southern highlands
writers’ festival
2026
This year’s festival has wrapped.
Check out our Gallery page in a few weeks for all the latest photos.
SHWF 2026 has wrapped
The 2026 SHWF kicked off with a decadent black-tie Literary Dinner on Thursday 23rd July at Berkelouw Book Barn in Berrima, with special guests Siang Lu, winner of the 2025 Miles Franklin Literary Award and legendary Australian actor/author, Bryan Brown AM. The Festival continued on Friday 24th, Saturday 25th and Sunday 26th July at the iconic Empire Cinemas in Bowral, only 90 minutes drive from Sydney and Canberra.
We had an incredible line-up of authors this year including Bryan Brown AM, Ainslie Harvey, Virginia Haussegger AM, Gail Jones, Astrid Jorgensen OAM, Yumna Kassab, Bri Lee, Siang Lu, Alice Pung OAM, Phoebe Saintilan-Stocks, Lachlan Strahan, Andrew Upton and Prof. Toby Walsh.
More events will be coming soon, so sign-up below for all the latest SHWF news.
Michaela Bolzan
Founder & Artistic Director
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