State of the Art: The Booker Prize

When

Duration

Location

Ross Family Studio

Glasshouse Port Macquarie and Mid North Coast Co-operative Library Service present:

State of the Art: The Booker Prize

The Booker Prize’s real impact from authors who’d know

For novelists, winning a Booker Prize, one of the most coveted literary awards in the world, is a career- and life-changing achievement.

In this special event, a dazzling array of shortlisted writers and winners reflect on how it shaped their writing lives and read from the works that brought them recognition.

Hear panel discussion with 2025 Booker Prize winner David Szalay (Flesh), 2025 Chair of the judges and previous winner Roddy Doyle (Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha), Susan Choi (Flashlight), Yann Martel (Life of Pi) and Charlotte Wood (Stone Yard Devotional). With host ABC Radio National’s Kate Evans.

Supported by the Literature Translation Institute of Korea and the Korean Cultural Centre Australia.

Supported by the Consulate General of Ireland and Culture Ireland.

Relax, Refuel, Connect

Relax in our SWF Lounge between sessions and take the opportunity to chat and meet like-mined people. Tea, coffee, alcoholic beverages and light refreshments will be available for purchase.

Exclusive Offer

Present your Sydney Writers’ Festival ticket or VIP Festival Pass at Book Face in Port Central or Collins Booksellers Port Macquarie to receive a 10% discount* on books by featured authors in the Live & Local Program. This exclusive offer is valid from 10am Thursday 21 May to 4pm Sunday 24 May, 2026.

*Final discount and qualifying books at the discretion of Book Face and Collins Booksellers management.

Full Program Here(PDF, 3MB)  Book Day & Festival Passes Here

Part of Glasshouse SELECT 2026 Theatre Program

Part of Education @ Glasshouse 2026 Theatre Program   

Susan Choi

Susan Choi is the author most recently of Flashlight, shortlisted for the 2025 Booker Prize, longlisted for the 2025 National Book Award and named a Best Book of the Year by The Guardian, The Economist, The Financial Times, The New Yorker, NPR, the Los Angeles Times, and The Washington Post, among others. Her previous novels are The Foreign Student, American Woman, A Person of Interest, My Education and Trust Exercise, which received the 2019 National Book Award for fiction.

Roddy Doyle

Roddy Doyle was born in Dublin in 1958. He is the author of 12 acclaimed novels including The Commitments, The Snapper, The Van and Smile, two collections of short stories, and Rory & Ita, a memoir about his parents. He won the Booker Prize in 1993 for Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha.

Yann Martel

Yann Martel is a Canadian writer, the author of a collection of short stories, a compilation of letters to a former Prime Minister of Canada and four novels, most notably Life of Pi, for which he won the 2002 Booker Prize. His latest novel, Son of Nobody, inspired by Homer's Iliad and the Trojan War, has just come out. He lives in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan.

David Szalay

Winner of 2025 Booker Prize with Flesh, David Szalay is the author of six works of fiction, including London and the South-East, for which he was awarded the Betty Trask and Geoffrey Faber Memorial prizes, All That Man Is, for which he was awarded the Gordon Burn Prize and Plimpton Prize for Fiction and shortlisted for the Booker Prize, and Turbulence, which won the Edge Hill Prize. Born in Canada, he grew up in London and now lives in Vienna. His work has been translated into more than 30 languages.

Charlotte Wood

Charlotte Wood is the author of seven novels and three books of non-fiction. Her latest book Stone Yard Devotional was described by The Guardian as “a quiet novel of immense power” and has been praised by authors Anne Enright, Tim Winton, Karen Joy Fowler, Hannah Kent and Paula Hawkins, among others. It was shortlisted for the 2024 Booker Prize, among other awards.

Kate Evans

Kate Evans presents The Bookshelf on ABC Radio National (with co-host Cassie McCullagh). She has a PhD in history, too many books and a tendency to over use post-it notes for fear of forgetting a beautifully-turned phrase.

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