Sorrento Writers Festival

190 speakers
135 events
Several new events, including a conversation between actor, writer and social activist Magda Szubanski and ABC Global Affairs Editor John Lyons on Saturday April 27, 12pm at Halcyon Hall
To easily find all new event details, program updates and venue changes, please view our Program Updates page
More than 13k tickets sold
Many seats still available
13 local venues, including our two primary schools, join the Festival celebration
Many discussions covering a vast range of topics. From politics to AI, romance fiction to Miles Franklin Award winners, sport, gardening, cookbooks we love and workplace politics, we have a conversation (or 10) you’ll love
A new edition of our FREE printed program, is now available

To stay in touch, keep an eye on our Instagram @sorrentowritersfestival and if you haven’t already done so, sign up to our e-newsletter for updates and much more.

Day Passes are still available for purchase.

And please don’t forget, there will be no ticket refunds from 9am Monday April 22.

Revisit the 2023 Festival

We had some of our most popular events recorded as video and audio so if you missed these sessions or want to rewatch them, you can purchase them below.

What People Said About The 2023 Festival

The 2023 Sorrento Writers Festival was a resounding success. In our first year, the Sorrento Writers Festival established itself as one of Victoria’s most exciting literary events. Feedback from presenters and the public was incredible.

Hi Corrie, I wish to thank you and your army of volunteers who stood by the festival and believed its success would catapult it for an annual event marked on the calendar. Thank you bringing communities, visitors and writing enthusiasts together - believers of the art.

Chris Hammer

Author

What a fabulous, inspiring, thought provoking festival you hosted. It was such a lovely environment to immerse oneself in - everyone was friendly, inclusive and genuinely thrilled to be there. I was particularly delighted with the way the Voice was received. Thomas Mayo is a star. As is Corrie. Actually she is an entire galaxy.

Belinda B

There was so much to love about the Sorrento Writers Festival, but here’s what matters: I spoke with several audience members who’d never been to a writer’s festival before. And they loved it. They each left the session excited by books, and ideas, and stories. For me, introducing the most democratic of art forms to regional Victorians was the best part of the weekend.

Toni Jordan

Writer

Debra Mar

Mornington Peninsula Deputy Mayor

2023 Festival in Pictures

The local community embraced the idea of a new cultural event on the Mornington Peninsula’s southern tip, while first-time visitors to the area were delighted by the region’s natural beauty, the shopping, cafes and bars, and the warm and inclusive welcome they received.

Supporters of Sorrento Writers Festival

The Sorrento Writers Festival would not have been possible without the support of our fabulous donors.

VIEW ALL DONORS | VIEW FRIENDS OF THE FESTIVAL

You give, we grow

It’s as simple and as wonderful as that.

We thank those who donated to our 2024 and 2023 Festival. And if you’d like to contribute financially as we plan 2024, please click the Show Your Support button above – and thank you.

words matter

Welcome to The Sorrento Writers Festival, a new not-for-profit cultural and community organisation that will bring year-round literary events, discussions and talks to Sorrento and the wider Mornington Peninsula community.

Our inaugural four-day Festival runs April Thursday 27 to Sunday 30 and we hope you’ll join us.

This seaside gathering of great ideas brings together some of Australia’s finest minds and deepest thinkers. In April we welcome more than 100 writers, journalists, academics, commentators, illustrators, and musicians to our beautiful part of the Peninsula. And we can’t wait.

The Sorrento Writers Festival acknowledges the Bunurong people of the great Kulin Nation, the traditional owners of the land on which our Festival takes place. We celebrate our region’s deep First Nations history, its European settler influence, and its contemporary role as one of Victoria’s most beautiful coastal villages.

GET YOUR TICKETS NOW

The Festival begins in

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Hours

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Connect.
Share.
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Learn.

The Sorrento Writers Festival is an opportunity for writers, readers and the wider Sorrento community to come together to celebrate the power of storytelling.