Local literary stars – and some surprising new faces – in Byron Writers Festival lineup

Motivational speaker Turia Pitt, surfing champion Pauline Menczer and Flow Hive creators Cedar Anderson and Stuart Anderson are among the line-up of local authors announced for the 2026 Byron Writers Festival.

After moving to Byron Bay with her family last year, Pitt, who suffered severe burns while competing in an ultramarathon in the Kimberley in 2011, will make her debut appearance at the festival with her new book Selfish.

Menczer, the 1993 Women’s World Surfing Champion and also a Byron Shire local, will discuss her memoir Surf Like a Woman, while father-and-son inventors Cedar and Stuart Anderson will speak about Flow Hive’s Book of Bees and Beekeeping.

 

 

Neverland author Tricia Shantz will also launch her new book at the festival. Titled Musicland: When the Music Came to Byron 1974 to 1995, it is a vivid account of the live music explosion that lit up the hills and valleys of the shire, from the Arts Factory to Music Farm Studio.

Romy Ash, whose debut novel Floundering was shortlisted for the Miles Franklin, Commonwealth Book Prize and Prime Minister’s Literary Awards, will also return with her second novel, Mantle.

Fungi filmmakers and co-authors Stephen Axford and Catherine Marciniak will discuss their book Planet Fungi: A Photographer’s Foray, while CBCA Book of the Year-winning author Tristan Bancks will present Raised By Wolves, his eagerly awaited follow-up to Two Wolves.

 

Bangalow based slow living advocate Courtney Adamo will also showcase two books at this year’s festival, The Family Home and At Home in Every Season. Guardian columnist Julianne Schultz, whose book The Idea of Australia became an SBS TV series, will also appear on panels at the event.

Other local authors appearing at the festival include Sarah Armstrong, Jay McKenzie, Lisa Walker, Maggie Walters, Kirra Pendergast, Sonya Voumard, Damien Becker and Nicholas Timms.

Local custodian and proud Arakwal Bundjalung woman Delta Kay will open the festival, which is celebrating its 30th anniversary, with local moderators including Angela Catterns, Chris Hanley, Mandy Nolan and Mick O’Regan.

They will join bestselling Boy Swallows Universe author Trent Dalton, Geetanjali Shree, Evelyn Araluen, Steve Toltz, Melissa Lucashenko and more at the event.

Byron Writers Festival is on from Friday 14 August to Sunday 16 August at venues throughout Byron Bay. The complete program will be announced on 17 June 2026.

For more information and tickets, visit byronwritersfestival.com