Good news for book lovers and literary enthusiasts!
The 28th annual Sydney Writers’ Festival (SWF) has offered its first tantalising glimpse of the 2025 programme, giving us plenty to look forward to ahead of the festival’s return from 19–27 May. While the full line-up remains under wraps until Thursday 13 March, today’s announcement of four internationally acclaimed authors has already set the bar exceptionally high.
“This first announcement sets the stage for what promises to be a captivating festival filled with bold ideas and compelling storytelling,” said SWF Artistic Director Ann Mossop. And, judging by the star-studded guest list, she’s not exaggerating.
Leading the charge is Kaliane Bradley, whose breakout novel The Ministry of Time (2024) has been making waves. Sold in over 20 languages and set to hit our screens with a BBC adaptation, Bradley’s genre-bending tale about identity, displacement, and time travel has been quite the talking point. Her story of a British-Cambodian civil servant tangled up with a 19th-century naval officer-turned-time-traveller has readers hooked.
History buffs will not want to miss Ben MacIntyre, the master of espionage and investigative narratives. From the real-life drama of Operation Mincemeat to his accounts of WWII’s most daring spies, MacIntyre has kept readers gripped for years. His latest book, The Siege (2024), takes on the dramatic 1980 Iranian Embassy siege in London—a hostage crisis that ended in an SAS operation so legendary it feels like fiction. Except, of course, it’s all true.
For fans of heartfelt, haunting fiction, Yael van der Wouden steps into the spotlight with The Safekeep (2024). Hailed as one of the year’s most powerful literary debuts and shortlisted for the Booker Prize, her novel explores the impact of buried family secrets and wartime trauma, all set against the atmospheric backdrop of the Dutch countryside in 1961.
Rounding out the announcement is Asako Yuzuki, one of Japan’s most celebrated contemporary voices. Her gripping novel, Butter (2024), inspired by a true crime case, follows a journalist investigating a woman accused of killing men through her cooking. Beneath its darkly captivating plot is a searing feminist critique of sensationalist media and societal expectations placed on women, earning it global accolades and the title of Waterstones Book of the Year.
It’s safe to say this small taste of the SWF 2025 programme promises a festival packed with bold stories, compelling narratives, and thought-provoking ideas. Want to get ahead of the crowds? Sign up for the Sydney Writers’ Festival eNews to enjoy exclusive access to presale tickets. Keep an eye on swf.org.au—you won’t want to miss this literary extravaganza.