BY SHANNON VALENTINE 

Melbourne Writers Festival makes its return this year, with a diverse range of events across Melbourne's CBD and surrounding suburbs.

From September 8 to 11, Melbourne will be a budding writers' paradise, accessible for all ages, with the underlying theme of Ambition informing the program.

Opening the festival are; winner of the 2022 Miles Franklin Literary Award Jennifer Down (Bodies of Light), Booker Prize finalist Mohsin Hamid (Exit West, The Last White Man) and Professor Aileen Moreton-Robinson (Talkin’ Up to the White Woman) appearing on a panel to discuss what ambition means to them.

This Melbourne Writers Festival, audiences will be able to experience live talks as well as talks from writers based outside of Melbourne that will take place via Zoom.

The festival includes curated events from renowned writers Jazz Money and Chelsea Watego, centreing on the writing of First Nations creatives, as well as international writers, authors, and actors.

The festival will host Brian Cox (Succession), Booker Prize finalist Mohsin Hamid, English author Sarah Moss (Ghost Wall and Summerwater), and Sarah Winman (Still Life) to name a few.

Last year's Writers Festival focused on works by artists and illustrators such as Dr Nyein Chan Aung, alongside snippets of writing from notable Australian writers such as Mandy Beaumont, Nova Weetman and Melanie Cheng.

In comparison to last year, this year's program has a wide variety of talks from various writers, giving the chance for different experiences and writing journeys to be discussed.

A major highlight of the festival includes talks with overseas guests Yassmin Abdel-Magied, Anita Hill, Ottessa Moshfegh, and Sheila Heti as they dive into their writing journeys and life experiences that have led them to being published authors. Live via Zoom, these talks give way to conducting a talk that prior to lockdown, may not have been considered.

Melbourne Writers Festival runs from September 8 - 11. Event details can be found here.