Sydney Writers' Festival


Sydney Writers' Festival is an annual literary festival held in Sydney. The festival's artistic director is Michaela McGuire.

History

The festival began in January 1997, with most events initially held at the State Library of New South Wales. The first independent Sydney Writers' Festival ran from 12–17 May 1998, with 169 participants appearing in venues in, and around, the centre of Sydney.
Since then, the Festival has rapidly expanded. The Festival moved from Walsh Bay to Carriageworks in May 2018. Events were also held at venues stretching across Sydney, from the City Recital Hall and Sydney Town Hall in the city centre, into suburban Sydney and the Blue Mountains.
Held mid-to-late May each year, the Festival now involves over 400 participants and presents over 300 events in renovated piers at Walsh Bay. Other festival locations include Roslyn Packer Theatre, Sydney Town Hall, City Recital Hall, and Sydney Opera House. Events are also regularly held in regional and suburban locations including Parramatta, Ashfield, Auburn, Blacktown, Bankstown, Campbelltown, Hornsby, Penrith, the Blue Mountains and Wollongong.
Approximately one-third of all Sydney Writers' Festival events are free of charge. Festival attendances have reached over 90,000 each year since 2007.
Sydney Writers' Festival Limited is a not-for-profit company with an independent board of directors. The inaugural Chair of the Festival was Geraldine Doogue, who held the position for three years. Sandra Yates AO became Chair in late 2000, retiring on 31 December 2011. Deena Shiff was the Chair 1 January 2012 through to February 2018. Mark Scott was appointed chair in February 2018. The Festival Director in 1998 was John Nieuwenhuizen, with Meredith Curnow the Program Director. Meredith Curnow became Festival Director for the period 1999–2002. Caro Llewellyn was Artistic Director and Chief executive from 2003 to 2006. Wendy Were was Artistic Director and CEO for the three festivals, from 2007 to 2009. Chip Rolley became the Festival's Artistic Director in the middle of 2009, programming the 2010, 2011 and 2012 Festivals. Jemma Birrell was the Festival's Artistic Director for the four Festivals 2013–2016. In 2016, Michaela McGuire was appointed as the Festival's new Artistic Director. Ben Strout was the Festival's Executive Director from 2009 to 2014. Jo Dyer was the Executive Director from 2015; and was promoted to CEO in November 2016, when she also joined the Festival board of directors. Chrissy Sharp was appointed as the new CEO of Sydney Writers' Festival in 2018. The 2020 event was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Past international guests

Past guests have included:
The Festival is organised by the artistic director Michaela McGuire, with the support of the CEO Chrissy Sharp, who both report to the Board of Sydney Writers' Festival. In 2018 the directors of the Festival are: