True Story Festival 2025

Welcome to True Story Festival, a showcase of some of the best creative non-fiction writing in Australia today.

This year’s festival navigates a world in the middle of a series of convulsions and changes that are disruptive, uncomfortable, and often divisive. In response, Festival Directors Caroline Baum and Sarah Nicholson have curated informed and considered conversations, as well as some that provide a respite from conflict.

Stella Prize-winning historian Clare Wright delivers the keynote address, sharing what it took to achieve an unlikely democratic landmark through a series of bark paintings, inviting us to imagine what else might be possible.

Anthony Sharwood revisits the heroism of Polish freedom fighter Tadeusz Kosciuszko to find out why his name is on our tallest peak; fishing enthusiast Vicki Hastrich tells the forgotten story of how the world’s richest author, American Zane Grey, came to Bermagui in pursuit of deep-sea glory.

Historian Sita Sargeant, founder of She Shapes History, guides a tour through Wollongong to celebrate the lives of women whose names we should know; and, for a darker perspective on the city, Erik Eklund examines the very shadowy life of our most controversial former Wollongong mayor Frank Arkell.

And that’s just for starters…

There’s so much more for you to discover, over two days of the best non-fiction from around Australia!

FULL PROGRAM RELEASED ON 23 SEPTEMBER.

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Festival Schedule

Friday 14 November: Workshop* (Coledale)

Saturday 15 November: Workshop* (Coledale), Walking Tour* (Wollongong), Festival 1pm – 6:30pm

Sunday 16 November: Festival 10am – 4pm

*Workshop and walking tour tickets will be released on 23 September.

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SUPER EARLY BIRD TICKETS ON SALE NOW
EARLY BIRD TICKETS ON SALE FROM 23 SEPTEMBER
GENERAL ADMISSION TICKETS ON SALE FROM 21 OCTOBER

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Professor Clare Wright OAM is an award-winning historian, author, broadcaster, podcaster and public commentator who has worked in politics, academia and the media. She is the author of five works of history, including the best-selling The Forgotten Rebels of Eureka (winner of the 2014 Stella Prize). Her latest book, and the final instalment in her Democracy Trilogy, is the highly acclaimed Ṉäku Dhäruk The Bark Petitions.

Anthony Sharwood is a Walkley Award-winning journalist and the author of five books, including the acclaimed From Snow to Ash, a love letter to the Australian High Country, and The Brumby Wars, exploring the passionate environmental and cultural battle over Australia’s wild horses. In 2024 he released Kosciuszko, a unique blend of travel writing and biography which is the first Australian book on the man whose name sits on our highest peak.

Vicki Hastrich’s biography The Last Days of Zane Grey vividly examines the life of the American western writer, celebrity and big game-fisherman Zane Grey via the untold story of Grey's two trips to Australia in the 1930s. Known for her keen eye and deep understanding of storytelling and history, Vicki is the author of two novels, Swimming with the Jellyfish and The Great Arch, and the memoir Night Fishing.

Sita Sargeant is a passionate storyteller and activist who promotes gender equality through tourism. She’s the founder of She Shapes History, a social enterprise that builds respect and recognition for women’s contributions, both past and present, by making women’s history easier to engage with, remember, and share. Through walking tours, digital content, events, and now her book, She Shapes History offers a gateway into a richer, more inclusive understanding of Australia’s past.

Erik Eklund is an Adjunct Professor of History at ANU. Erik grew up in Wollongong and completed his PhD on the history of Port Kembla. His latest book, Politics, Pride and Perversion: The Rise and Fall of Frank Arkell, has been shortlisted for the 2025 NSW Community and Regional History Prize and longlisted for Australian Political Book of the Year. He has written extensively on regional Australia in fields including labour history, heritage studies, social history, and social policy.