The program for this year's Byron Bay Writers' Festival, to be held from 25-27 July, has been announced.

There is, as usual, a strong international focus, with writers attending from Sri Lanka, Singapore, Malaysia and Hong Kong. There is also a focus on nonfiction, comedy, and new authors. Serious discussions include ‘The Man Called Jesus: His Place in Our World' with John Carroll, Tim Costello and Jim Wallis, Consuming Innocence: ‘What's Happening to Our Kids?' with Karen Brooks, Maggie Hamilton and Emily Maguire, and History, ‘Fact or Fiction: Filling in the Gaps with Research' with Paul Ham, David Levell, Michael Veitch and Jackie French.

There will be panels on the business of writing and publishing featuring the experienced and the fresh, including Judy Nunn, Deborah Robertson, Steve Toltz, Max Barry, Cate Kennedy, Stefan Laszczuk, Damien Leith and Charlotte Wood. There is humour to be had with the likes of Nury Vittachi, Miriam Margoyles, Tim Ferguson, and Judith Lucy. There is also a crime focus with authors like Colin Bowles, Leigh Redhead, Jarad Henry, Katharine Howell and Sydney Bauer.

The popular literary lunches will revolve around sport, film, and cooking, including guests such as Gideon Haigh, William McInnes, Bruce Beresford, David Stratton and Kylie Kwong. There will also be a strong representation of children's authors.

Tickets for the festival, lunches, workshops and special events are available from the festival website, click here

This article from Australian Bookseller & Publisher magazine is reproduced by kind permission of Thorpe-Bowker, a division of R R Bowker LLC. © Copyright 2008, Thorpe-Bowker

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