Who I’m Excited to See This Year
We are reaching that wonderful time of the year again: Adelaide Writer’s Week. Once again, the Pioneer Women’s Memorial Gardens will be filled again with the magic of writers from across the world and that awe-inspiring book tent.
My time at Adelaide Writer’s Week this year may be compromised, however. From now, soon starting to work full-time to an extremely tight budget, visiting Writer’s Week this year might be more difficult than the last few years. Yet, despite these limitations, there are some authors here that I am excited for appearing this year. Even if I can’t make it to see them, I want to share them with you today, in the event you might be interested in them too.
All this is based from the 2023 Writers Week print guide (link here). Information and appearances may change between now and when the event happens on March 4-9.
Jane Harper
Jane Harper has made a name for herself in crime fiction with her rural Australia crime stories. Her most famous of these is The Dry, which was adapted into a film in 2020 starring Eric Bana. She will be making an appearance at this year’s Writer’s Week, certainly as one of the headline authors.
Her 2016 novel The Dry is one of my favourite reads in recent years. Being based in regional Victoria, like the area where my fiancé originates from, I really connected with the setting. I also loved the plot twists involved in the story. On top of that, Aaron Falk has that same hardboiled detective vibe as Raymond Chandler’s Philip Marlowe. If you haven’t read The Dry yet, I highly recommend it, alongside the film adaptation.
Jane Harper will be appearing on Thursday, March 9, at 1:15pm on the East Stage for her panel “The Aussie Queen of Noir”.
Richard Fidler
Richard Fidler is one of those unique authors who can tell complex histories intertwined with personal narratives. The ABC Radio National Conversations host is once again gracing the stage at Adelaide Writers Week this year, where he will be talking about his latest book The Book of Roads and Kingdoms.
The reason why I am excited for his appearance is because of his previous book Ghost Empire. This book was my introduction to the Eastern Roman Empire, better known as the Byzantine Empire. I really enjoyed his telling of the thousand-year history of the empire, intertwined with an adventure he took with his son across what used to be part of that empire. This book made me interested in finding out more about the Eastern Roman Empire over that time.
Fidler will be making three session appearances at this year’s Writers Week. These are: “Adventures in the Golden Age of Islam” (Saturday, March 4, 10:45am east stage), chairing Don Watson’s panel “Between Two Worlds” (Saturday, March 4, 3:45pm, east stage) and appearing alongside fellow Conversations host Sarah Kanowski at “Under the Covers” (Sunday, March 5, 5pm, east stage).
Randa Abdel-Fattah
Another previous visitor to Adelaide Writers Week, Randa Abdel-Fattah is once again appearing at this year’s festival.
Randa Abdel-Fattah is an author of multiple books, one of them being the YA novel When Michael Met Mina. This was one of the many pick-ups me and my fiancé got from the 2021 Adelaide Writers Week. Words cannot describe how much we both really enjoyed this novel, mainly because all those words I wrote back in 2021, which you can find here.
You can catch Randa Abdel-Fattah at three sessions at this year’s Adelaide Writers Week. These are: “Love on the Margins” alongside Sarah Ayoub (Sunday, March 5, 11am, Torrens Tent”, “Authors Take Sides” alongside Dr Ramzy Baroud, Mohammed El-Kurd and Peter Singer (Sunday, March 5, 1:15pm, East Stage) and chairing “Writing from Stolen Lands” (Tuesday, March 7, 2:30pm, North Stage).
A Brief Wrap-Up
These are only three of many authors I’m excited to see at the 2023 Adelaide Writers Week. There are many other authors and popular figures appearing this year too, including: Gail Jones, Shaun Micallef, Sarah Hanson-Young, Sean Williams and Craig Silvey to name only a few. If I get a chance to visit it this year, I’ll be sure to write up a summary after the festival.
Adelaide Writers Week over the last two years has also been putting up their panels as podcasts on Spotify. If you’re curious as to what happens at this festival, or would like to get a feel for it, check these podcasts out.
Cameron Lowe 
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