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HAVE WE GOT A STORY FOR YOU! BRISBANE WRITERS FESTIVAL LAUNCHES ITS 2025 PROGRAM

Cinnamon Watson Publicity

Key Facts:

Tickets on sale now bwf.org.au

​Brisbane Writers Festival (BWF) unveils an exciting new chapter in 2025 with a star-studded program of events from 9-12 October and will be held for the first time at the Brisbane Powerhouse. 

The 2025 program is packed with literary A-listers across more than 100 live events including author talks, conversations, panel discussions and special events. Two hundred artists, half of them from Queensland, form part of the blockbuster line-up of national and international guests.

Australian headline authors include Helen Garner, Trent Dalton, Sally Hepworth, Michael Robotham, Di Morrissey, Anita Heiss and Pub Choir’s Astrid Jorgensen, while international highlights include English historian, broadcaster and author Bettany Hughes, Hollywood insider (and nephew of Joan Didion) Griffin Dunne, Irish economist David McWilliams, romantasy star Callie Hart, American cultural critic Sophie Gilbert, and New York Times bestseller Eric Puchner.

BWF Artistic Director Jackie Ryan said the 2025 program is designed to surprise, delight, and encourage discovery.

“One of the many books we’re featuring at the festival this year is on conspiracies. Perhaps those authors can explain just how ‘Dark BWF’ managed to secure so many brilliant writers, such extraordinary panel combinations, and a certifiably incredible venue in the form of Brisbane Powerhouse.

“Is it 5G or artistic destiny? Whatever the answer, BWF2025 is shaping up like an unusually healthy candy store—bursting with irresistible artistic treats you won’t want to stop sampling, and all surprisingly good for you. Be an intrepid investigator and indulge widely. The truth about BWF awaits,” said Ryan.

This year BWF is joined by guest curators Sharlene Allsop (Aboriginal First Nations) and Jillian Bowie (Zenadth Kes/Torres Strait Islander).

Program Overview:

Hollywood comes to Brisbane with Griffin Dunne and Ione Skye discussing their star-studded upbringings and iconic film roles.

This year BWF celebrates several literary milestones: Charlotte Wood will celebrate the 10^th anniversary of her Stella Prize-winning novel The Natural Way of Things, Anne Summers will discuss the legacy of 50 years of Damned Whores and God’s Police, while acclaimed Australian authors Helen Garner, Di Morrissey, Fiona McIntosh and Anita Heiss will all reflect on their incredible careers.

Romantasy fans will delight in meeting best selling American author Callie Hart, plus there’ll be conversations with Australian romantasy writers Stacy McEwan, Jaymin Eve, Sarah A. Parker and Vanessa Len. 

The four-day festival also sees the return of the Marion Taylor Address with esteemed English historian and broadcaster Bettany Hughes delivering the keynote: ‘Is it all just a little bit of history repeating?’.

Hughes will also take readers on a fabulous sightseeing tour of antiquity as she discusses her book The Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.

Australia’s traditional storytellers share culture and spark connections with panels and conversations featuring First Nations authors including Anita Heiss, Nardi Simpson and Debra Dank.

Love true stories of resilience, reinvention and finding purpose? F1 engineer turned Lune Croissanterie founder Kate Reid, Masterchef host Melissa Leong, kickboxer John Wayne Parr, Pub Choir’s Astrid Jorgensen, Ottolenghi offsider Helen Goh, and all-round legend Turia Pitt share their personal journeys.

Non-fiction readers have no shortage of options: economist and podcaster David McWilliams will be discussing money, Steve Vizard studies the Anzac myth, Michelle Bridges talks perimenopause, Maggie Jackson explores the benefits of uncertainty, and The Atlantic critic Sophie Gilbert looks at pop culture and feminism in the nineties and noughties.

Politics and the environment will be put under the microscope in sessions such as Turbulence: Australian Foreign Policy in the Trump Era; Bob Brown: Defiance; Human/Nature; and Tinkering with the Doomsday Clock. We’re also talking music, food history, football, architecture, vaccines, agriculture and much more!

Can’t get enough of crime? We’ve got you covered with bestselling authors like Michael Robotham, Mark Brandi and Jane Caro as well as exciting new writers such as Angie Fay Martin, January Gilchrist and Sam Guthrie.

We’ve got plenty of Queensland favourites, too. Get in quick for locals including Steve Minon, Laura Elvery, Kimberley Allsopp, Melanie Saward, Martine Kropkowski, Cheryl Leavy, Joanna Jenkins, Lauren Ford and Allison Rushby.

Our tips for book clubs? Clare Stephens, Naima Brown, Kimberley Allsopp and Suzanne Do will dissect life's messy patches, Jana Wendt shares her first work of fiction, and Holly Wainwright, Sally Hepworth, Meg Bignell, Heather Rose and Debra Oswald will discuss their latest books. BWF is also running a competition for one lucky Brisbane book club to win a day at the Festival!

BWF’s program for schools and families returns from 9 to 10 October with sessions for prep to Year 12 including Andy Griffiths, Lynette Noni, Craig Silvey, Garth Nix, Steph Tisdell and Sophie Beer.

With a diverse program of author panels, speeches and performances, BWF has a story for everyone.

For more information on the program and to purchase tickets, visit bwf.org.au

 

KEY DATES: 

TICKETS on SALE from 8pm Thursday 14 August               

Thurs 9^th & Friday 10^th  October         Family program, Brisbane Powerhouse

Thurs 9^th to Sunday 12th October      BWF 2025, Brisbane Powerhouse

 

ABOUT BRISBANE WRITERS FESTIVAL

 For over 60 years, BWF has brought communities together to debate, share experiences and celebrate the power and wonder of literature. The Festival’s aim is to connect Queenslanders through story, highlight writers and thinkers from around the globe and inspire deep thought and curiosity. BWF showcases brave, intriguing and thought-provoking local and international writers year-round to more than 20,000 people annually.

BWF acknowledges the generous support of its donors with special thanks to the Taylor Family. BWF is supported by Queensland Government, through Arts Queensland. BWF also acknowledges the support of the Brisbane City Council, the Brisbane Powerhouse, The University of Queensland and Hutchinsons Builders.

BWF is held on the lands of the Yuggera and Turrbul people, on the banks of the Maiwar river. We recognise the important and ongoing contributions of Indigenous Australians to art and literature and pay our respects to Elders past, present and emerging.