We are patiently waiting until this year’s Melbourne Writers Festival begins in just under a month. In the interim, we’ve been planning where we’ll be and who we’ll see from the programme! Running from September 8–11, this year’s theme is ‘Ambition’ and will host over 250 of the world’s most talented storytellers. Guests include Sarah Moss, Robert Dessaix, Brian Cox, Jenny Slate, Alice Oseman, Jennifer Down, Evelyn Araluen, Helen Garner, and many more.

Below, our staff chat about an event they’ve circled in their calendar as an absolute must-see. You can also browse this year’s full programme here.

Brief Encounters

I was a huge fan of Jessica Au’s debut novel Cold Enough for Snow and I can’t wait for this event with her and Melbourne-based author Paul Dalla Rosa (An Exciting and Vivid Inner Life), as they talk about their debut books. Since Au’s Cold Enough for Snow is so measured and precisely written, I would love to hear her discuss her writing and editing process, and how that ‘spareness’ to her style is created.

– Jackie Tang, editor of Readings Monthly

When: Sat 10 Sep, 12pm
Where: State Library Victoria
Tickets: $15–$20, book here

Alice Oseman: Heartstopper

My teenage daughter and I are beside ourselves with excitement to catch Alice Oseman talking about her stellar career and the massive success of the Heartstopper series as part of the digital MWF this year!

– Angela Crocombe, senior buyer and children’s & YA specialist

When: Available on demand from 8 September – 29 September
Where: Online
Tickets: PWYC, book here

The MWF Big Debate: Nihilism Makes Life Worth Living

This year at the MWF, First Nations writers Jazz Money and Chelsea Watego have curated a wonderful series of events, one of which is titled The MWF Big Debate: Nihilism Makes Life Worth Living. This is a brilliant topic for our times and certainly a notion I have been considering often of late. I’m so looking forward to hearing a range of speakers including Jeff Sparrow, Veronica Gorrie and Mykaela Saunders discuss the notion of what is of value right now, what we can hold on to, and what constitutes hope when there is no meaning in our systems. For me, this is the perfect night; the creation of further existential pondering … Oh that, a glass of wine and meeting Chelsea Watego and getting her to sign my copy of Another Day in the Colony.

– Chris Gordon, community engagement & programming manager

When: Sat 10 Sep, 6.30pm
Where: Athenaeum Theatre
Tickets: $30–$35, book here

You’re Too Much

I’m really looking forward to You’re Too Much as I feel this is such an important topic to keep centred in our discourse. The event, platforming successful women and non-binary people to discuss their unapologetic journeys toward success and fulfilment, is sure to be both inspirational and instructive.

– Megan Wood, HR manager

When: Sat 10 Sep, 4pm
Where: The Capitol
Tickets: $30–$35, book here

Ottessa Moshfegh: Lapvona

Given that Lapvona is one of the best things I have read this year, I wouldn’t miss the opportunity to see Ottessa Moshfegh.

– Alison Huber, head book buyer

When: Sun 11 Sep, 12pm
Where: State Library Victoria (Moshfegh appearing live via video)
Tickets: $20–$25, book here

Jarvis Cocker: Good Pop, Bad Bop

There are so many sessions I want to go to at MWF this year, so it is almost impossible to pick just one! But my (sixteen-year-old) heart belongs to Jarvis. I can’t wait to hear him wax lyrical about his youthful ambitions and the road he took to success, because I know that road will be filled with funny stories, gobsmacking insights and I’ll feel sixteen again for at least one hour.

– Rosalind McClintock, marketing manager

When: Sat 10 Sep, 6:30pm
Where: The Capitol (Cocker appearing live via video)
Tickets: $30–$35, book here

Mohsin Hamid: The Last White Man

I’m keen to hear from Mohsin Hamid; his book The Reluctant Fundamentalist is fiction at its best – provocative, mysterious, brimming with ideas. I devoured it. I haven’t had a chance to read his new book, The Last White Man yet, but the premise sounds fascinating; a man awakens one morning, and his skin has turned dark; across the land other people are awakening in new incarnations.

– Mark Rubbo, managing director

When: Fri 9 Sep, 6.30pm
Where: Athenaeum Theatre
Tickets: $30–$35, book here

Teeny Tiny Stevies

Thanks to my three year old I reckon I know every lyric to every Teeny Tiny Stevies song. I also caught his Dad singing ‘I only go to the toilet … on the toilet’ to himself in the supermarket the other day. The Teeny Tiny Stevies event at MWF looks like the perfect entrée to literary festivals for my little guy, so we’ll definitely be front and centre for this one.

– Lian Hingee, digital marketing manager

When: Sun 11 Sep, 10.30am
Where: State Library of Victoria
Tickets: Free, no booking required

Mistakes Were Made

…because the panel (Norman Swan, Sally Seltmann, Sami Shah, Sinead Stubbins, and Eda Gunaydin) are a fascinating and talented mix. And, of course, I’d like to feel better about the many mistakes I’ve made!

– Tom Hoskins, Readings online

When: Fri 9 Sep, 6.30pm
Where: The Wheeler Centre
Tickets: $20–$25, book here