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22 Best Sorrento Writers Festival 2026 Events You Can Still Book
Running from 23rd to 26th April, the 2026 Sorrento Writers Festival brings big names, sharp ideas and plenty of reasons to plan a literary weekend on the Peninsula. These are the free and special events still worth locking in.
Every April, Sorrento slips into a different register. The streets are still lovely in that long-weekend way, but for four days, the Peninsula town becomes a meeting point for readers, writers, big ideas and the people who like their autumn escapes with a little more substance. Running from 23rd to 26th April, the 2026 Sorrento Writers Festival is shaping up as its most expansive yet, with 155 events, 200 speakers and more than 10 free sessions spread across Sorrento and Portsea. Nobel Laureate Professor Peter Doherty will deliver this year’s Barry Jones Oration, while names including Geraldine Brooks, Helen Garner, Evelyn Araluen, Pip Williams and John Boyne bring real weight to a program that moves between politics, memoir, literature, culture and the complicated state of the world right now.
And while plenty of sessions have already been circled in thick black marker or sold out in minutes, there are still some very good reasons to book, or simply turn up. From free morning talks and writers-on-writing sessions to special events that feel worth building a weekend around, this year’s line-up has range, relevance and just enough glamour to make a literary pilgrimage to the coast feel irresistible.
The Marquee Names & Biggest Drawcards
Drinks With The Journos / The Evening Feed
One of the festival’s biggest drawcards, this special event rounds up Geraldine Brooks, Annabel Crabb, Jennifer Byrne and Marian Wilkinson for an evening of smart, spirited conversation. With that calibre of names in one room, it has obvious star power, but the real appeal is the chance to hear four formidable voices cut through the noise with wit, clarity and lived perspective.
Book tickets here
Saturday April 25th, 4pm (60-minute session), $45
Halcyon Hall, The Continental
Celebrating Stephanie Alexander: 30 years of A Cook’s Companion
One of the festival’s most special events, this milestone conversation brings together Stephanie Alexander and Virginia Trioli to reflect on the enduring legacy of A Cook’s Companion. For anyone who cares about food, cooking and the way Australia gathers around the table, this is a beautiful chance to hear two of the country’s most beloved voices explore how our food culture has changed, and why the pleasures of cooking well still hold such lasting power.
Book tickets here
Thursday April 23rd, 12pm (60-minute session), $55
Halcyon Hall, The Continental
In Conversation: Melissa Leong
One of the festival’s most magnetic sessions, this conversation brings Melissa Leong together with Jane Hone for an honest look at food, ambition and the impossible chances that shape a life. Beloved for her intelligence, warmth and immaculate palate, Leong pairs real star power with real substance, making this a compelling chance to hear one of Australia’s most recognisable food voices speak with candour, style and depth.
Book tickets here
Thursday April 23rd, 10:30am (60-minute session), $35
The Ballroom, The Continental
In Conversation: Lisa Wilkinson
One of the festival’s biggest drawcards, this session brings Lisa Wilkinson together with Jo Dyer to unpack the extraordinary story behind The Titanic Story of Evelyn. With Wilkinson’s unmistakable profile and the dramatic pull of a forgotten Australian life at the centre of one of history’s most enduring disasters, this promises a compelling hour of biography, bravery and storytelling with real emotional sweep.
Book tickets here
Friday April 24th, 1:30pm (60-minute session), $35
Portsea Surf Life Saving Club
In Conversation: A.C. Grayling and Geoffrey Robertson
One of the festival’s most formidable sessions, this conversation brings Geoffrey Robertson and A.C. Grayling together for a discussion spanning authoritarianism, war crimes and the political questions pressing hardest on public life right now. With two exceptionally sharp minds on stage, it promises a rigorous, high-calibre hour for anyone drawn to big ideas, democratic pressure points and the legal and moral fault lines of the modern world.
Book tickets here
Sunday April 26th, 8am, $35
Community Centre, Sorrento Community Centre
The Michael Gordon Forum
One of the festival’s major marquee events, this special forum brings Annabel Crabb, Tom McIlroy and Jim Middleton together for a timely discussion on the state of the nation. Framed in honour of Michael Gordon, it carries real gravitas, with the added draw of hearing three seasoned political voices unpack the mood, momentum and pressures shaping public life right now.
Book tickets here
Friday April 24th, 6pm (90-minute session), $60
Halcyon Hall, The Continental
Food, Design, Culture & Beautiful Things
Frankenstein And Heathcliff Crushes: Gothic films are reviving the classics
One of the festival’s most deliciously niche sessions, this conversation taps into the renewed obsession with literature’s dark romantics and the Hollywood hunger for gothic reinvention. With Deirdre Coleman and Clara Tuite joining Seth Robinson, it promises a smart, spirited look at why stories by Mary Shelley, Emily Brontë, Bram Stoker and Jane Austen still cast such a powerful spell on modern audiences.
Book tickets here
Thursday April 23rd, 12pm (60-minute session), $35
Bowls Club, Sorrento Bowls Club
Plate To Print: How to make food writing sizzle
One of the festival’s most delicious sessions, this conversation brings together Stephanie Alexander, Victoria Brownlee and Kate Reid with Celia Hirsh for a thoughtful look at the way food writing shapes appetite, memory and desire. For anyone drawn to cookbooks, restaurant culture and the art of making people want a seat at the table, this feels like an especially irresistible addition to the program.
Book tickets here
Thursday April 23rd, 3pm (60-minute session), $35
Hotel Sorrento (Cooper Room)
Melbourne’s Hidden Interiors
One of the festival’s chicest sessions, this conversation brings together Stephen Crafti and Kristine Slawinski with Jaclyn Crupi for a look inside Melbourne’s most fascinating homes and buildings. Grounded in architecture, design and the enduring appeal of a beautiful coffee table book, it feels tailor-made for anyone drawn to the city’s more refined domestic worlds and the stories held within them.
Book tickets here
Thursday April 23rd, 1:30pm (60-minute session), $35
The Ballroom, The Continental
Breakfast With The Gardeners
One of the festival’s loveliest special events, this pastries-and-coffee breakfast brings Tim Pilgrim and Jac Semmler together with Kate Seddon for a conversation steeped in gardens, design and the pleasures of living close to nature. With beautiful books, landscape thinking and the promise of a very civilised start to the day, this feels like a particularly elegant pick for anyone drawn to homes, beauty and the art of creating a garden worth retreating to.
Book tickets here
Sunday April 26th, 8am (45-minute session), $45
The Ballroom, The Continental
Writers on Writing, Fiction & the Reading Life
From News to Narrative: How three journalists became novelists
One of the festival’s most fascinating craft-led sessions, this conversation brings together Michael Brissenden, Paul Daley and Rebecca Armitage with Tim Ayliffe for a look at what happens when seasoned journalists turn to fiction. With reporting instincts, sharp observation and real-world experience behind them, the appeal here is hearing how three accomplished writers made the technical and emotional leap from chasing facts to shaping story.
Book tickets here
Thursday April 23rd, 1:30pm (60-minute session), $35
Ellen Grant Hall
How Fiction Can Help Us Better Understand The Human Condition
One of the festival’s more thought-provoking sessions, this conversation brings together three Melbourne psychiatrists to explore what literature can reveal about who we are and how we move through the world. With Pia Brous, Nick Ingram and Rick Yeatman joined by Nicky Bisogni, it promises a compelling look at the way great fiction sharpens empathy, deepens self-knowledge and helps make sense of the messier corners of human experience.
Book tickets here
Friday April 24th, 12pm (60-minute session), $35
Bowls Club, Sorrento Bowls Club
Between Us: A.C. Grayling and Sarah Wilson
One of the festival’s most intriguing sessions, this conversation brings A.C. Grayling and Sarah Wilson together with Sally Warhaft for a meeting of philosophy, literature and the life of the mind. Framed as a Sorrento version of their Paris coffee catch-ups, it promises the rare pleasure of hearing two sharp, searching thinkers in genuine dialogue, with the kind of chemistry that makes big ideas feel alive.
Book tickets here
Sunday April 26th, 10.30am (60 minute session), $35
Halcyon Hall, The Continental
Messy Characters = Great Fiction
One of the festival’s most lively literary sessions, this conversation brings Bri Lee, Kate Mildenhall and JP Pomare together with Hannie Rayson to unpack why flawed, unruly characters are so often the ones we cannot stop reading. With questions of selfhood, recognition and creative borrowing woven through it, this feels like a sharp, entertaining hour for anyone fascinated by the strange alchemy of character on the page.
Book tickets here
Saturday April 25th, 2:30pm (60-minute session), $35
Ellen Grant Hall
Big Ideas, Politics & the State of the World
The Iran Crisis: Fuel Security and Defeating Climate Change
One of the festival’s most timely sessions, this short presentation welcomes economist Emeritus Professor Ross Garnaut AC for a focused look at fuel security, decarbonisation and Australia’s so-called superpower opportunity. For anyone drawn to the big questions shaping the country’s future, this feels like a sharp, high-stakes addition to the program, pairing geopolitical urgency with serious economic and climate insight.
Book tickets here
Thursday April 23rd, 12pm (45-minute session), $35
Hotel Sorrento – Salt Bar, Hotel Sorrento (Salt Bar)
100 Days After Bondi: Where to from here?
One of the festival’s most serious and consequential conversations, this session brings together Linda Dessau, Lee Kofman and Paul Kelly with Corrie Perkin to reflect on the aftermath of the Bondi attack and the social and political questions it continues to raise. Grounded in grief, legacy and the urgent need for action, it is a thoughtful addition to the program for those wanting a deeper discussion about the country we are living in now.
Book tickets here
Thursday April 23rd, 3pm (60-minute session), $35
The Continental
The Power Of Choice: A year of photographing Australians who chose assisted dying
One of the festival’s most moving sessions, this conversation brings together Andrew Denton and Julian Kingma with Sally Warhaft for a deeply affecting reflection on choice, dignity and the final chapter of life. Through photography, advocacy and personal testimony, it promises a considered and powerful discussion that sits among the program’s most emotionally resonant events.
Book tickets here
Friday April 24th, 10:30am (60-minute session), $35
Halcyon Hall, The Continental
In Conversation: A.C. Grayling
One of the festival’s most intellectually charged sessions, this conversation brings A.C. Grayling together with Libbi Gorr for a wide-ranging discussion on democracy, authoritarianism and the ideas shaping public life right now. With Grayling’s formidable body of work spanning philosophy, politics and human rights, this promises a sharp, substantial hour for anyone drawn to big questions and even bigger minds.
Book tickets here
Saturday April 25th, 1pm (60-minute session), $35
Community Centre, Sorrento Community Centre
Smashed Avos: And other challenges for the first-time home owner
One of the festival’s most timely sessions, this conversation brings Chris Kohler and Bernard Salt together with Katrina Strickland for a clear-eyed look at the housing crisis and the pressures facing first-home buyers now. With a title that nods to one of Australia’s most infamous generational talking points, it feels like a smart, provocative addition to the program with plenty of real-world relevance.
Book tickets here
Saturday April 25th, 1pm (60-minute session), $35
Portsea Surf Life Saving Club
The Sessions That Stay With You
On Grief And Loss: Transforming trauma into words
One of the festival’s most tender and affecting sessions, this conversation brings together Geraldine Brooks and Bob Carr with Madeleine Grummet for a reflection on love, sudden loss and the difficult work of turning grief into language. With two deeply personal books at its centre, it promises a thoughtful and moving hour that feels especially resonant for anyone drawn to stories of heartbreak, remembrance and repair.
Book tickets here
Friday April 24th, 3pm (60-minute session), $35
Community Centre, Sorrento Community Centre
Basket Case Or World’s Most Liveable? Five years after Lockdown, how is Melbourne?
One of the festival’s most locally charged conversations, this session brings together The Paris End editors Cameron Hurst, Sally Olds, and Oscar Schwartz, with Nicholas Reece and Dan Ziffer, for a lively look at Melbourne’s identity five years on from lockdown. For anyone still invested in where the city is headed, and whether its old sparkle can fully return, it feels like a sharp, timely addition to the program with plenty to unpack.
Book tickets here
Sunday April 26th, 3pm (60 minute session), $35
Ellen Grant Hall
The Village Square: Music, Fables And Your Own Imagination
One of the festival’s most transportive special events, this after-dark session brings together Zoe Knighton, Robbie Melville and Richard Piper for an enchanting blend of live music and spoken storytelling. Set in an imagined village of myth, misfortune and wonder, it feels like a rare chance to step briefly outside real life and into something more atmospheric, playful and beautifully strange.
Book tickets here
Friday April 24th, 5pm (90-minute session), $45
Bowls Club, Sorrento Bowls Club
This year’s Sorrento Writers Festival makes a very persuasive case for an autumn escape with substance, sparkle and plenty to talk about. Come for the marquee names and big ideas, then make time for the sessions that delight, provoke and surprise. For more brilliant things to do in Melbourne and beyond right now, dip into our monthly guide or book a table at one of these Mornington Peninsula restaurants.
