2017 Adelaide Writers' Week Full Program Announced

Some of the world's brightest literary minds will come together for this year's Adelaide Writers' Week, with 86 writers from Australia and around the world on the program for the six day event, which runs Saturday March 4 to Thursday March 9 as part of the 2017 Adelaide Festival.

An additional 29 local and international names have been announced for the stellar line-up, including Nathan Hill (US), Graeme Macrae Burnet (UK), Adam Fitzgerald (US), Giulia Enders (GER), Peter Ho Davies (US), Peter Robinson (UK), Jessa Crispin (US) and Decca Aitkenhead (UK), as well as Australians Elizabeth Harrower, Kate Grenville, Sebastian Smee, Patrick Allington and Julia Baird.

They join already announced names including UK journalist and war correspondent Patrick Cockburn, Irish playwright, novelist and poet Sebastian Barry, Jessie Burton (UK), Janine di Giovanni (US), Australian journalist and broadcaster Richard Fidler, Alberto Manguel (ARG/CAN), Kate Summerscale (UK), Booker Prize nominated Canadian author Madeleine Thien, best-selling South Australian author Hannah Kent, and American feminist and internet troll hunter Lindy West for six days of free open air readings and literary conversation in Adelaide's stunning Pioneer Women's Memorial Garden.

The fifth annual event and 32nd Adelaide Writers' Week will host poets, playwrights, novelists, historians, biographers, scientists, feminists, journalists and more from Australia, the US, the UK, Canada, Ireland, Mexico, Cuba, Chile, Korea, Iceland, New Zealand, Indonesia and Germany.

The program will be available to download from adelaidefestival.com.au from Wednesday, February 1.

The award-winning event will bring together some of the world's best contemporary writers and thinkers to discuss subjects of war and peace, migrants and refugees, religion, politics, social engineering, history and borders, both real and imagined.

In her sixth year as Director of Adelaide Writers' Week Laura Kroetsch said the 2017 program is one of the best yet.

"What really excites me about the 2017 program is the diversity of the stories told," Ms Kroetsch said.

"This is a program that explores the plight of the individual as well as celebrating the possible. I feel like it is a balanced mix of fiction and non-fiction and is once again full of discoveries for curious readers and writers alike."

The 2017 event is dedicated to one of Australia's most celebrated writers, Elizabeth Harrower, who joins previously honoured dedicateesBrenda Niall, Robert Dessaix, Margo Lanagan and Christopher Koch.

A titan of the post-war era, Harrower published her first book Down in the City in 1957 at age 29, followed by The Long Prospect, The Catherine Wheel and her 1966 masterpiece The Watch Tower, after which she gave up writing altogether. Nearly half a century of silence later her "lost" novel In Certain Circles was released and Harrower has returned to delight a new generation of writers, readers and critics. She will be joined on stage on the first day of Writers' Week (Saturday March 4) by Michael Heyward, the publisher who made it possible.

The much-loved Kids' Weekend (Sat-Sun March 4-5) returns with two days of stories, painting, printing, parades and more. The Story Tent will feature a swag of children's writers including Nick Earls and Andrew Joyner and Story Trove giving Foley performances of books, including an incredibly cheeky reading of The Very Hungry Bum. Also featured will be the giant inflatable Nylon Zoo, art and craft activities with Nest Studios and writer/illustrator duo Elin Kelsey and Soyeon Kim, who will invite children to help them create a giant mural based on their book You Are Stardust.

New presenting partner Channel 9 will be on-site at the Kids' Weekend, encouraging attendees to visit the 9 News Adelaide Photo Booth, and post a photo with #9adelaide for the chance to win a $500 book pack, while ABC Adelaide will continue the tradition of broadcasting live from the event from Monday to Thursday. And in another event first, Writers' Week is pleased to announce a new partnership with Walford Anglican School for Girls. Walford students will volunteer at the Kids' Weekend, assisting children with making colourful hand fans to keep the crowds cool during the week.

Event goers can also enjoy a whole new world of culinary delights, with the introduction of new Writers' Week caterer Let Them Eat. Already well known to Adelaide foodies from their popular stall at the Adelaide Central Market, Let Them Eat has a focus on fresh, tasty, healthy meals using local ingredients that are sure to tempt your tastebuds.

This year's only ticketed session, The Drunken Botanist lunch with New York Times best-selling author Amy Stewart at the Adelaide Botanic Gardens Restaurant (Tuesday March 7) has already sold out, and promises to be a memorable event exploring drunken botany, diabolical insects and wicked weeds.

Adelaide Writers' Week is a free event, giving writers, readers and lovers of literature a chance to spend a week immersed in stories and experiences. The program guide is available free of charge, and can be collected from all good bookshops and participating newsagents and libraries across Adelaide from Wednesday, February 1, as well as from the Adelaide Festival website adelaidefestival.com.au.

Please see attached media release for the full list of writers attending the 2017 event.

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