Brisbane Writers Festival is back in 2021 for their 59th year, as they turn the page on a new chapter for the Festival.

The program has been announced and tickets are on sale at bwf.org.au.  

This year they play host to some incredibly talented authors including some of Hardie Grant’s own: 

Thomas Mayor:

Fri 7 May 2021, 5pm The Journey of the Uluru Statement of the Heart

Professor Megan Davis has been the leading constitutional lawyer working on Indigenous constitutional reform since 2011. She led the Referendum Council’s work designing the deliberative constitutional dialogue process which led to her, along with other First Nations leaders, delivering the Uluru Statement of the Heart to the Australian people on 26 May 2017. Torres Strait Islander writer Thomas Mayor travelled the nation for a year to garner support for the Uluru Statement from the Heart. Mayor and Professor Davis are in conversation, discussing black activism, dissent, and mobilising community.

Sat 8 May 2021, 6pm  Remixing the World to Save Our Lives

More than ever, we are in desperate need for our economic, social, political, cultural and infrastructure to change – and fast. Join Tim Flannery, Damien Gameau, Thomas Mayor and Jess Scully as they discuss if this this possible? And if so, what does this look like? And what is the roadmap to getting there? 

Sun 9 May 2021, 1pm  The World's Biggest Survival Story

First Nations people have survived – and thrived – on this continent for at least 65,000 years. According to the common law, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have been here from ‘time immemorial’. With Australia now in medical, ecological and economic crisis, what insights from First Nations survival illuminate how we all might survive the future? Join Melissa Lucashenko, Bruce Pascoe, Lisa Fuller and Thomas Mayor. 

Victor Steffensen:

Sun 9 May 2021, 12pm Fire Country

Indigenous land management expert Victor Steffensen is working towards the revival of Indigenous fire practices, improving people’s connection to country, and undertaking ‘cool burns’ to ameliorate the disastrous impacts of Australian bushfires on our landscape and environment. Victor will be in conversation with Rhianna Patrick

Sun 9 May 2021, 1pm  The World's Biggest Survival Story

First Nations people have survived – and thrived – on this continent for at least 65,000 years. According to the common law, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have been here from ‘time immemorial’. With Australia now in medical, ecological and economic crisis, what insights from First Nations survival illuminate how we all might survive the future? Join Melissa Lucashenko, Bruce Pascoe, Lisa Fuller and Thomas Mayor.