said’s Adara Enthaler, charting the book’s exploration of the female body’s sensitivity, endurance, immunity, longevity, and more.
Streamed from Sydney were sessions with Trent Dalton (Gravity Let Me Go), Suzie Miller (Prima Facie), Mick Herron (Slow Horses), Florence Knapp (The Names), R.F. Kuang (Katabasis), Garth Nix (We Do Not Welcome Our Ten-Year-Old Overlord), Lev Grossman (The Bright Sword), and Roddy Doyle (The Women Behind the Door).
Ten festivalgoers also took part in our Live & Local workshop with USA Today bestselling author Alyssa J. Montgomery, on how to plot your novel.
It was a fantastic two days filled with ideas, books, and thoughtful conversation! Many thanks to all authors, attendees, and the SWF Live & Local program for bringing the best of Australian and international literature to our doorstep.
