Join us for Live & Local 2026, streamed live by Sydney Writers’ Festival, a celebration of books, writing and ideas streamed straight from the Sydney Writer’s Festival to us at the Coventry Library, Stirling! Explore fantastical places, unpack politics and hear a world of stories, real and imagined.
One of Australia’s most loved forums for literature, ideas and storytelling, Sydney Writers’ Festival will livestream its headline events from Sydney to Stirling Library on Thursday 21- Sunday 24 May. Prepare to be invigorated and engaged by conversations, debates and discussions featuring some of the world’s finest writers and thinkers. Audiences can also participate in live Q&A sessions at each event, sending questions straight to the Sydney stage.
Please note there is no need to book - all streaming sessions are drop-in sessions so come early for the best seats!
See details of the streamed sessions below:
Thursday 21 May
Time | Session | Details |
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11:30am - 12:25pm | Yann Martel: Son of Nobody | The story of the Trojan War, like so many wars real and imagined, is a story most often told by the victors, the princes and the powerful.
In this new imagining of the ancient legend, Son of Nobody, Yann Martel tells the familiar tale from an unheard perspective: that of a commoner and goatherd who becomes a soldier, Psoas, the son of nobody. Acclaimed for his Booker Prize–winning Life of Pi, adapted into an Oscar-winning film, Yann’s first novel in a decade sings a universal song about the power of story.
Unravel ancient traditions with Yann, in conversation with ABC Radio National’s Claire Nichols (The Book Show). |
1:30pm - 2:25pm | Stephanie Alexander: The Cook’s Companion 30th Anniversary | On a mission to spread the joy of good food, Australia’s beloved chef Stephanie Alexander released The Cook’s Companion in 1996.
Now, 30 years and half a million copies later, the book on everybody’s kitchen shelf is back in a fully updated edition with new recipes and expanded information. Offering invaluable insights, tips and tricks from an Australian food icon, The Cook’s Companion 30th Anniversary Edition is ready to inspire a new generation of cooks.
Hear from Stephanie – the creative and authoritative food thinker behind the essential resource – in conversation with fellow chef Adam Liaw in this special event. |
3:30pm - 4:25pm | Bringing the Past to Life with Robbie Arnott, Yann Martel & Tasma Walton in conversation with ABC Radio National’s Kate Evans | A favourite Festival event for historical fiction buffs returns with stories from near and far.
Robbie Arnott’s Dusk, set in the mountains of Tasmania, and Tasma Walton’s I Am Nannertgarrook, based on a true story from Tasma’s family, were both awarded the ARA Historical Novel Prize for their brilliant stories from Australian history. While Booker Prize–winning writer Yann Martel’s first book in a decade, Son of Nobody, features the discovery of a new perspective from the Trojan War.
Sink into these stories of the past with Robbie, Tasma and Yann, in conversation with ABC Radio National’s Kate Evans. |
5:30pm - 6:25pm | David Szalay: Flesh | In a novel, the words on the page are our entrance into another’s mind. But sometimes it’s the space between the lines that define a character.
In David Szalay’s 2025 Booker Prize–winning Flesh, István is caught between the boundaries of Hungary and England, his teenage years and adulthood, his body and sense of self and desire and indifference. With spare, propulsive prose, David paints an intimate portrait of a man slowly unravelling as he asks profound questions about the strangeness of being.
Hear David trace the evolution of his singular novel and its protagonist, in conversation with Michelle de Kretser. |
Friday 22 May
Time | Session | Details |
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11:30pm - 12:25pm | Susan Choi: Flashlight | Louisa goes for a walk along the beach with her father, but only she returns.
The new novel from Susan Choi, multi-award-winning writer including the National Book Award and a Lambda Literary Award, is a sweeping, international family drama that was shortlisted for the 2025 Booker Prize. Flashlight, described by The Guardian as a return to the great American novel of the 20th century, beguiled readers for its examination of absence and silence in a small family rocked by the assumed death of Louisa’s father.
Join Susan as she discusses relationships and alienation in her new novel, in conversation with Beejay Silcox. |
1:30pm - 2:25pm | Trent Dalton: Gravity Let Me Go | After being crowned the number one book of the 21st century by ABC Radio National, Australian literary sensation Trent Dalton’s newest book mixes gruesome true crime with a personal exploration of love and marriage.
Noah Cork had the scoop of his journalistic career hand-delivered to his mailbox. But his decision to pursue the lead of a cold-blooded killer while the case is still under investigation invites more chaos and destruction into his life than he anticipated. In Gravity Let Me Go, Trent returns to age-old themes of love and family in this story of ambition, truth and deception.
Join Trent for a discussion of his latest hit novel, in conversation with Cassie McCullagh. |
3:30pm - 4:25pm | Great Adaptations with Mick Herron & Suzie Miller in conversation with Benjamin Law | Screen adaptations breathe new life into books, expanding their audiences and reimagining their worlds.
Crime writer Mick Herron’s Slough House thriller series was adapted into the award-winning Apple TV series Slow Horses, starring Gary Oldman, and playwright Suzie Miller’s Prima Facie received international acclaim, including a Laurence Olivier Award, before it was adapted into both a novel and a film.
Get behind-the-scenes insight into the adaptation process and how reimagining their stories has influenced their careers, with Mick and Suzie in conversation with host Benjamin Law. |
Saturday 23 May
Time | Session | Details |
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11:30am - 12:25pm | The Future of Democracy: Trump’s America with Jon Sopel | The Future of Democracy series, hosted by Nick Bryant and Rosalind Dixon, is a collaboration between Sydney Writers’ Festival and the Resilient Democracy Lab at UNSW Sydney.
We used to take honourable institutions, humans rights protections and freedom of speech for granted. With autocratic regimes on the rise around the world, these things are no longer guaranteed, even as the the value and importance of democracy becomes stark.
In this discussion, journalist and writer Jon Sopel (UnPresidented: Politics, Pandemics and the Race that Trumped All Others) joins co-hosts Nick Bryant (The Forever War) and Rosalind Dixon (The People's Guide to the Australian Constitution) to consider the impact of President Donald Trump on democracy and how to withstand the forces eroding democracies worldwide, from the rule of tech broligarchs to the autocratic superpowers.
Join Jon in conversation with Nick and Rosalind. |
Sunday 24 May
Time | Session | Details |
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1:30pm - 2:25pm | Antoinette Lattouf: Women Who Win | Award-winning journalist, presenter and author Antoinette Lattouf hit global headlines and set legal precedent in 2025 when her case with the ABC cracked open urgent questions about free speech, employment rights and who really pays the price when media power goes unchecked.
In her new book Women Who Win: Celebrating Courage, Conviction and Change, Antoinette writes from the eye of the storm. One woman. One contract. One refusal to step aside. From there, she widens the frame, tracing the lives of other Australian women across history who challenged authority, advocating for themselves and others.
Join Antoinette in conversation with Jo Dyer for an evening of sharp insight, hard-earned truth and feminist wins that we were meant to forget. |
