Sydney Writers' Festival
| Sydney Writers' Festival | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Literary festival |
| Begins | May |
| Frequency | Annual |
| Location(s) | Sydney, New South Wales, Australia |
| Years active | 20 |
| Inaugurated | 1997 |
| Participants | 300 |
| Attendance | 100,000 |
| Website | |
| http://www.swf.org.au | |
Sydney Writers' Festival is an annual literary festival held in the Australian city of Sydney. The Festival's artistic director is Michaela McGuire.
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. Held mid-to-late May each year, the festival now involves over 400 participants and presents over 300 events in renovated piers in Walsh Bay, Sydney. Other festival locations include Sydney 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 80,000 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 became Chair on 1 January 2012. 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 2003-2006. Wendy Were was Artistic Director and CEO for the three festivals, from 2007-2009. 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 2009-2014. The festival appointed Jo Dyer as Executive Director in 2015; she was promoted to CEO in November 2016 and also joined the board of directors.
Past guests have included:
The Festival is organised by the artistic director, with the support of the CEO, who both report to the Board of Sydney Writers' Festival. The current directors of the Festival are:
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