The 2026 Festival Program
Explore the full 2026 Berry Writers’ Festival program below, with sessions listed by day, time and venue. If you’d prefer to search by author, location or free event, use the Plan Your Festival view.
Read Tori Haschka’s Artistic Director’s Statement about how the recurrent theme; Because Words Matter, has shaped the choices we made bringing this year’s Berry Writers’ Festival to life.
Friday, 6 November
FRI 6 NOV
10am-12:30pm
FRI 6 NOV
1:30pm-4pm
WORKSHOP
Memoir & Creative Non-Fiction Workshop With Natasha Sholl
Featuring: Natasha Sholl
Info / Tickets
FRI 6 NOV
2pm-3pm
SPECIAL EVENT
Inga Simpson – A Tree Lover’s Guide to Australia
Featuring: Inga Simpson, Kate Mildenhall
Info / Tickets
FRI 6 NOV
6pm-9pm
SPECIAL EVENT
Opening Night
Why Words Matter
Featuring: Tori Haschka, Jennifer Robinson
Info / Tickets Saturday, 7 November
SAT 7 NOV
9am-10am
Advance Australia Where
Exceptionalism, Collectivism & a Looming Lurch to the Right
Featuring: Amanda Tattersall, Paul Kelly
Moderated by: Kate Dezarnaulds
Info / Tickets FREE EVENT
The Joy of Reading
& Why Children Deserve It
Sally Rippin In Conversation With Nathan Luff
Info / Tickets
SAT 7 NOV
10am-11am
SPECIAL EVENT
Midlife, Money (& Muffins)
Featuring: Melissa Browne, Sally Hepworth
Moderated by: Jessy Wu
Info / Tickets
SAT 7 NOV
10:30am-11:30am
Miles High / People, Place & Perspective
Two Authors at the Peak of Their Craft
Featuring: Siang Lu, Toni Jordan
Moderated by: Kate Mildenhall
Info / Tickets FREE EVENT
The Art of Suspense
A Special Session for our Younger Readers and Their Families
Featuring: A.L TAIT, Nathan Luff
Info / Tickets
SAT 7 NOV
12pm-1pm
Leading From the Dreaming
Featuring: Paul Callaghan, Evelyn Araluen
Moderated by: Amy Thunig-McGregor
Info / Tickets FREE EVENT
Voices of the South Coast
Featuring: Helena Fox, Lauren Keegan
Moderated by: Meredith Jaffe
Info / Tickets
SAT 7 NOV
2pm-3pm
Conversations that Count
Stuff the British Stole, Blackbirding & the Things We Don't Talk About
Featuring: Marc Fennell, Ryan Butta
Info / Tickets FREE EVENT
Voices of the South Coast
Paths to Publications
Moderated by: Allison Tait
Info / Tickets
SAT 7 NOV
3pm-4:30pm
SPECIAL EVENT
Sparkling Crime
Featuring: Sally Hepworth, Kirsty Manning
Moderated by: Dervla McTiernan
Info / Tickets
SAT 7 NOV
3:30pm-4:30pm
Conscious Angertainment
The Algorithm, the Ugliness & the Antidote
Featuring: Amanda Tattersall, Ed Coper
Moderated by: Matt Jones
Info / Tickets
The Burning Blue
Stories from the Australian Navy's Warriors in the Skies
Featuring: Mike Carlton
Moderated by: Richard Glover
Info / Tickets
SAT 7 NOV
5pm-6pm
Women Who Win
Featuring: Antoinette Lattouf, Jennifer Robinson
Moderated by: Nicole Abadee
Info / Tickets FREE EVENT
Truth Telling
Excavating the Past to Find a Path Forward
Moderated by: Jackie Bailey
Info / Tickets
SAT 7 NOV
6:30pm-9:30pm
SPECIAL EVENT
Story Club
The Legendary Comedy Storytelling Show
Featuring: Amy Thunig-McGregor, Osher Günsberg, Marc Fennell, Madeleine Gray, Toby Schmitz, Jessica Dettmann, Ed Coper, Kathryn Heyman
Info / Tickets Sunday, 8 November
SUN 8 NOV
9am-10am
Living Out Loud
Visibility, Wonder & the Art of Being Seen
Moderated by: Louise Walsh
Info / Tickets
SUN 8 NOV
10am-11:30am
SUN 8 NOV
10:30am-11:30am
SUN 8 NOV
12pm-1pm
Old Truths, New Worlds
Political Ideas for an Uncertain Time
Moderated by: Ryan Butta
Info / Tickets
SUN 8 NOV
2pm-3pm
SUN 8 NOV
2pm-3pm
SPECIAL EVENT
Why We Garden Afternoon Spritz
For the Love of Gardening - & Other Things That are Good for Morale
Featuring: Hannah Moloney, Holly Wainwright
Info / Tickets
SUN 8 NOV
3:30pm-4:30pm
The Race to the Top of the World
Featuring: Peter FitzSimons
Moderated by: Richard Glover
Info / Tickets