Sorrento Writers Festival
Save The Date: April 23-26, 2026
The Barry Jones Oration By Julia Gillard
The annual Barry Jones Oration was held on Thursday April 24. This year, we were proud and humbled to welcome The Honourable Julia Gillard AC, the 27thPrime Minister of Australia, as our 2025 Orator.
Julia Gillard’s speech was one of the Sorrento Writers Festival’s 2025 highlights. You are welcome to read it via this link. We hope you enjoy it.
Honoring Professor Richard Scolyer
We were thrilled to welcome Richard Scolyer AO and his wife Katie Nicoll as guests at this year’s Festival. In 2024 Richard and his melanoma research colleague Professor Georgina Long were named Australians of the Year for their pioneering work in melanoma, and also for applying their research to brain cancer.
On the Friday of our Festival, Richard joined a panel with Paula Fox, Victoria Mar and Jess Armstrong to discuss melanoma and other cancer prevention and treatment.
Then on Sunday morning, the ABC’s Norman Swan conducted an “In Conversation” with Richard – a one hour chat which was inspiring and deeply moving.
The entire Festival family of staff, volunteers, speakers and audiences wishes Richard well with his ongoing cancer treatment. We thank he and Katie for coming to Sorrento. And we thank the Fox family for making available a helicopter to transport the couple to and from Melbourne.
Sorrento 2025, in pictures
Click through on the pictures to see the gallery full size
Supporters of Sorrento Writers Festival
The Sorrento Writers Festival would not have been possible without the support of our fabulous donors.
You give, we grow
It’s as simple and as wonderful as that.
Thank you to everyone who contributed financially to our 2025 Festival program. Your generosity enabled us to execute a vast program of 169 events and to bring 220 eminent Australian speakers to our coastal town.
For four days, more than 5000 visitors took part in some extraordinary conversations. Thinking shifted and lives changed. Audiences were reminded of the power of books and the importance of storytelling in all its guises. Thank you for allowing us to put on a show.
If you’d like to be part of our 2026 donor and supporter circle, we would love to discuss with you our programming plans, and our organisation’s long-term goals.. Please contact our office [email protected] at any time.
If you would like to donate before June 30, 2025, we welcome your support and invite you to click the Show Your Support button above.
Please remember we have Federal Government DGR status so your donation over $2 is tax deductible. And you are helping us build an outstanding year-round program of author and ideas-inspired events.
Come In, The Water’s Fine
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Telling Australia’s History
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Books as Game Changers
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