2020 Adelaide Writers' Week Announces First Round Of Authors And Programs

In 2020, Adelaide Writers' Week the second from Director Jo Dyer, contemplates one of the few things that incontrovertibly unites us all: Being Human. Running from Saturday 29 February to Thursday 5 March as part of the 60th anniversary Adelaide Festival, Adelaide Writers' Week will explore how humans engage with each other, with technology, and with the natural world.

62 local and international authors have confirmed for the program to date, including:

Jokha Alharthi (OMN)
Beating out more storied opposition, Jokha Alharthi's
Celestial Bodies won the 2019 Man Booker International Prize.

Ma Jian (CHN/UK)
Banned in his homeland and currently in exile in London,
Ma Jian is one of China's most potent critics and greatest
living novelists.

Yanis Varoufakis (GRC)
The world's favourite rockstar economist reflects on
Europe, democracy and his return to the Greek parliament
four years after his break from Syriza.

Joy Harjo (USA)
A member of the Myskoke Nation, Joy Harjo is a
poet, musician, author and the current US Poet Laureate.

Tommy Orange (USA)
The New York Times compared Tommy's debut novel,
There There, to Chaucer and Faulkner and named it one of
the Best Books of 2018. Tommy Orange is an enrolled
member of the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes of Oklahoma.

Hannah Critchlow (UK)
Is our future hardwired in our brain? Cambridge
neuroscientist Hannah Critchlow suggests we have much less
control over our lives than we think.

Director of Adelaide Writers' Week Jo Dyer said, "I'm excited to announce the first round of authors, writers and thinkers to stimulate, enthral and inspire our audiences next March. The diverse perspectives, deep thinking and amazing writing they offer are thrilling."

Six days of free open air readings, panel sessions and literary conversations will be presented in the Pioneer Women's Memorial Garden where authors will address issues on the theme of Being Human - what does it mean to be human in this age of vulnerability?

The Opening Event, The Only Constant, will be held in new Festival venue The Workshop (below the Festival Centre) on Thursday February 27. It will feature Nigerian writer Chigozie Obioma whose most recent novel An Orchestra of Minorities, like his debut The Fishermen, was shortlisted for the Man Booker prize, together with Sanam Maher, a Karachi-based journalist who has covered stories on art, culture, business, politics, religious minorities and women, and whose book A Woman Like Her tells of the short life and violent death of Qandeel Baloch, known as Pakistan's Kim Kardashian. Also featured is Tyson Yunkaporta, academic, critic, researcher and raconteur from the Apalech Clan in Far North Queensland. Each author reflects on the relentless fluidity of our ever-changing times.

In 2020, Writers' Week expands its successful early evening program Twilight Talks to four nights, with a gala line-up of speakers addressing the Festival theme Being Human and their personal Rock Bottom on Monday March 2 and Wednesday March 4, and the premiere of AWW's live chat show Authorial Voice on Tuesday March 3 and Thursday March 5. Guests can relax with a glass of wine and music before hearing from a line-up of Writers' Week's most entertaining, provocative and personable authors.

Director Jo Dyer says: "After the enthusiastic reception of the launch of Twilight Talks last year, we are delighted to expand the series to ensure we can also be accessible to those working or studying during the day. We hope people will stop by the Garden on their way home from work, grab a drink and enjoy this Best of the Fest series as the sun sets, with a compelling line up of authors revealing another, more personal side of themselves."

A blockbuster program for children and young people takes place on the opening weekend. A magical day of stories with authors, actors and adventurers on Saturday 29 February will keep children entertained from 9.30am-3.30pm. On Sunday, writing in all its forms will be celebrated in a day for teens and tweens with events from Australia's best authors writing for young people and the return of the powerful spoken-word showcase, Hear Me Roar.

With the support of Office for Ageing Well and Seniors Card, Writers' Week will be livestreaming selected sessions (Monday March 2 to Thursday March 5 inclusive) to schools, libraries and retirement villages around South Australia to ensure as many members of the community have access to the event as possible. ABC891 with Sonya Feldhoff will continue the tradition of broadcasting live at Writers' Week, featuring exclusive interviews and talk-sessions.

The full program will be announced January 2020.

Adelaide Writers' Week has been made possible by the generous support of Channel 9 and Walford Anglican School for Girls.

ADELAIDE WRITERS' WEEK 2020
Pioneer Women's Memorial Garden, King William Road, Adelaide
Saturday 29 February - Thursday 5 March
FREE - no bookings required

For Younger Readers
Kids Day: Saturday 29 February, 9.30am - 3.30pm
A Day for Middle and YA Readers (Tweens and Teens): Sunday 1 March, 10am - 4.30pm
FREE - no bookings required

Twilight Talks
Pioneer Women's Memorial Garden, King William Road, Adelaide
Monday March 2, 7pm: Being Human
Wednesday March 4, 7pm: Rock Bottom
Tuesday March 3 and Thursday March 5, 7pm: Live chat show Authorial Voice
FREE - no bookings required

Opening Event - Chigozie Obioma, Sanam Maher, Tyson Yunkaporta: The Only Constant
The Workshop, Adelaide Festival Centre
Thursday 27 February, 6.15pm (1 hour)
Tickets $25, Friends $20, Conc $15
Transaction fees apply

Jokha Alharthi is the only Arabic author to win the International Booker Prize, awarded to her novel Celestial Bodies in 2019.

Arif Anwar was born in Bangladesh and is now based in Toronto. He has worked on issues of poverty alleviation for BRAC, and on public health for UNICEF Myanmar. The Storm is his first novel.

Tash Aw was born in Taipei, brought up in Malaysia and now lives in London. He is the award-winning author of The Harmony Silk Factory and Five Star Billionaire. His new novel is We, the Survivors.

Damian Barr is an award-winning writer and columnist. His first book, Maggie & Me, was an award-winning memoir about coming of age and coming out in Thatcher's Britain. You Will Be Safe Here is his debut novel.

Graeme Base is one of Australia's pre-eminent creators of imaginative works for children, his worldwide bestsellers Animalia, The Eleventh Hour and The Waterhole are known and loved by millions around the world.

Tony Birch is the author of Ghost River, which won the 2016 Victorian Premier's Literary Award for Indigenous Writing and Blood - shortlisted for the Miles Franklin Award. His new book is The White Girl.

John Birmingham's published works include the cult classic He Died With A Falafel In His Hand and the award-winning Leviathan: The Unauthorised Biography of Sydney. His essay On Father is a beautiful account of grief following the death of his father.

John Boyne is an Irish author of eleven novels for adults, five for younger readers and a collection of short stories. His 2006 novel The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas sold 9 million copies worldwide.

Jung Chang (a??ae??) is the author of the best-selling books including Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China, described by The Asian Wall Street Journal as the most read book about China. Jung is an Honorary Fellow of SOAS University of London.

Christopher Clark is the author of books including The Politics of Conversion, Kaiser Wilhelm II and Iron Kingdom, and his latest book The Sleepwalkers: How Europe Went to War in 1914 was named as one of The New York Times Book Review's 10 Best Books of the Year and won The Los Angeles Times Book Prize for History.

Maxine Beneba Clarke is a widely published, award-winning Australian writer of Afro-Caribbean descent. She won the Australian Book Industry Award (ABIA) for Literary Fiction and the Indie Book Award for Debut Fiction for Foreign Soil (2015) and the NSW Premier's Literary Multicultural Awards for her memoir, The Hate Race.

Tim Costello AO is one of Australia's most respected community leaders and a sought after voice on social justice issues, leadership and ethics. He was Chief Executive of World Vision Australia for thirteen years and continues to place the challenges of global poverty on the national agenda.

Hannah Critchlow has been named a Top 100 UK Scientist by the Science Council for her work in science communication and is listed as one of the University of Cambridge's 'inspirational and successful women in science'. The Science of Fate: Why Your Future is More Predictable Than You Think is her first book.

Sophie Cunningham is the author of five books, most recently City of Trees: Essays on Life, Death and the Need for a Forest. She is a former publisher and editor, was a co-founder of the Stella Prize and is now an Adjunct Professor at RMIT University's Non/fiction Lab.

Blanche D'Alpuget is an acclaimed novelist, biographer and essayist. She has won numerous literary awards, including the inaugural Australasian Prize for Commonwealth Literature.

Julia Donaldson has written some of the world's best-loved children's books, including The Gruffalo and The Gruffalo's Child, which together have sold over 17 million copies worldwide. She was the UK Children's Laureate 2011-13 and has been honoured with a CBE for Services to Literature.

Chicke Frankie Edozien learned to read from the newspapers his father brought home while growing up in Lagos, Nigeria. His memoir, Lives of Great Men, won the Lambda Literary 2018 Non- fiction Award for Best Gay Memoir/Biography.

Peter Goldsworthy divides his working time between medicine and writing. His writing has been shortlisted and won major literary awards across a range of genres: poetry, short story, novels, theatre and opera libretti. His most recent book is Minotaur.

Jane R Goodall has a diverse track record as a writer and commentator on the history and politics of cultural change and has published both fiction and non-fiction. Her new book is The Politics of the Common Good.

Erin Gough is a Sydney-based writer whose work has been published globally and won many awards, including the 2019 Ethel Turner Prize for Young People's Literature and the 2018 Readings Young Adult Book Prize for her second novel, Amelia Westlake.

Andy Griffiths is one of Australia's most popular children's authors. He and illustrator Terry Denton have collaborated on more than 30 bestselling books winning 80 children's choice awards and 10 ABIA's-including Book of the Year for The 91-Storey Treehouse in 2015.

Habiburahman, known as Habib, is a Rohingya. Born in 1979 in Burma (now Myanmar), he escaped torture, persecution and detention in his country. He came to Australia by boat and spent 32 months in detention centres before being released. He collaborated with Sophie Ansel to write his memoir, First, They Erased Our Name: Rohingya Speaks.

Ruby Hamad is a Lebanese-Syrian journalist and author raised and based in Sydney. Her article for The Guardian, 'How White Women use Strategic Tears to Silence Women of Colour' from May 2018 went viral and inspired the writing of her first book, White Tears/Brown Scars.

Zahra Hankir is a Lebanese-British journalist who writes about the intersection of politics, culture and society in the Middle East. She is the editor of Our Women on the Ground: Essays by Arab Women reporting on the Arab World.

Joy Harjo is the US Poet Laureate. Her seven books of poetry have garnered many awards including the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Native Writers Circle of the Americas and the William Carlos Williams Award from the Poetry Society of America. Her most recent publication is For a Girl Becoming.

Jess Hill was listed in Foreign Policy's top 100 women to follow on Twitter, her reporting on domestic violence has won two Walkley awards, an Amnesty International award and three Our Watch awards. See What You Made Me Do is her first book.

Ma Jian's first book, Stick Out Your Tongue (1987) was inspired by his travels to Tibet and led to the Chinese government banning his future work. He moved to Germany and now lives in London. His most recent book is the scathing satire China Dream.

Tony Jones is one of Australia's most renowned and recognisable journalists. He published his first novel the best-selling thriller The Twentieth Man in 2017. In Darkness Visible is his second novel.

Amy Kaufman is a New York Times and internationally bestselling author of science fiction and fantasy for young (and not so young) adults.

Vickie Laveau-Harvie was born in Canada, lived in France and is now based in Australia. Her memoir, The Erratics, is her first book and won the 2018 Finch Memoir Prize and the 2019 Stella Prize.

Andrea Lawlor's writing has appeared in numerous literary journals and their first novel, Paul Takes the Form of a Mortal Girl, was a 2018 finalist for the Lambda Literary and CLMP Firecracker Awards.

Long Litt Woon was born in Malaysia and is now an anthropologist and certified Mushroom Expert in Norway. The Way Through the Woods: On Mushrooms and Mourning is her first book.

Sanam Maher is a journalist based in Karachi, Pakistan. Her work has appeared in The New York Times, Al Jazeera, The Caravan, Roads and Kingdoms and Buzzfeed. A Woman Like Her: The Short Life of Qandeel Baloch is her first book.

John Marsden has won every major award in Australia for young people's fiction. John's passionate interest in education led him to start two successful schools and his latest book is The Art of Growing Up, a non-fiction work about education and parenting.

Thomas Mayor is a Torres Strait Islander man born on Larrakia country in Darwin. Thomas was elected from the Darwin Dialogue on Constitutional reform to participate in the Uluru Convention and became a signatory to the Uluru Statement from the Heart. His book is Finding the Heart of the Nation: The Journey of the Uluru Statement towards Voice, Treaty and Truth.

Felicity McLean is a writer and a journalist. The Van Apfel Girls are Gone is her first novel and has been published in Australia, NZ, USA, UK, France and Spain.

Louise Milligan is an award-winning investigative reporter for the ABC TV's Four Corners. Her award-winning stories for ABC's 7.30 on the abuse allegations against George Pell led to the book Cardinal: The Rise and Fall of Cardinal Pell.

Azadeh Moaveni is the author of Lipstick Jihad. She is also the co-author, along with Nobel Peace prize laureate Shirin Ebadi, of Iran Awakening and most recently Guest House for Young Widows: Women and ISIS.

Aileen Moreton-Robinson is a Geonpul woman from Quandamooka (Queensland). Her book, Talkin' Up to the White Woman (2000), was the first analysis of Australian feminism from an Indigenous perspective.

H. M. Naqvi is the acclaimed author of Home Boy, which won the inaugural DSC Prize for South Asian Literature. He is currently a Visiting Professor at the Lahore Institute of Management Sciences. The Selected Works of Abdullah the Cossack is his second book.

Chigozie Obiama was born in Nigeria and currently lives in the US. His debut novel, The Fishermen, was shortlisted for the Booker Prize. His most recent book, An Orchestra of Minorities has also been shortlisted for the Booker.

Tommy Orange is an enrolled member of the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes of Oklahoma. His first novel, There There, was shortlisted for the 2019 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and longlisted for the National Book Awards.

Bruce Pascoe is an award-winning writer and a Yuin, Bunurong and Tasmanian man. In 2018 he was named Dreamtime Person of the Year for his contribution to Indigenous culture. His most recent book is Dark Emu.

Elliot Perlman is the author of five books, including award-winning Three Dollars and the internationally acclaimed The Street Sweeper. Maybe The Horse Will Talk is his latest novel.

Julia Phillips's debut novel, Disappearing Earth, has been published in the US, UK, Germany, Italy, Poland, and China. She was nominated for the 2019 US Center for Fiction First Novel Prize. She spent a year as a Fulbright fellow in Russia's Kamchatka Peninsula, where Disappearing Earth is set.

Serhii Plokhy is the Mykhailo Hrushevsky Professor of Ukrainian History at Harvard University. His bestselling book Chernobyl: the History of a Tragedy won the Baillie Gifford Prize for Non-fiction 2018. His latest book, Forgotten Bastards of the Eastern Front: An Untold Story of World War II is being published in October 2019.

Sally Rippin is Australia's highest selling female author with over seventy books, many of them award-winning. They include the highly acclaimed Polly and Buster trilogy and the popular Billie B Brown and Hey Jack! books.

Michael Robotham was an investigative journalist working in the US, Australia and Britain before becoming a novelist. His 2004 debut thriller, The Suspect, sold more than one million copies. In 2015 he won the UK's prestigious Crime Writers' Association Gold Dagger Award for his thriller Life or Death. His most recent book is Good Girl, Bad Girl.

Heather Rose's books have been shortlisted, long-listed or won awards for literary fiction, crime fiction, fantasy/ sci-fi and children's literature, with novel The Museum of Modern Love winning the 2017 Stella Award. Her new book is Bruny.

Joan Silber is the author of eight books of fiction. Her 2013 novel Fools was longlisted for the National Book Award and was a finalist for the PEN/Faulkner Award. Her 2019 novel, Improvement, won the PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction.

Robert Elliott Smith has worked in Artificial Intelligence for 30 years, he is the author of Rage Inside the Machine: The Prejudice of Algorithms, and How to Stop the Internet Making Bigots of Us All.

Pitchaya Sudbunthad grew up in Thailand, Saudi Arabia, and the American South. He currently splits his time between Bangkok and Brooklyn. Bangkok Wakes to Rain is his first novel and has been nominated for the 2019 US Center for Fiction First Novel Prize.

Jamie Susskind is a writer, speaker and practising barrister. He is the author of the award-winning bestseller Future Politics: Living Together in a World Transformed by Tech. Future Politics was awarded the 2019 Estoril Global Issues Distinguished Book Prize.

Miriam Sved has been a contributing editor to the feminist anthologies Mothers and Others, Just Between Us, and #MeToo: Stories from the Australian movement. Her novella All the Things I Should've Given was a winner of Griffith Review's 2018 Novella Project. A Universe of Sufficient Size is her second novel.

Lucy Treloar is the author of the award-winning novel Salt Creek which won the Indie Award for Best Debut, the ABIA Matt Richell Award and the Dobbie Award as well as being shortlisted for the Miles Franklin Award. Lucy's second novel Wolfe Island was published in 2019.

Bart van Es is an expert on Shakespeare and has written authoritative texts on Shakespeare's work and times including Shakespeare in Company (2013) and Shakespeare's Comedies (2016). His most recent book is The Cut Out Girl, which won the 2019 Costa Book of the Year.

Yanis Varoufakis is a former Finance Minister of Greece and the author of a memoir, Adults in the Room, and a history, And the Weak Suffer What They Must?, which reveal and explain the catastrophic mishandling of Europe since the financial crisis. His latest bestseller is Talking To My Daughter About the Economy: A Brief History of Capitalism.

Tara June Winch is a Wiradjuri author, born in Australia and based in France. Her first novel, Swallow the Air, was critically acclaimed and won numerous literary awards. Her second book, After the Carnage, was shortlisted for the 2017 NSW Premier's and the Queensland Literary Awards for Fiction. Her second novel, The Yield, was published in 2019.

Charlotte Wood is the author of six novels and two books of non-fiction. Her bestselling novel, The Natural Way of Things, won the 2016 Stella Prize, the Indie Book of the Year and Indie Book Award for Fiction, was joint winner of the Prime Minister's Literary Award for Fiction, and was published throughout Europe, the United Kingdom and North America. Her latest novel is The Weekend.

Angela Woollacott is the Manning Clark Professor of History at the Australian National University and an elected Fellow of the Royal Historical Society, the Academy of Social Sciences in Australia, and the Australian Academy of the Humanities.

Tyson Yunkaporta is an academic, an arts critic, and a researcher who belongs to the Apalech Clan in Far North Queensland. He carves traditional tools and weapons and also works as a senior lecturer in Indigenous Knowledges at Deakin University in Melbourne. Sand Talk: How Indigenous Thinking Can Save the World is his first book.

Nevo Zisin is a Jewish, queer, non-binary writer, activist and public speaker with a particular focus on issues surrounding gender, sex, culture and sexuality. They run workshops in schools and workplaces around trans issues. They are the author of the award-winning Finding Nevo, a memoir on gender transition.

To post a comment, you must register and login.