community - 2026-09-09

Northern Beaches Readers Festival brings 52 Australian authors to Avalon

Source: manlyobserver.com.au

Readers will have three days of author talks, workshops and book signings when the Northern Beaches Readers Festival returns to Avalon from 25 to 27 September. The biennial event is built around fiction and the relationship between readers and Australian authors, with organisers aiming to make conversations about books accessible to people who may not see themselves as part of a traditional writers' festival.

Readers will have three days of author talks, workshops and book signings when the Northern Beaches Readers Festival returns to Avalon from 25 to 27 September. The biennial event is built around fiction and the relationship between readers and Australian authors, with organisers aiming to make conversations about books accessible to people who may not see themselves as part of a traditional writers' festival. This will be the festival's third edition and its largest stated program brings together 52 writers for 26 sessions and two workshops. Thirteen of the participating authors are from the Northern Beaches, giving local writers a substantial place alongside established Australian names. Forestville author and festival founder Sandie Docker said the idea grew from her experience as a debut novelist looking at the program for a major literary festival and recognising only half the names. She wanted to create an event centred on the fiction writers readers regularly choose for their own shelves, rather than one aimed primarily at aspiring or working writers. Docker said the distinction matters because the label "writers' festival" can leave some readers with the impression that...