Community and vulnerability at the Sydney Writers’ Festival 2025
Eva Telemachou (ToBeRead Bookclub) reviews.
Sydney Writers’ Festival is always a highlight of my year and such an incredible weekend buzzing with community and creatives. This year, the atmosphere was warm, vibrant, and so amazing to be a part of. Everyone was deep in conversation about what they were reading and how they found all the amazing talks. As a book club (@tobereadbookclub) that celebrates storytelling and community, it felt like the perfect place to be.
What makes a festival like this so special is the way it brings people together through words. It’s not just about authors on a stage, but instead about sharing perspectives, challenging ideas, and feeling part of something bigger. From thought-provoking panels to intimate in-conversation sessions and book signings, there was a real sense of connection and a celebration of what it means to be a reader in all its forms.
A standout for me was seeing the diversity of voices represented with writers from all backgrounds sharing powerful, personal, and often deeply moving stories. The Sydney Writers’ Festival doesn’t just celebrate literature, it cultivates a space for empathy, dialogue, and inspiration. We left feeling re-energised and more committed than ever to fostering community through books and conversation.
I am already counting down to next year!
I was lucky enough to see a couple of events including:
Baker’s Delight with Nadine Ingram, Natalie Paull, and Kate Reid, hosted by Jennifer Wong.
FEAST: Family Style with Candice Chung, Tony Tan, Samah Sabawi, Kate Reid, Virginia Trioli, and Richard Glover, hosted by Jennifer Wong
The Business of Beauty with Lucinda Price, Rebecca Reynolds, and Chloe Elisabeth Wilson, hosted by Yumi Stynes
FEAST: Family Style
They were all incredible and it is truly hard to put one on a pedestal. However FEAST: Family Style was a talk I am already looking forward to seeing again next year. The room was laughing, crying, and fully attentive to the amazing stories shared and told. There is something so therapeutic about someone reading to you, sharing their story and opening up.
On Saturday evening, six chefs stood on the stage and opened their hearts to share a part of their story. Everyone’s journey was so uniquely different.
We were laughing about Richard Glover's cooking fails and Virginia Trioli’s story of making her son his birthday cake every year. Then we cried with Samah as she opened her heart, and shared about how food connects her to her family in Gaza and the memories this holds for her.
It was a powerful reminder of how food, like storytelling, connects us across cultures, families, and generations. FEAST: Family Style wasn’t just a talk; it was a shared experience of laughter, vulnerability, and deep human connection.
Leaving the room, there was a sense that we’d all been part of something truly special. It captured exactly what makes the Sydney Writers’ Festival so meaningful: people coming together to listen, to feel, and to walk away just a little more open than when they arrived.
