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CloseCatch these Magabala creators at the 2026 Blue Mountains Writers Festival!
Bruce Pascoe in conversation with Grace Lucas-Pennington
Friday October 30, 11:00AM - 12:00PM
This intimate event is set at The Old Stables in the Megalong Valley, a rural paradise just half an hour from Katoomba.
Aboriginal farmer and award-winning writer Bruce Pascoe is joined by Bundjalung writer, editor and mentor Grace Lucas-Pennington for a far-reaching discussion focused on Dark Emu, Big Sky and his broader body of work. Reconsidering the colonial myths that have attempted to justify dispossession, Pascoe’s writing offers deep insight into our history, and how science and philosophy, when tempered by holistic knowledge, offer possible pathways to a better future.
Tickets here.
KNOWING COUNTRY: Bruce Pascoe, Barry Corr and Debra Dank in conversation with Rae Johnston
Saturday October 31, 5:00AM - 6:00PM
Tickets here.
With vast knowledge and fierce intellect, writers and community leaders Bruce Pascoe, Barry Corr and Debra Dank invite readers to reconsider what they know about this place, its history, its land and culture, and the futures that might be possible if we collectively work towards change.
With backgrounds in activism, academia, literature, agriculture and journalism, and a slew of awards between them, don’t miss the opportunity to learn from these great minds, as they unravel settler understandings and assumptions, and share what they know of the more-than-ancient civilisations that have lived in and with this place for many thousands of years.
THE LIBRARY THAT MADE ME: Ellen van Neerven, Roanna Gonsalves, Bruce Pascoe and Yumna Kassab, hosted by Phillipa McGuinness
Sunday 1 November, 10:00 am - 11:00 am
The Grand Dining Room
Tickets here.
A love letter to libraries everywhere, The Library that Made Me is a book readers will want on permanent loan. In conversation with editor Phillipa McGuinness, four contributors to this collection share their reflections on these places of public connection and learning.
The Library that Made Me celebrates 200 years of the State Library of NSW – its evolution, its remarkable collection and its people. The Library has earned its enduring place in the hearts of readers and visitors everywhere. In the early days, members were vetted, women weren’t welcome, and having fiction on the shelves raised eyebrows. Today, libraries are vibrant cultural hubs open to all and are shaped by the people they serve.
Come along to hear brilliant writing by Bruce Pascoe, Ellen van Neerven, Yumna Kassab and Roanna Gonsalves, and leave wondering about the library that made you.
TALKING TO KIDS ABOUT DIFFICULT THINGS: Sara Haddad, Ellen van Neerven and Josh Silver in conversation with Maeve Marsden
Saturday 31 October, 3:30 pm - 4:30 pm
The Ballroom, The Carrington Hotel
Tickets here.
In a climate where kids have more access to information than ever before, how do parents navigate knotty topics, and what media literacy is required to stay abreast of the questions our children might ask?
Bestselling British author Josh Silver (UK) writes gripping, plot-driven YA fiction that tackles trauma, mental health, sexuality and technology head-on. In Ruby’s Web, poet and author Ellen van Neerven takes readers into high school corridors with a powerful story about finding your voice, seeking help, and addressing cyberbullying and racist victimisation. And, after the critical reception of her self-published novella about Palestine, The Sunbird, Sara Haddad adapted the story into an illustrated book for young readers that asks, “How could a new country be put inside a country that was already there?”
Join these three writers for young people to talk power, parenting and how to connect with our kids in a changing world.
THE LIBRARY THAT MADE ME: Ellen van Neerven, Roanna Gonsalves, Bruce Pascoe and Yumna Kassab, hosted by Phillipa McGuinness
Sunday 1 November, 10:00 am - 11:00 am
The Grand Dining Room
Tickets here.
A love letter to libraries everywhere, The Library that Made Me is a book readers will want on permanent loan. In conversation with editor Phillipa McGuinness, four contributors to this collection share their reflections on these places of public connection and learning.
The Library that Made Me celebrates 200 years of the State Library of NSW – its evolution, its remarkable collection and its people. The Library has earned its enduring place in the hearts of readers and visitors everywhere. In the early days, members were vetted, women weren’t welcome, and having fiction on the shelves raised eyebrows. Today, libraries are vibrant cultural hubs open to all and are shaped by the people they serve.
Come along to hear brilliant writing by Bruce Pascoe, Ellen van Neerven, Yumna Kassab and Roanna Gonsalves, and leave wondering about the library that made you.
POETRY / PARENTHOOD: Maria van Neerven in conversation with Ellen van Neerven
Sunday 1 November, 2:00 pm - 3:00 pm
The Baroque Room, The Carrington Hotel
Tickets here.
Please make note that The Baroque Room is an 18+ space.
Writing with a tender love for her Yugambeh language, Maria van Neerven’s debut poetry collection Two Tongues reflects on the legacy of colonisation and racism, and the aftermath of intergenerational harm. Reclaiming the stories of her ancestors and giving a voice to those who weren’t allowed one, Two Tongues regathers what has been stolen to reassemble a life of compassion and – above all – love for family and Blak pride.
When two powerhouse poets come from the same family, you simply can’t miss the opportunity to see them share a stage. While many children follow in their parents’ footsteps, it was after Ellen van Neerven had established themself as one of the country’s great poets that their mother began publishing to similar acclaim. In this intimate session between mother and child, discover the importance of family and culture, and celebrate the strength and resilience of Indigenous women and their kin.
GADGETS AND GIZMOS OF POETIC CRAFT WITH LUKE PATTERSON
Friday 30 October, 9:45 am - 12:45 pm
Blue Mountains Cultural Centre
Tickets here.
Crawl inside the strange machinery through which poems compress, transform and accumulate meaning. A poem can fold time, gather distant memories into a single image, and allow ordinary objects to carry impossible emotional weight.
Enjoy playful writing exercises, formal experiments and close readings of a selection of Australian poems with celebrated poet Luke Patterson. Pull apart and put back together image, sound, line, repetition, association and surprise. Generate new poems, test different ways of shaping and reshaping them, and gather a collection of techniques and prompts to carry into your own practice.
POETIC POSSIBILITIES: Andy Jackson, Luke Patterson and Marie Elena Ellis in conversation with Laurie May
Saturday 31 October, 2:00 pm - 3:00 pm
The Ballroom
Tickets here.
Red Dirt Poetry Festival director Laurie May leads a conversation on poetry's lyrical and cultural power, with three of today's most exciting poets. Marie Elena Ellis weaves stories of Country and memory in I Am The Desert; Andy Jackson's Askew widens his award-winning exploration of disability to climate and division; Luke Patterson's A Savage Turn mixes theory and folklore to upend Australia's colonial origin stories.