Upcoming events
Bombard the Headquarters!: Linda Jaivin in conversation with Echo Hui
Linda Jaivin is joined by Echo Hui to discuss her new book Bombard the Headquarters!: The cultural revolution in China, a riveting account of a extraordinary and turbulent period in recent Chinese history.
In 1966, with the words ‘Bombard the Headquarters!’ Mao Zedong unleashed the full, violent force of a movement that he called the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution.
Bombard the Headquarters! is not just Mao’s story. It’s the unforgettable stories of countless individuals, mass manias, sacred mangos and spectacular falls from grace.
Date: Tuesday 1 July
Time: 6:30pm
Venue: Ashfield Library, 260 Liverpool Road, Ashfield NSW
Price: This is a free event.
The Immigrants: Book Launch
Black Inc. and CO.AS.IT. warmly invite you to celebrate the launch of The Immigrants: Fabula Mirabilis, or A Wonderful Story by Moreno Giovannoni.
Join us to hear Moreno Giovannoni in conversation with Antoni Jach.
Opening remarks by Chris Feik, Black Inc.
Date: Tuesday 1 July
Time: 6:30pm
Venue: 189-199 Faraday Street, Carlton, VIC
Price: This is a free event.
Bina: Author Talk
Hear the incredible story of the resilience and recovery of Australia's First Nations languages.
Australia's language diversity is truly breathtaking. Our continent lays claim to the world's longest continuous collection of cultures, including over 440 unique languages and many more dialects.
This online presentation tells the story of the earliest exchange of words between colonists and First Nations people to today's reclamations.
It is a creative and exciting introduction to a vital and dynamic world of language.
Date: Thursday 10 July
Time: 6:30pm
Venue: Online
Price: This is a free event.
Bombard the Headquarters! Linda Jaivin in conversation
ABOUT THE BOOK
A riveting account of a turbulent period in Chinese history.
In 1966, with the words 'Bombard the Headquarters!' Mao Zedong unleashed the full, violent force of a movement that he called the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution. By the time he died ten years later, millions had perished, China's cultural heritage was in ruins, its economic state was perilous, its institutions of government were damaged and its society was bitterly divided.
In this fascinating account, Linda Jaivin focuses on the eventful start of the Cultural Revolution. She sheds light on the ideological quarrels that underpinned it and profiles the personalities involved.
Discussion of the Cultural Revolution is heavily censored in the People's Republic, and many young Chinese people know almost nothing about it. Even so, it continues to cast a shadow over life in China. Current president Xi Jinping's assumption of a third term in 2022, his elimination of rival factions from the leadership and attempts to build a personality cult around himself discomfit many within and outside of the Chinese Communist Party. Bombard the Headquarters! helps us to understand why.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Linda Jaivin has been studying Chinese politics, language and culture for more than forty years. She has been a foreign correspondent in China, and is co-editor of the China Story Yearbook, an associate of the Australian Centre on China in the World at the Australian National University and the author of twelve books.
Date: Thursday 17 July
Time: 6:30pm
Venue: 193 Boundary Street, West End QLD
Price: $15.00
Festival Appearance: Toby Walsh on The Shortest History of AI
Join leading AI expert Toby Walsh as he unpacks The Shortest History of AI.
Since Alan Turing first posed the question, ‘Can machines think?’, artificial intelligence has evolved from a speculative idea to a transformative force. The Shortest History of AI traces this evolution, from Ada Lovelace’s visionary work to IBM’s groundbreaking defeat of the chess world champion and the revolutionary emergence of ChatGPT. It also explores AI’s cultural journey, touching on classics such as Frankenstein, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy and 2001: A Space Odyssey.
Revealing how many ‘overnight’ successes were decades in the making, this accessible and illuminating book simplifies AI into six key ideas, equipping readers to understand where we’ve been – and where we’re headed.
Date: Friday 18 July
Time: 10:30am
Venue: Willoughby Literary Festival
Price: This is a free event.
Festival Appearance: Helen Trinca in conversation with David Meagher
Helen Trinca and David Meagher delve into Looking for Elizabeth, the first full biography of acclaimed author Elizabeth Harrower.
The full story of an Australian literary enigma.
Why did Elizabeth Harrower – one of Australia's most important postwar authors – stop writing at the height of her powers?
After publishing four books that earned the admiration of Patrick White, Shirley Hazzard and Christina Stead, Harrower published no more novels. She faded from the literary landscape, until being rediscovered decades later to international acclaim.
In Looking for Elizabeth, Helen Trinca unravels this mystery. Exploring the personal and artistic forces that shaped Harrower’s writing, she draws a sensitive portrait of a wounded ‘divorced child’ and the legacy of abandonment she carried throughout her life. She probes the contradictions of a woman who wielded extraordinary insight into others’ lives but guarded her own fiercely. And she vividly brings to life the literary circles of this fascinating era in Australian culture.
Based on interviews with Harrower and full access to her archive, Looking for Elizabeth is the first full biography of this significant figure in Australian letters.
Date: Friday 18 July
Time: 12:00pm
Venue: Willoughby Literary Festival
Price: This is a free event.
Festival Panel: Growing Up Indian in Australia Contributors
Mia Pandey Gordon, Kavita Ivy Nandan, Tejas Bhat in conversation with Natasha Rai, reflect on how their heritage shapes their storytelling.
Through literature and film, Mia Pandey Gordon, Kavita Ivy Nandan, Tejas Bhat and Natasha Rai explore identity, belonging and the power of creative expression.
Date: Saturday 19 July
Time: 3:00pm
Venue: Willoughby Literary Festival
Price: This is a free event.
Festival Appearance: Linda Jaivin on Bombard the Headquarters!
China expert Linda Jaivin presents Bombard the Headquarters!, a gripping account of the Cultural Revolution and its lasting impact.
A riveting account of a turbulent period in Chinese history.
Date: Sunday 20 July
Time: 2:00pm
Venue: Willoughby Literary Festival
Price: This is a free event.
Festival Appearance: Linda Jaivin in conversation with Michael Pembroke
Linda Jaivin and Michael Pembroke discuss how relations with the outside world have changed China, from ancient to modern times.
China, open and shut - from imperial times to the Cultural Revolution - Michael Pembroke and Linda Jaivin discuss how relations with the outside world have changed China, from ancient to modern times. They will show how the writing of history can help make sense of complex events in the past and offer insights into the present day.
Date: Sunday 20 July
Time: 3:30pm
Venue: Willoughby Literary Festival
Price: This is a free event.
Looking For Elizabeth: Helen Trinca on Remembering Elizabeth Harrower
Remembering Elizabeth Harrower
Speakers: Helen Trinca – Editor of The Deal & author of Looking for Elizabeth: The Life of Elizabeth Harrower, Geoffrey Lehmann – Australian poet, writer and tax lawyer
Date: Monday 21 July
Time: 5:30pm
Venue: The Sydney Institute 47 Phillip St, Sydney
Price: This is a free event.
Festival Panel Appearance: Erik Jensen
Mungo Panel: Press Freedom
Join award-winning foreign correspondent and Executive Director of Alliance for Journalists’ Freedom, Peter Greste (The Correspondent), and Pulitzer Prize finalist John Vaillant (Fire Weather) for an urgent discussion on the state of play for press freedom and the most pressing media issues today. With Erik Jensen.
Supported by The Byron Shire Echo
Date: Friday 8 August
Time: 10:15am
Venue: Byron Writers Festival
Price: Included in festival passes.
Festival Appearance: Joelle Gergis
Water: Our Life
From oceans to rivers, in flood and drought, for drinking, agriculture and industry, water is essential to life. Join Debra Dank (Terraglossia), Joëlle Gergis (Highway to Hell), Chris Hammer (The River) and James Sippo for an essential discussion on water and climate. With Erik Jensen.
Supported by Southern Cross University
Date: Friday 8 August
Time: 2:15pm
Venue: Byron Writers Festival
Price: Included in festival passes.
Festival Appearance: Don Watson in conversation with Michelle de Kretser
On Reading and Writing
Join celebrated Australian writers Michelle de Kretser (Theory & Practice), Gail Jones (The Name of the Sister) and Don Watson (High Noon) in discussion about their literary craft, process, and influences, and the transformative power of reading. With Chris Hanley.
Supported by Southern Cross University
Date: Friday 8 August
Time: 3:30pm
Venue: Byron Writers Festival
Price: Included in festival passes.
Festival Appearance: Joelle Gergis
Celebrating Science
Mark National Science Week with a joyous celebration of science and maths, culture, and the natural world, with JM Field (The Eagle and the Crow), Joëlle Gergis (Highway to Hell) and Corey Tutt (Deadly Reptiles). With Mel Bampton.
Supported by The Holman Family
Date: Friday 8 August
Time: 4:45pm
Venue: Byron Writers Festival
Price: Included in festival passes.
Festival Appearance: Joelle Gergis
Women and girls are disproportionately impacted by climate disasters and women leaders are driving change. Join Australia's most respected climate scientist Joëlle Gergis (Highway to Hell) and activist and Greens candidate Mandy Nolan for a rigorous discussion about the most urgent issue of our time and the experience of women in the field. With Mel Bampton.
Date: Saturday 9 August
Time: 9:15am
Venue: Byron Writers Festival
Price: Included in festival passes.
Festival Panel Appearance: Don Watson
Fragile Democracy
Political upheaval around the world has laid bare the fragility of democratic institutions and the rule of law. Join an esteemed panel featuring Judith Brett (Fearless Beatrice Faust), Julianne Schultz (The Idea of Australia) and Don Watson (High Noon) to diagnose the health of democracy. With Emma Shortis.
Date: Saturday 9 August
Time: 10:15am
Venue: Byron Writers Festival
Price: Included in festival passes.
Festival Appearance: Saul Griffith on Plug In!
AI at Work
From the theft of artist labour and intellectual property, 'slop' content, errors and hallucinations, is the AI bubble about to burst? Join Josh Bornstein (Working for the Brand), Saul Griffith (Plug In!) and Jennifer Mills (Salvage) to discuss the role of AI at, and in, work. With Alice Grundy.
Date: Saturday 9 August
Time: 2:15pm
Venue: Byron Writers Festival
Price: Included in festival pass.
Festival Appearance: Don Watson
Trump'd
Get the analysis on Donald Trump's second presidency with an all-star lineup of political commentators Nick Bryant, Barry Jones, Emma Shortis and Don Watson. Is Australia's relationship with the USA intact, and what can be done in the face of authoritarianism? With Julianne Schultz.
Supported by The Australia Institute
Date: Saturday 9 August
Time: 3:15pm
Venue: https://www.byronwritersfestival.com/festival/program?session=trumpd
Price: Included in festival passes.
Festival Appearance: Jess Hill and George Megalogenis in conversation with Thomas Mayo
Radicalised: Extreme Boys
From misogynistic 'manosphere' influencers like Andrew Tate to viral TV series Adolescence, the radicalisation of boys is a worldwide concern. Join Jess Hill, Thomas Mayo and George Megalogenis for a discussion on how to empower and protect young people. With ABC Radio National Big Ideas host Natasha Mitchell.
Supported by Quarterly Essay
Date: Saturday 9 August
Time: 3:30pm
Venue: Byron Writers Festival
Price: Included in festival passes.
Festival Appearance: George Megalogenis in conversation
Australian Election Analysis
Now that the dust has settled on the 2025 federal election, get the political analysis with an independent twist from commentator and past candidate Jane Caro, Climate 200's Simon Holmes à Court and Quarterly Essayist George Megalogenis (Minority Report). With Misha Ketchell.
Supported by The Conversation
Date: Sunday 10 August
Time: 9:00am
Venue: Byron Writers Festival
Price: Included in festival passes.
Festival Appearance: Jess Hill on Losing It
Stopping Family Violence
What will it take to stop gendered violence? Australian governments promised to end violence against women and children in a single generation. Instead, it is escalating. What went wrong? And what can we all do to turn it around? Jess Hill (Losing It: Quarterly Essay, See What You Made Me Do) is one of Australia’s most respected thinkers on gendered violence. Hear her in discussion with The Guardian’s Lucy Clark.
Date: Sunday 10 August
Time: 12:45pm
Venue: Byron Writers Festival
Price: Included in festival passes.
Festival Panel Appearance: Plug In!'s Saul Griffith
Green Solutions
What will it take to heal our planet – and how can each of us play a meaningful role? This inspiring panel explores the intersection of education, philanthropy, and community action in the fight against climate change and the practical things you can do to decarbonise, boost biodiversity, and green our world. Featuring Amy Cutter-Mackenzie-Knowles, Judy Friedlander, Saul Griffith and Kate Saunders. With Courtney Miller.
Supported by Australian Ethical
Date: Sunday 10 August
Time: 1:00pm
Venue: Byron Writers Festival
Price: Included in festival passes.
Festival Appearance: Lucy Sussex on Outrageous Fortunes
Join Lucy Sussex co-author of Outrageous Fortunes: The Adventures of Mary Fortune, Crime Writer, and Her Criminal Son as she explains the research and fascinating history behind the woman who was writing crime while her son was committing it. Crime fiction meets true crime in this non-fiction book, when Melbourne's literary bohemia consort with the criminal underworld.
Date: Thursday 14 August
Time: 12:00pm
Venue: Heathcote Library, 125 High Street, Heathcote, VIC, 3523
Festival Appearance: Lucy Sussex on Outrageous Fortunes
Join Lucy Sussex co-author of Outrageous Fortunes:The Adventures of Mary Fortune, Crime Writer, and Her Criminal Son as she explains the research and fascinating history behind the woman who was writing crime while her son was committing it. Crime fiction meets true crime in this non-fiction book, when Melbourne's literary bohemia consort with the criminal underworld.
Date: Thursday 14 August
Time: 4:00pm
Venue: Kangaroo Flat Library, 23 Lockwood Road, Kangaroo Flat
Festival Panel Appearance: Lucy Sussex in conversation
Disappearances. Secrets. Escapes. Flights of fancy. Hidden histories and historical mysteries.
Through fact and fiction, three authors bring us a spectacular cast of spirited women. In Miss Caroline Bingley, Private Detective, Kelly Gardiner (with co-author Sharmini Kumar) re-imagines Jane Austen’s heroine as a sharp-minded sleuth seeking out a missing maid. Lucy Sussex (with co-author Megan Brown) gives us the hitherto little-known story of Australia’s first female crime writer, Mary Fortune, and her career-criminal son in Outrageous Fortunes. Novelist Tara Calaby weaves a speculative romance amid the concealed cabinets and slippery sceances in 19th century Melbourne in The Spirit Circle. With host, La Trobe University’s, Stephanie Downes.
Date: Saturday 16 August
Time: 10:15am
Venue: La Trobe Art Institute, 121 View Street, Bendigo, VIC, 3550
Festival Appearance: Jess Hill in conversation with Sonia Orchard
Stella Award-winning journalist Jess Hill has exposed the devastating impact of domestic abuse through her books, television programs and podcasts. Her latest Quarterly Essay, Losing it, investigates why violence against women is escalating. In her chilling memoir, Groomed, novelist Sonia Orchard confronts the personal, cultural and legal consequences of child sexual assault.
These extraordinary writers and thinkers ask the questions: how have we allowed this crisis to happen? And what will it take to fix it? With host, La Trobe criminologist, Kirsty Duncanson.
Date: Sunday 17 August
Time: 12:00pm
Venue: Bendigo Writers Festival
Festival Appearance: Toby Walsh in conversation with Elizabeth Finkel
In a seemingly fact-free world, what is the value of evidence? Is there advantage in uncertainty? How to weigh up the argument: on data or opinion? Intellect or intuition? And by what authority is vested the algorithm?
In Prove It, biochemist Elizabeth Finkel describes how the time-tested scientific method plays out in contemporary controversies where politics and prejudice lead debate. In Blindspotting, leadership expert Kirstin Ferguson asks the question: what if the biggest obstacle to your success is something you can’t even see? And Artificial Intelligence researcher Toby Walsh, in his latest book The Shortest History of AI, traces the evolution of AI from “a speculative idea to a transformative force”. With host, La Trobe University’s Andrea Carson.
Date: Sunday 17 August
Time: 1:00pm
Venue: Trades Hall, 36-40 View Street, Bendigo, VIC, 3550