BOOKWORMS’ HEAVEN

More than 100 writers and thinkers will converge on Byron Bay to celebrate all things literary at Byron Writers Festival from August 4-6.

The festival has already given a tantalising taste of things to come revealing an initial line-up of impressive guests including acclaimed Australian novelists Kate Grenville and Hannah Kent; crime writer Michael Robotham; commentators and writers Tony Jones, John Safran and David Marr; Sudanese refugee and lawyer Deng Thiak Adut; musician and fiction writer Holly Throsby and beloved children’s authors Sally Rippin and Morris Gleitzman.

International guests will include award-winning science writer Dava Sobel whose upcoming book The Glass Universe uncovers the hidden history of female astronomers; American biology professor David George Haskell who puts a stethoscope to nature’s most magnificent networkers and listens to The Song of Trees; acclaimed UK writer and foreign affairs reporter Christina Lamb whose book Nujeen tells one girl's incredible journey from war-torn Syria in a wheelchair; and celebrated visual artist Venkat Raman Singh Shyam. Tickets at byronwritersfestival.com or 6685 5115.