Themed ‘Change My Mind’, the 2022 Sydney Writers’ Festival promises a feast of thought, imagination, and conversation. We’ve picked our top six favourites from the stellar line-up.
1. Hanya Yanagihara: To Paradise
Acclaimed author Hanya Yanagihara’s latest novel is a time-bending masterpiece that enthralled the Mindful Puzzles team (read our review of To Paradise in issue 28). If exploring themes of love, loss, and the elusive promise of utopia sound like your vibe, catch her in conversation with seasoned broadcast journalist Anton Enus on 20 May, from 8:30pm to 9:30pm at the Sydney City Recital Hall.
2. Musical Fictions
Oliver. Matilda. Mary Poppins. Les Misérables. Great novels often provide the best foundation for a spectacular musical extravaganza – but what of all those ‘greatest literary adaptations’ you’ve never heard of? They’ve been unearthed, with a little bit of help from some of Australia’s finest songwriters (think Tim Rogers, Angie Hart, Dean Bryant, Jude Perl, Simon Hall) and musical theatre professionals: Casey Bennetto, Virginia Gay, Mike McLeish, Natalie Abbott, and their house band. For one night only, tap your toes to some classic prose on 19 May, from 6:00pm at Sydney Town Hall.
3. Miles Allinson & Emily Bitto
What happens when you put the authors of two of 2021’s most acclaimed Australian novels together in a room? A discussion about searching for identity and meaning within fractured realities – and likely quite a bit of laughter, too. Miles and Emily will be interviewed by Michaela Kalowski on 19 May from 10:00am to 11:00am at Carriageworks in Eveleigh. Read our take on Miles’ In Moonland and Emily’s Wild Abandon here:
4. Art Spiegelman
Dive into the singular mind of Pulitzer Prize-winning comic artist, writer, and editor Art Spiegelman: the author of seminal masterpiece MAUS, and someone who has continuously defined and redefined the world of visual storytelling. (We are fans.) Art will appear via live video reflecting on a career spent finding new ways to write, draw, and talk about the world, and a life spent challenging conventions and prejudice. The bonus? He’ll be interviewed by iconic Australian children’s author Morris Gleitzman, making this an unmissable event. On 20 May, from 10:00am to 11:00am at Carriageworks in Eveleigh
5. Maxine Beneba Clarke & Omar Musa
Both Maxine and Omar’s poetry have the power to electrify, encouraging readers to perceive with new eyes and make meaning from reading between the lines. ABIA and Indie Award-winning Maxine’s How Decent Folk Behave (read our review here) is an unflinching reflection on some of the changes we’ve had to deal with the past few years, while author, visual artist, and poet Omar’s Killernova combines striking woodcuts with lyrical storytelling. (Our interview with Omar provides insight into his remarkable mind – in Mindful Puzzles 29, on shelves from 1 August.) Even better: both are in conversation with Evelyn Araluen, whose collection of poetry, Dropbear, has just been announced as the winner of the 2022 Stella Prize. Icons all. On 21 May, from 2:00pm to 3:00pm, Carriageworks in Eveleigh.
6. Martha Wainwright
We’re on the edge of our seats to dive into Stories I Might Regret Telling You – musician Martha Wainwright’s memoir about the highs and lows of growing up (and surviving) as part of musical royalty (her parents are folk legends Kate McGarrigle and Loudon Wainwright III; her brother, Rufus Wainwright). Her memoir is described as written with ‘blistering honesty and disarming humanity’, and travels through her career to tales of motherhood, love and loss, divorce, and the search for personal peace. She’ll be in conversation via live video with host Julia Zemiro. On 20 May, from 8:00pm to 9:00pm at Carriageworks, Eveleigh.
The Sydney Writers Festival takes place from 16 to 22 May – pick your favourites at swf.org.au.
