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2026 Writers
Robbie Arnott
Robbie Arnott is the author of Dusk, Limberlost, The Rain Heron and Flames. He has been awarded a range of literary prizes. He lives in Hobart with his family. 
Bob Brown
In 1976 Bob Brown hosted the first meeting of the Wilderness Society. Besides being jailed for 17 days during the Franklin River blockade in 1982, Bob was locked up for 11 days, and strip-searched five times in 1995 for joining a blockade of bulldozers in the Tarkine rainforest. He’s been shot at and beaten up by vigilantes. He was in the Tasmanian Parliament from 1983 to 1993. In the Australian Senate from 1996, Bob and his fellow Greens failed to convince either of the two old parties on equal marriage, euthanasia laws, compensation for the 'Stolen Generation', humane treatment of refugees or ending junk food advertising in children's TV hours. Bob’s partner is Cygnet farmer Paul Thomas. They gave their property to Bush Heritage in 2011. Bob’s most recent book is Defiance (2025). Bob and Paul are in ‘The Giants’, an award-winning film about forests. 
Debra Dank
Debra Dank is Gudanji/Wakaja/Kalkadoon and grew on the Barkly Tablelands of the Queensland and Northern Territory border. For almost 40 years she worked in various roles in primary, secondary and tertiary education. Her work has stretched across Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia and the Northern Territory in urban and remote contexts. She is particularly interested in how narrative is practiced in Aboriginal communities and why semiotics is critical to understanding the breadth of communicative mechanisms and functions in this practice, specifically how Aboriginal communicative function and form is impacted by Standard Australian English. 
Annie Mairéad Hunter
Annie Mairéad Hunter came to poetry-writing relatively late in life. Or rather, it came to her, as if a hidden seed had suddenly broken its dormancy. At last she feels at home, having relinquished a rudderless career (as waitress, farmhand, factory worker, environmental activist, public servant and researcher). A winner of the ACU Poetry Prize and the Melbourne Poets Union Prize, she has been shortlisted in the Robert Gray and Liquid Amber prizes. Her first collection, Brood Chamber (5 Islands Press, 2026), ‘broods’ upon the necessity and impossibility of familial, ancestral, colonial and ecological healing. Annie lives and writes on Dja Dja Wurrung Country in Central Victoria. 
Robert Skinner
Robert Skinner was born and raised on Kaurna country, in South Australia. His writing appears frequently in The Monthly, and has also been featured in The Best Australian Essays, Best Australian Comedy Writing and Internazionale. He currently lives in Melbourne, where he works in a bookshop and plays football at the lowest level. His first book is I'd Rather Not. |
Shokoofeh Azar
Shokoofeh Azar, an Iranian-Australian writer and journalist, was shortlisted in 2020 for major literary awards, including the International Booker Prize, PEN International awards, and the Stella Prize, following the publication of her novel The Enlightenment of the Greengage Tree. Her second novel, The Gowkaran Tree in the Middle of Our Kitchen, was published in June 2025 and was shortlisted for the Victorian Premier’s Literary Awards. Since 8 January this year, when the ruling regime in Iran allegedly massacred between 36,000 and 80,000 protesters over the course of three nights, Shokoofeh has focused on reporting developments inside Iran for Australian media outlets. In her reports and commentary, she seeks to convey both events on the ground and the mood of public opinion, alongside political and social analysis. 
Maxine Beneba Clarke
Maxine Beneba Clarke is the author of over fifteen books for adults and children, including the short fiction collection Foreign Soil, the memoir The Hate Race, and the picture books When We Say Black Lives Matter, We Know a Place and The Patchwork Bike. Her poetry collections include Carrying the World, How Decent Folk Behave, It’s the Sound of the Thing: 100 new poems for young people, and the recently released Beautiful Changelings and Stuff I'm (Not) Sorry For: 99 more poems for young people. Maxine was the inaugural Peter Steele Poet in Residence at the University of Melbourne (2023-2025). 
Allanah Hunt
Dr Allanah Hunt is a queer Kurnu-Barkindji and Malyangapa writer, editor and academic. She is interested in social justice, mental health, Blak feminism, First Nations storytelling, queer identities and she is now writing about her disease of endometriosis. She has published short stories and essays through anthologies like Griffith Review and Overland, winning a Queensland Literary Award for her body of work so far. In her PhD, she wrote an MCU fan fiction novel exploring affective learning and ownership of women’s bodies. Her first novel, a YA called Forever & Ever, has just been released by TEXT Publishing. 
David Marr
David Marr is presenting Late Night Live these days on ABC Radio National after writing and reporting since the 1970s for Fairfax, the Guardian and the ABC. He’s written half a dozen books on politics, race, religion and the arts. His most recent is Killing for Country, A Family Story that examines the part his forebears played with the Queensland Native Police in the bloodiest years of the Frontier Wars. 
Michael Winkler
Michael Winkler is an Australian writer of fiction and non-fiction. His most recent novel, Griefdogg, was released by Text Publishing in 2026. His previous novel Grimmish was shortlisted for the Miles Franklin Literary Award, the first self-published novel to make the long- or shortlist. It was subsequently published by Puncher & Wattmann (Australia), Peninsula Press (United Kingdom), Coach House Books (North America) and Mutatis Mutandis (Spanish translation – Spain). He won the Calibre Prize for his essay ‘The Great Red Whale’ about Uluru, relationships between First Nations and non-Indigenous Australians, mental illness and Moby Dick. He has self-published two non-fiction titles, and written books for commercial publishers including Penguin, Hardie Grant and Melbourne University Press. His journalism, short fiction, reviews and essays have been widely published and anthologised. |
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A selection of guests since 1984
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Celeste Abad-Jugo
Alexis Abola Robert Adamson Jordie Albiston Jeffrey Alexander Stephanie Alexander Louise Allan Max Allen Chris Andrews Shokoofeh Azar Emilie Zoey Baker Benjamin Barney Larissa Behrendt Peter Beilharz Judith Beveridge Tony Birch Carmel Bird Judith Bishop Pamela Bone Nic Brasch Judith Brett Rofel Brion Michelle Cahill Paul Carter Gary Catalano Eileen Chong Mark Cladis Anna Clark Inga Clendinnen JM Coetzee Alfredo Conde Kerry Conway Judith Nangala Crispin Alison Croggon Sophie Cunningham Robyn Davidson Luke Davies Bruce Dawe Sarah Day Richard Denniss Robert Dessaix Gerald Diffey Reg Dodd Joe Dolce Will Eaves Ali Cobby Eckerman Stephen Edgar Bob Ellis |
Wesley Enoch
Matthew Evans Diane Fahey Tracy Farr Janine Fraser Morag Fraser Alan Frost Raimond Gaita Helen Garner Moreno Giovannoni Andrea Goldsmith Anna Goldsworthy Kerryn Goldsworthy Peter Goldsworthy Lisa Gorton Alan Gould Jamie Grant Robert Gray James Griffin Charlotte Guest Gideon Haigh Marion Halligan Sonja Hartnett Ihab Hassan Per Henningsgard Barry Hill Melinda Hinkson Jane Hirshfield Karen Hitchcock Philip Hodgins Trevor Hogan Katie Holmes Lucy Holt Chloe Hooper Coral Hull Ivor Indyk Clive James Daniel James Lisa Jacobson Linda Jaivin Julie Janson Kate Jennings Gail Jones Nicholas Jose Evelyn Juers Chet Kane Paul Kane Tina Kane |
Yumna Kassab
Stuart Kells Thomas Keneally Anne Kenney Cate Kennedy Krissy Kneen Jamie King Holden Graeme Kinross-Smith Christopher Koch Amitava Kumar Anthony Lawrence Geoff Lawrence Nam Le Bronwyn Lea Michelle Leggott Geoffrey Lehmann James Ley Bella Li Melissa Lucashenko Olga Lorenzo Kim Mahood Shane Maloney David Malouf David Marr Ian McBryde David McCooey Meme McDonald Malcolm McKinnon Rhyll McMaster Michael Meehan Angela Meyer Kate Middleton Alex Miller Drusilla Modjeska Liz Moore Frank Moorhouse Sam Morley Marjon Mossammaparast Marie Munkara Les Murray Patrice Newell Peter Newman Dennis Nicholson Mark O’Connor Sharon Olds Jan Owen Jillian Pattinson Geoff Page |
Tim Parks
Bruce Pascoe AS Patric Elliot Perlman PiO Dorothy Porter Peter Porter Boori Prior Sian Prior Belinda Probert Alice Pung Peter Robb Peter Rose Nicolas Rothwell Mary Jo Salter Stephen Sartarelli George Seddon Teonga Sendama Ronald Sharp Janet Shaw Craig Sherborne Naomi Shihab Nye Alex Skovron Jane Smiley Bernard Smith Peter Steele Sian Supski Maria Takolander Christina Thompson Carrie Tiffany Christos Tsiolkas Maria Tumarkin Peter Vale Ellen Van Neerven Chris Wallace-Crabbe Clinton Walker David Walker Don Watson Ian Wedde Simon West Petra White Terri-Ann White Tim Winton John Wolseley Charlotte Wood Alexis Wright Clare Wright Alice Zaslavsky |