Special Events

First Word Opening Address

Keynote by Lionel Fogarty

4–5:30pm, Wednesday 10 May, slq Queensland Terrace

First Word formally opens the Brisbane Writers Festival each year. To celebrate the vibrant tradition of Australia’s first storytellers, the session showcases a keynote speech by an eminent First Nations writer. In 2023, that writer is leading Indigenous poet and political activist Lionel Fogarty. Born on an Aboriginal reserve on Wakka Wakka land, Fogarty has been at the forefront of the fight for Indigenous rights since he was a teenager. Today, with fourteen published poetry collections and a career of writing and activism spanning more than forty years, Fogarty’s revolutionary spirit and rousing words are as strong and salient as ever. In addition to the First Nations keynote and as part of the First Word formalities, the audience will also hear from select festival figures and politicians; from representatives of BWF’s 2023 Country of Focus, South Korea; and from author Trent Jamieson, who will give a short reading from his piece in the BWF book Celebrating 60 Years of the Brisbane Writers Festival.

Supported by University of Queensland

Special Events

The Marion Taylor Opening Night Gala

Keynote speech by Shehan Karunatilaka

7–10pm, Wednesday 10 May, QAGOMA Water Mall

Join us for an elegant affair in the Queensland Art Gallery’s exquisite Water Mall, where you will be wined, dined and illumined by our keynote speaker, Booker Prize winner Shehan Karunatilaka. Reflecting on his stratospheric year and the possibilities of literature in a globalised world, Shehan calls on us to celebrate the sublime and the strange – the perfect note on which to begin this year’s Brisbane Writers Festival. This event is only possible through the support of the Taylor family

Closing Address with Alexis Wright

The World Needs Powerful Storytellers – Right Now!

5:30–7pm, Sunday 14 May, slq Queensland Terrace

The peerless Alexis Wright will close the 2023 Brisbane Writers Festival with a powerful exploration of apocalypse and creation. In this stirring speech, Wright probes the possibility for revelation in humanity’s existential crisis, the rediscovery of ancient modes of being and perceiving, and the critical role of storytellers in this moment of peril. Join one of Australia’s finest literary minds for an address that unifies philosophy and prophecy, bringing this year’s festival to a rousing and provocative climax. Supported by University of Queensland

Mother’s Day High Tea

Holly Wainwright in conversation with Frances Whiting

10am–12pm, Sunday 14 May, Customs House

Holly Wainwright’s career has been characterised by her wry insights into women’s lives, first as a journalist and now as one of Australia’s most popular fiction writers. Join us at the fabulously fancy Customs House for a delicious High Tea with the author of I Give My Marriage a Year and The Couple Upstairs in conversation with the equally charming Frances Whiting. Discussing how they balance journalism, fiction and the extracurricular demands of modern life, these two brilliant ladies are the perfect Mother’s Day present.

Supported by Feros Care

Literary Death Match

Judges: Gabrielle Zevin, Deni Todorovič, Jess Ho. Competitors: Shirley Le, Myles McGuire, Siang Lu, Benjamin Stevenson

Host: Adrian Todd Zuniga

8:30–9:30pm, Thursday 11 May, slq Auditorium 1 Four rising writerly stars bring their performance A-game to this magnificent literary showdown. In a thrilling blend of page and stage, Literary Death Match – co-created and hosted by Adrian Todd Zuniga – asks four writers to read their most entertaining work to the crowd. But this is no genteel salon –after each writer performs, they’ll be subject to the rapier wit of three all-star judges, and only one contestant will be crowned the Literary Death Match winner. Join this year’s plucky writers – Myles McGuire, Siang Lu, Shirley Le and Benjamin Stevenson –alongside judges Gabrielle Zevin, Deni Todorovič and Jess Ho for a night of brilliance, barbs and belly laughs.