Byron’s Literary Powerhouses Join Festival Lineup
Byron Writers Festival highlights the rich collection of homegrown Northern Rivers authors who are joining its landmark 30th anniversary program, taking place across Byron Bay, NSW from Friday 14 – Sunday 16 August.
A celebration of the extraordinary literary talent that calls this region home, the local lineup joins Trent Dalton, Geetanjali, Shree (IND), Evelyn Araluen, Steve Toltz, Melissa Lucashenko and others who have already been announced for the program, which has seen three-day festival passes nearly sell out!
Byron Writers Festival is celebrating its 30th anniversary in 2026 with a star-studded lineup of Northern Rivers authors, storytellers and creative voices taking centre stage across a landmark weekend of books, ideas and conversation.
Leading the local announcement is one of Australia's most admired and widely recognised figures, Turia Pitt, who has written five best-selling books, coached more than 40,000 people through her digital programs, and even competed at the Ironman World Championships. Pitt makes her debut appearance at the Byron Writers Festival with her new book Selfish, a guide to what it means to put yourself first.
Tricia Shantz will launch her new book at the festival, Musicland: When the Music Came to Byron 1974 to 1995, which is a vivid account of the live music explosion that lit up the hills and valleys of the shire, from the Arts Factory to Music Farm Studio. Romy Ash, whose debut novel Floundering was shortlisted for the Miles Franklin, Commonwealth Book Prize and Prime Minister's Literary Awards, returns with her long-awaited second novel Mantle.
1993 Women's World Surfing Champion Pauline Menczer, a Byron Shire local and one of the most important figures in the history of women's surfing, delivers Surf Like a Woman, a story of grit, passion and blazing a trail for women in a sport that too often overlooks them.
Fungi filmmakers and co-authors Stephen Axford and Catherine Marciniak present Planet Fungi: A Photographer's Foray, a visually stunning journey into the hidden world beneath our feet. Based in the subtropical forests of northern NSW, the pair work with mycologists and conservation groups worldwide to reveal why fungi are fundamental to life on Earth.
Cedar and Stuart Anderson, the father and son team behind the world's most successful beekeeping invention, present Flow Hive's Book of Bees and Beekeeping, a comprehensive Beekeeping guide from the origin story of their record-breaking crowdfunding campaign, which transformed backyard beekeeping across 130 countries.
Local custodian and proud Arakwal Bundjalung woman Delta Kay will open the festival and share her incredible knowledge and wisdom with festival-goers, as will Bundjalung woman, poet and community leader, Ella Noah Bancroft.
Debut novelist Jay McKenzie brings her internationally award-winning voice to How to Lose the Lottery, while Lisa Walker, author of eight novels and a PhD in creative writing, makes her psychological thriller debut with The Pact. Maggie Walters presents Fractured Motherhood: When Love, Trauma and Parenting Intertwine, a raw memoir tracing her journey from an abusive childhood and life with multiple personality disorder, along the long, uncertain road of adopting three children, and the healing that followed.
CBCA Book of the Year-winning author Tristan Bancks arrives with Raised By Wolves, his eagerly awaited follow-up to Two Wolves. Lifestyle and parenting writer Courtney Adamo showcases two books at the festival this year: The Family Home is a considered reflection on creating space that honours the beautiful chaos of a growing family, plus, At Home in Every Season, a practical guide to engaging kids with nature through the changing seasons.
Kirra Pendergast, a globally recognised expert in online safety, digital risk and human behaviour in the digital age. Pendergast brings her expertise to Digital Freedom: A Guide to Less Screen Time for Safer, Happier and Healthier Families. Acclaimed academic, author and Guardian columnist Julianne Schultz, will contribute to many big issue sessions and whose last book The Idea of Australia, asked timely and urgent questions about our national identity.
Award-winning nonfiction writer and former political journalist Sonya Voumard shares Tremor, a compelling and deeply personal account of living with the little-known movement disorder. Damien Becker, a spoken word artist and debut poet who lives and writes on Bundjalung Country in Murwillumbah, reveals his debut collection Thin Reed Throat, exploring life with cystic fibrosis and double lung transplantation with unflinching honesty, humour and lyrical grace.
Two long-awaited novels rounding out the local lineup sees Nicholas Timms offering The Lineup, a heart-pounding crime thriller set right amongst the waves of Byron Bay, and Sarah Armstrong, an award-winning journalist and Miles Franklin-shortlisted novelist who swapped the newsroom for a rainforest valley near Mullumbimby, brings her latest young readers' survivalist story, The Wave.
In addition to the authors presenting at the festival, we will be joined by a wonderful roster of local moderators who will be expertly guiding conversations, including Chris Hanley, Merinda Dutton, Mandy Nolan, Mick O'Regan, Isabelle Reinecke,Angela Catterns, David Heilpern, Julianne Schultz, Royce Kurmelovs and many more.
Byron Writers Festival Artistic Director and CEO Jessica Alice said the local contingent reflects the depth of creative talent rooted in the Northern Rivers.
“I'm delighted to spotlight talented Northern Rivers writers throughout our 30th anniversary program alongside writers from around the world with brilliant, diverse books spanning fiction, historical non-fiction, memoir, poetry and more."
The complete festival program, including all session details, venues and featured events, will be announced on 17 June 2026.
BYRON WRITERS FESTIVAL
Friday 14 – Sunday 16 August 2026
Byron Bay / Bundjalung Country
www.byronwritersfestival.com
About Byron Writers Festival:
The annual Byron Writers Festival is Australia's favourite regional celebration of books, storytelling and ideas, presented on beautiful Bundjalung Country. The line-up predominantly features Australian writers and thinkers, alongside international guests, showcasing contemporary literature in all forms and genres. Originally established in 1995 as the Northern Rivers Writers Centre, 2026 will mark the 30th year of the organisation’s flagship festival.
Full author details at www.byronwritersfestival.com
Turia Pitt • Cedar & Stuart Anderson • Ella Noah Bancroft• Delta Kay •
Catherine Marciniak & Stephen Axford • Romy Ash • Damien Becker • Jay McKenzie •
Kirra Pendergast • Lisa Walker • Maggie Walters • Pauline Menczer • Sarah Armstrong • Sonya Voumard • Courtney Adamo • Tricia Shantz • Tristan Bancks • Nicholas Timms
