Veronica Sullivan’s Essential Reading List To Check Out Before The Melbourne Writers Festival

This year marks the 40th anniversary of Melbourne Writers Festival. For the past four decades, MWF has been celebrating books, writing and big ideas at the annual festival, bringing together Australian and international writers, poets, journalists, artists, performers and thinkers. The full 2026 program has just launched with the theme Visions & Revisions. Running from 7 – 10 May, this year’s MWF celebrates the visionary capability of writers and honours the process of continual remaking that is integral to storytelling and humanity — qualities that are more essential than ever in the age of AI.

Festival Director Veronica Sullivan has put together a reading list featuring just a few of the extraordinary writers taking part. These brilliant books span poetry, short stories, historical fiction, thrillers, dark academia and more, but all are essential additions to your pre-festival reading list.