Melbourne Writers Festival marks its 40th anniversary with a full program launching tonight, bringing together some of the world's most celebrated contemporary writers for four days of literary conversation and debate.
Former prime minister of New Zealand, Jacinda Ardern, will share her path to global leadership in her deeply personal memoir at the festival, which runs from 7-10 May. Flesh by David Szalay is the winner of the Booker Prize 2025, and Szalay will explore how intimacy can become emotionally damaging in his 2025 Booker Prize winner.
The four-day program will run from May 7-10, with New York Times Bestselling Author R.F. Kuang leading the international guest writer lineup. Kuang is perhaps best known for her globally beloved series The Poppy War, and her work has drawn a global readership and rewritten the contemporary literary landscape with its interrogations of power, colonialism, translation, authorship and cultural identity.
Kuang will take part in events throughout the festival weekend, with an in-conversation event with The Radiant Emperor Duology author Shelley Parker-Chan at Melbourne Town Hall on Friday, May 8.
The 40th anniversary edition represents a milestone for Australia's literary calendar. MWF was founded in 1986 as a joint initiative between the Melbourne International Festival of the Arts and the City of Melbourne. By 2001, the festival had instituted Internet broadcasts and transcripts of some sessions, Auslan at others, and was attracting an estimated 25,000 in attendances.
The program's release tonight follows weeks of anticipation. Festival Director Veronica Sullivan said that Rebecca (R.F.) Kuang is without a doubt one of the world's most exciting contemporary novelists, and that the festival is delighted to have Rebecca join them at this year's 40th anniversary edition to discuss Katabasis.
Early bird tickets become available to newsletter subscribers before the general release, offering a modest discount on selected events.