Much-loved Australian writers Craig Silvey and Pip Williams, and debut authors Mawunyo Gbogbo, Andrew Quilty, and Amy Thunig, have been announced as the first of what will be 100 artists in the 10th Newcastle Writers Festival.
The festival, March 31 to April 2, 2023, will also be moving to The University of Newcastle's NUspace building in downtown Newcastle as part of a new partnership.
"The University is a founding sponsor and I'm thrilled that after a decade it has strengthened its commitment by becoming a major partner," festival director Rosemarie Milsom said.
Milsom said that guest authors Craig Silvey (Jasper Jones, Honeybee, Runt) and Pip Williams (The Dictionary of Lost Words) had been high on the list of audience requests in recent years.
Mawunyo Gbogbo is a self-described "church-going African Australian girl" who grew up in Muswellbrook will speak about her compelling memoir Hip Hop & Hymns.
First Nations academic Amy Thunig, who recently launched her memoir Tell Me Again, is also a guest speaker.
Walkley Award-winning photojournalist Andrew Quilty worked in Afghanistan. "His book, The Fall of Kabul, provides searing observations about all sides of the conflict," MIlsom said.
The full program will be available online from 9am on February 17 and tickets go on sale at the same time.
