SYDNEY WRITERS’ FESTIVAL: your week sorted with our shortlist
May 14: National Biography Award
It’s hard to resist a good yarn; especially a true blue one. This award has commemorated the art with a $25,000 prize courtesy of the State Library since 1996, this year the longlist includes Delia Falconer’s Sydney, Paul Kelly’s How to Make Gravy, and John Howard’s Lazarus Rising.
11-12.30pm, State Library, books essential 9273 1770, bookings@sl.nsw.gov.au
May 15: Opening Address, The Private Moment
Now based in London, the Libyan novelist Hisham Matar (In the Country of Men, Anatomy of a Disappearance) will officially open this year’s festival with his ruminations on the importance of the private moment, immortalised through fiction, as an act of resistance.
6.30-8pm, Sydney Theatre, $25-35, 9250 1988, ydneytheatre.org.au
May 16: Diary of a Wimpy Kid
Don’t pretend there isn’t a Wimpy Kid tucked away on your bookshelf … or in your closet. Author Jeff Kinney makes his debut appearance to what will no doubt be hordes of pre- and decidedly post-adolescent fans.
6.30-7.30pm, Sydney Opera House, $12-20, 9250 7777, sydneyoperahouse.com
May 17: FBi Radio’s All the Best, The Great Unveiling
Treat yourself to a night of storytelling as a selection of special guests tread the fine line between public and private. If you’re feeling brave you can even participate in a ‘story slam’ – we’re not sure what that means either, but there’s only one way to find out!
7-8.30pm, Pier 2/3 Club Stage, free and no bookings necessary
May 18: The Tyranny of Affluence
There is such a thing as too much of a good thing, and Geoffrey Blainey and George Megalogenis are keen to tell us why Australia suffers from it, today.
10-11am, Pier 2/3 Main Stage, $10-15, 9250 1988, sydneytheatre.org.au
May 19: The Disappearing Walking Tour
Poetry hits the pavements of Sydney in this walking tour led by the Red Room Company and local wordwenders Martin Harrison, Astrid Lorange and Nick Bryant-Smith.
6-6.45pm, Sydney Dance Cafe, bookings essential programs@redroomcompany.org
May 20: Bookmaking
One-up the zine-makers over at the MCA Zine Fair (11am-5pm) by binding together a (professionally illustrated!) tome to call your own at this hands-on workshop guided by the Sydney Story Factory.
12-2pm, ATYP, free, no bookings
