Held over three weekends each May, the Queenscliffe Literary Festival is a celebration of Australian writers, books and ideas in a program of events designed to entertain and stimulate.

Our theme for 2022 is Shifting Sands. As we continue to navigate an uncertain world, we welcome the insights and wisdom of our finest writers and thinkers to help us keep our footing.

Endless column inches are devoted to think pieces and hot takes on the rise of China, but genuine understanding and meaningful conversation continue to elude us. Under his nom de plume Murong Xuecun, Hao Qun is one of China’s most celebrated authors, a genuinely independent voice in fiction and non-fiction. He recently left China to publish Deadly Quiet City: Stories from Wuhan, Covid Ground Zero, which cuts through speculation to tell real stories of intimate experiences of Chinese citizens during an epic global tragedy. Now in Australia, Murong joins Linda Jaivin (The Shortest History of China) and Louisa Lim (Indelible City: Dispossession and Defiance in Hong Kong) for a conversation that goes beyond broad media commentary, with the BBC’s Frances Mao.

Too often our notions of life outside Australia’s capital cities are that it is monochrome and homogenous. The new anthology Growing Up In Country Australia offers a fresh, modern, and at times surprising look at country life today, bringing together the perspectives of established and emerging writers. Join the collection’s editor, prize-winning One Hundred Years of Dirt author Rick Morton, as he speaks with contributors Farz Edraki, Bridie Jabour and Benjamin Riley. Together, they discuss challenges such as drought, fire and isolation, as well as the joy, adventure and beauty of growing up outside our capital cities.

The writers’ life – perhaps even more so than other artists – is a solitary one. So the individual and personal challenges faced both in the pursuit of one’s art and when dealing with the publishing and reading world at large are little understood in a collective sense. Liz Martin, CEO of Accessible Arts, NSW’s peak arts and disability organisation, leads a discussion into the reality and pathways for writers with disability or who are d/Deaf. Featuring Fiona Murphy (The Shape of Sound), journalist and musician Eliza Hull (We’ve Got This) and poet and author Gayle Kennedy (Koori Girl Goes Shoppin).

Ruby Jones, host of Schwartz Media’s 7am podcast, discusses today’s news with Linda Jaivin (The Shortest History of China), Kate McClymont and Karen Middleton.

Chief Information Officer, Chief Data Scientist or Chief Executive Officer: who will own the AI agenda?

Measure AI's Success: a board's perspective

The Year of Hybrid: the cyber security vulnerabilities CXOs must protect in a work-from-anywhere world

Future Ready: what are the jobs that do not exist yet?

What's Next: How global events will accelerate AI adoption; and which emerging technologies will transform the world's economy by 2025?

With panelists, Adrian Turner, Global Tech Entrepreneur, Chief Executive Officer, Minderoo Foundation Fire and Flood Resilience Initiative, Danny Elmarji, Vice President, Presales, Asia Pacific & Japan, Dell Technologies and Professor Toby Walsh,  AI 'Rock Star', Scientia Professor of Artificial Intelligence at UNSW and Group Research Lead, Data61

Helen Garner is one of Australia’s most respected writers. Her novels, short stories, essays, journalism, and more recently her diaries – including her latest instalment, How to End a Story: Diaries: 1995–1998 – have influenced generations of Australian writers and are a fixture of Melbourne’s collective consciousness.

Over a long lunch at Montalto, she joins Sean O’Beirne, author of the recent monograph On Helen Garner, to discuss her immense contribution to Australian literature, and the unmistakable currents of candor and independence that have run through her writing life.

Our political leaders are expert performers in the theatre that politics so often is. They need to project a character, master the choreography and stick to their script. Does this prevent them from providing leadership and vision? Two of Australia’s leading political reporters and writers, Judith Brett (Doing Politics) and Sean Kelly (The Game) sit down with ABC political reporter Nour Haydar to examine questions of game-playing, the performative and the authentic in Australian politics.

Three writers of recently published works of memoir and biography consider the role research and artistic licence play into putting a life onto the page. Bernadette Brennan (Leaping into Waterfalls: The enigmatic Gillian Mears), Sara El-Sayed (Muddy People) and Yves Rees (All About Yves: Notes from a transition) sit down with Caroline Baum to discuss the processes, ethical considerations and surprising joys of writing from reality. Bernadette’s newest biography chronicles the life of writer Gillian Mears, Sara’s memoir charts her upbringing in an Egyptian Muslim family in Brisbane, and Yves’ memoir recounts their story of the trans experience and re-becoming.

Join Founding Editor of The Saturday Paper and Editor-in-Chief of Schwartz Media Erik Jensen to discuss the latest news with Rick Morton (My Year of Living Vulnerably), Sarah Krasnostein (The Believer) and Sean Kelly (The Game)

From Siri to medical devices, technology and AI are helping us navigate daily life with greater efficiency and ease. But on the flip side, instances of algorithm bias, questions around who is collecting our data and for what ends, and fears about how technology is degrading public discourse are bringing into focus pressing new ethical dilemmas. Transhumanism scholar Elise Bohan (Future Superhuman: Our transhuman lives in a make-or-break century), AI expert Toby Walsh (Machines Behaving Badly: The Morality of AI) and technologist and Palawa-Trawlwoolway woman Angie Abdilla (co-editor of Decolonising the Digital: Technology as Cultural Practice) examine the promises and perils of tech today, in conversation with creative robotics researcher Belinda Dunstan.

In the new anthology We’ve Got This: Stories by Disabled Parents, parents who identify as Deaf, disabled or chronically ill share the highs and lows of their parenting journeys, and reveal that the greatest obstacles lie in other people’s attitudes. As Rebekah Taussig writes, “Parenthood can tangle with grief and loss. Disability can include joy and abundance. And goddammit – disabled parents exist.” Join the collection’s editor, Eliza Hull, as she speaks with Elly-May Barnes, Brian Edwards and Debra Keenahan  about their contributions to this vital series of rarely heard stories about parenting today.

From kung-fu to tofu, tea to trade routes, China has influenced the world for thousands of years. China expert Linda Jaivin (The Shortest History of China) distils its history and influence.

Linda Jaivin in conversation with Jock Serong

What if Twitter were a parlour game, and instead of adding to a rapidly refreshing timeline you had a chance to rethink that thought? Watch some of your favourite writers think out loud as they defend and decide on the direction they want the conversation to go. Sydney Writers’ Festival Guest Curator Fiona Murphy is joined by Rick Morton, Osman Faruqi and Amy Thunig.

A visionary book for our wild times.

Scott Ludlam draws on his experience as a senator and activist to capture our world on a precipice and explore what comes next.

One way or another, we are headed for radical change. We are now in the Anthropocene - humans are changing the earth's climate irreversibly, and political, human and natural systems are on the cusp of collapse. Ludlam shines a light on the bankruptcy of the financial and political systems that have led us here- systems based on the exploitation of the earth's resources, and 99 per cent of the world's population labouring for the wealth of 1 per cent.

In Full Circle, Ludlam seeks old and new ways to make our systems humane, regenerative and more in tune with nature. He travels the globe to see what happens when ordinary people stand up to corporations and tyrants. He takes the reader on a journey through time to discover the underlying patterns of life. And he finds that we are at a unique moment when billions of tiny actions by individuals and small groups are coalescing into one great movement that could transform history.

Bringing together a wealth of new ideas, Full Circle outlines a new ecological politics.

Machines Behaving Badly: The Morality of AI is a thought-provoking look at the increasing human reliance on robotics and the decisions that need to be made now to ensure the future of artificial intelligence is as a force for good, not evil. 

Professor Toby Walsh, the book's author, is a world-leading researcher in the field of AI and will appear in conversation with former Australian Human Rights Commissioner Edward Santow (now Industry Professor – Responsible Technology at the University of Technology Sydney), at this special launch event.

Remarks will also be provided by Director of the Australian Human Rights Institute, Professor Justine Nolan, and Director of the Allens Hub for Technology, Law and Innovation, Professor Lyria Bennett-Moses.

A light breakfast will be served.

This event is jointly hosted by the Australian Human Rights Institute and the Allens Hub for Technology, Law & Innovation.

Join us for the launch of Machines Behaving Badly: The Morality of AI by Toby Walsh.

Can we build moral machines? Toby Walsh, AI expert, examines the ethical issues we face in a future dominated by artificial intelligence.

Artificial intelligence is an essential part of our lives – for better or worse. It can be used to influence what we buy, who gets shortlisted for a job and even how we vote. Without AI, medical technology wouldn’t have come so far, we’d still be getting lost on backroads in our GPS-free cars, and smartphones wouldn’t be so, well, smart. But as we continue to build more intelligent and autonomous machines, what impact will this have on humanity and the planet?

Professor Toby Walsh, a world-leading researcher in the field of artificial intelligence, explores the ethical considerations and unexpected consequences AI poses – Is Alexa racist? Can robots have rights? What happens if a self-driving car kills someone? What limitations should we put on the use of facial recognition?

At this salon event, we’re taking a leaf out of Otis Redding’s book and trying a little tenderness. Come along for a night that examines, champions and interrogates the power and politics of vulnerability. To open the evening, Andy Jackson will read from his VPLA-shortlisted book of poetry, Human Looking, a ground-breaking and compassionate collection which gives voice to those with othered experiences of the body. 

Then, writers Sarah Krasnostein and Rick Morton will discuss structures of care and the fabric of our society. In her March Quarterly Essay, Not Waving, Drowning: Mental Illness and Vulnerability in Australia, Krasnostein examines a society that often punishes vulnerability, but that does have the resources to mend this broken system. Morton’s memoir My Year of Living Vulnerably charts his journey towards embracing the healing and transformative power of love, and his award-winning journalism explores how class, geography, disability and employment impact Australians’ experiences of social inclusion. Together, these remarkable writers will discuss the push and pull that take place across the broad spectrum of social policy, care and human vulnerability.

The evening will close with a powerful performance from Yorta Yorta storyteller, composer and musician Allara, whose work weaves textures of Country and music into healing soundscapes.

You can also enjoy a drink from our bar, which will be open before, during and after the event.

Facial recognition technology, artificial intelligence, use of drones and QR codes… They are all an accepted part of life, but are we aware of the unseen forces shaping society?

Join leadings experts as they examine the ethical issues we face in a future dominated by artificial intelligence (AI). If we want the future of AI to be a force for good, it’s time to ask questions such as: can robots have rights; what if a self-driving car kills someone; and, is Australia at risk of becoming a surveillance state?

Join us to hear Scott McCulloch in conversation with Justin Clemens.

McCulloch’s debut novel, Basin, explores the axis of landscape and consciousness. Echoing the modernist tradition, and written in an incendiary yet elliptical prose style, Basin maps the phenomenon of a civilisation being reborn – a hallucinatory elegy to the inter-zones of self and place.

AI expert Toby Walsh explores the ethical issues humanity faces with the growing prominence of Artificial Intelligence in our daily lives. With the publication of his book Machines Behaving Badly. Joining him is journalist and editor Wilson da Silva.

Toby Walsh is one of the world’s leading researchers in artificial intelligence. He is Scientia Professor of Artificial Intelligence at the University of New South Wales in Sydney and was named on the international ‘Who’s Who in AI’ list of influencers. He has authored three books on AI for a general audience.

Wilson da Silva is a feature writer, science journalist, editor and film maker. Long- time editor of Cosmos, the science magazine he has co-founded. He has worked as a journalist for the Age and the Sydney Morning Herald.

Climate change is a planetary emergency. We have to do something now – but what?

Australian visionary Saul Griffith has a plan. In The Big Switch, Griffith lays out a detailed blueprint – optimistic but feasible – for fighting climate change while creating millions of new jobs and a healthier environment.

Griffith explains exactly what it would take to transform our infrastructure, update our grid and adapt our households. The same natural advantages – incredible resources on an enormous continent – that helped Australia prosper in the 20th century are the ingredients for becoming the most prosperous, entirely renewable, economy in the world.

Dr Saul Griffith has founded and co-founded numerous technology companies including one acquired by Google and another acquired by Autodesk. He’s been a project lead on federally-funded research projects for agencies including NASA, DARPA, ARPA-e, National Science Foundation and United States Special Operations Command (SOCOM).

This event is part of the 2022 Critical Thinking and Ethics program at Newington College.