Get to know your new Adelaide Writers’ Week Director!
What is your vision for Adelaide Writers’ Week?
Writers’ Week is a cornerstone event—not just in Australia, but internationally. Its scale, its free access model, and its deeply engaged audience make it unique. I want to build on what is already one of the most loved and distinctive literary events in the country. My focus will be on maintaining its openness and accessibility while continuing to bring the most compelling writers and thinkers from Australia and around the world to Adelaide. I’m interested in programming that is intellectually ambitious but also welcoming, where audiences feel engaged and included. It’s about creating conversations that stay with people.
Who are you going to program?
Writers whose work matters and who create compelling stories—across fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and journalism. That includes established and emerging writers, and perspectives that audiences may not yet have encountered. I’m interested in both literary excellence and relevance—people who are doing exciting work and contributing meaningfully to how we understand the world. I also want to reflect South Australia’s literary community and culture on the international stage that Adelaide Writers’ Week provides.
How are you going to approach that program mix?
With curiosity and care. Programming is about balance—between local and international voices, between different perspectives, and between established and emerging writers. It’s also about listening to readers, to the sector and to the broader cultural moment. My aim is to create a program that feels cohesive, rigorous and genuinely engaging.
Is Writers' Week just for a particular political or cultural group?
Not at all. The audience for Adelaide Writers’ Week is incredibly broad and that’s one of its great strengths. The aim is not to speak to one group, but to bring different people into conversation with each other. Adelaide Writers’ Week is for everyone. It’s a space for readers and writers from all backgrounds. My commitment is to ensure the festival remains a place where people feel welcome, respected and able to engage with a wide range of ideas and perspectives.
Are you concerned about curatorial independence?
Good governance is important in any organisation, and clear roles and responsibilities are part of that. My focus is on working constructively within those frameworks to deliver a strong artistic program. I will be working alongside a new board, one that is committed to restoring the reputation of Adelaide Writers’ Week.
Why are writers’ festivals still relevant?
At a time when so much of our engagement with ideas happens online, there is real value in people coming together in person to listen, question and reflect. Writers’ festivals create space for depth, nuance and connection in a way that few other forums can. There is a hunger for this engagement.
Do you have a focus on Australian writers or international names?
It’s not an either/or. A strong festival brings local and international voices into conversation with each other. Supporting Australian and South Australian writers is essential, while international guests add important context and opportunities for exchange.
What will you miss about Newcastle Writers Festival?
I’ll miss the team and the audience enormously—it’s a very special community. I’ll still live in Newcastle, and I hope to continue contributing to the arts sector there. I’m also hoping that as the founder of the festival it guarantees me a lanyard for life!
What are you looking forward to when spending more time in Adelaide?
I am a big fan of the city and the regions beyond. I love hiking, so I’m going to be looking for some tips on great local trails. Coming from the Hunter, I know a good wine when I drink one, but I am always open to some South Australian suggestions. I want to spend time connecting with the local literary community and attending events. AGSA is always on my itinerary when I visit. An exhibition etched in my memory is the outstanding Clarice Beckett retrospective I saw in 2021 when I was visiting for Writers’ Week. It brought tears to my eyes.
What excites you most about this role?
The audience! Adelaide Writers’ Week has one of the most engaged and loyal audiences anywhere and that creates incredible energy. It allows for ambitious programming because people are willing to lean into big ideas and complex conversations.
Finally - what are you currently reading?
I always have a book on the go. Recent titles include Fireweather by Australian writer Miranda Darling. It has been shortlisted for the Stella Prize and for good reason. It tackles the devastating fallout from the breakdown of a toxic marriage and is written from a first-person perspective – the woman’s. You are exposed to the torment of a mother battered by uncaring legal and health systems. I have also relished US writer Ben Lerner’s Transcription. It’s slim, compelling and explores male relationships, our troubled reliance on technology, and big, meaty, meaningful ideas about art, connection, and deception.
Image Credit: Edwina Richards
