From serious legal allegations, cancelled talks and heckling audience members to having more writers from diverse backgrounds and experience on the line-up – this year’s Sydney Writers’ Festival showed it remains relevant in 2018, and a powerful platform for discussing the urgent topics on our minds today. Time Out’s editors recap the talks they attended, below:
Why We Read – the talk that ended with legal allegations
Junot Díaz had already been the centre of attention at this panel discussion chaired by Ashley Hay, giving sparkling, quotable responses to the evergreen topic. Speaking from experience as Dominican American, he said that he found “reading is a huge roadblock to integrating into a society” and that as a young person he had “desperately wanted to be part” of the “huge discussion” that was going on in the literary world. Díaz further observed that “to read means to enter into a space of deliberation that society no longer endorses… reading allows us to be a renegade from this current society.”
The Pulitzer Prize-winning author probably did not suspect that he would shortly be a renegade from Sydney Writers’ Festival, leaving the country ahead of schedule after being accused at the end of the session by festival guest Zinzi Clemmons.
It was a stunning conclusion to a fascinating panel that had also included Glorie Edim, who started online book club Well-Read Black Girl. “I grew up reading Little Women and Wuthering Heights but I never had a problem [empathising with the characters],” Edim noted. “You can learn empathy from reading.”
Tara Westover, who was raised by Mormon survivalist parents to expect the apocalypse, said that she had grown up reading 19th century Mormon speeches. In retrospect, “It was a wonderful education,” she said, but she had realised at college she had a lot of catching up to do, which she achieved by reading voraciously. And Australian rare book specialist and author Stuart Kells warned that the infrastructure around reading was itself in peril: “There’s nothing more silent than a closed library.” Nick Dent
Read more about the allegations: A #metoo moment comes to Sydney Writers’ Festival.
Bright Lights, Big City: Dreaming of a Better Sydney – educating the older crowd about the lockouts
In the intimate Seymour Centre’s Sound Lounge, academic Felicity Fenner, Keep Sydney Open’s Tyson Koh and City of Sydney councillor Jess Scully presented their thoughts on the shape of Sydney, looking at its affordability and accessibility for creatives and young people. The three key speakers are not traditionally known as authors or writers (though each have written on the topic and speak regularly), which meant the 45-minute discussion tended to cover speculation over dissection or fierce debate. All three speakers acknowledged the privilege they have to be able to unpack an issue like this.
“We’re really polishing the top of the Maslow hierarchy of needs,” said councillor Scully. Next to other ongoing action such as rallies, parliamentary hearings, forums and talks, this particular session didn’t feel particularly vital in the discussion around Sydney’s nightlife. It did, however, put the discussion in front of a new audience (many of the punters attending this Thursday morning talk appeared to be in their sixties), which was perhaps the greater purpose of this hour-long talk. “We’re becoming a city that is ‘pay to play’, so young people, artists and creatives are getting locked out,” said Koh. Jordan Kretchmer
Still Processing – rating celebrities for their power bottom/topness
New York Times culture podcast hosts Jenna Wortham and Wesley Morris brought humour and lightness to the heavy-hitting topic ‘power’ by getting the audience at their live podcast recording to rate celebrities and politicians – are they a Power Top or a Power Bottom? For the uninitiated, ‘tops’ and ‘bottoms’ are sexual positions. It’s best not to over explain it, but for example Beyoncé – it was agreed – is a “classic power bottom”. Wortham says, “It’s ambition but soft. She is watching you watch her show.”
The most amusing moments came not from the hosts themselves, but in their reactions to the audiences’ reactions – as Melania Trump’s image is projected on the screen there’s a loud gasp; Jenna and Wesley learn what the term ‘starfish’ means; and there’s uncontrollable laughter at the realisation that Kanye’s “a bottom who thinks he’s a top”, but no one’s going to tell him. “He’s a cup that can never be filled,” says Wortham.
After scrolling through Kim K (power top), Facebook itself (“claiming bottom,” says Wesley) and having an audience vote on US lawyer James Comey (we won’t spoil it for you), the inevitable Q&A section really changed the mood. One questioner asked if the US-based writers ever talk about anything outside the US, another asked if race needed to be incorporated into every discussion. The speakers eloquently answered their queries, and the more insightful responses came from questions around queer identities and how much influence The Times had over their work.
Wesley said, “If the thing is also practising misogyny or sexism, we should talk about that.” Jenna said,“It does a disservice to ignore them.” Emma Joyce
Jenny Zhang: Sour Heart – holding a mirror up to whiteness in the room
The NY-based author was in high demand for her first Sydney Writers’ Festival appearance, sitting on two panels and one solo appearance about her phenomenal collection of interlaced stories Sour Heart. We caught her in conversation with Australian author Abigail Ulman at Carriageworks where they discussed this hunger for her perspective. “I don’t even feel represented by own writing,” said Zhang, as she elaborated on the drought of stories written by and for Asian Americans.
Sour Heart’s first person narratives about the experiences of young women growing up in America with Chinese immigrant families have been highly acclaimed for filling this representational gap. Zhang is wary of being idolised as an individual hero, however, and she implored immigrant communities to come forward with their voices. As with a lot of SWF talks, these perspectives can bring a hyper-awareness of the audiences’ whiteness, and Zhang’s crass humour and political punches brought a couple of white-haired jaws to the ground. “Some people are offended by the word c*nt, but not when an entire book is racist, so…” Claire Finneran
Conflicting Narratives: Reporting on International Conflict – how to share truth in war stories
In an age of media instability in which ‘fake news’ has become a common phrase, the role of the war reporter becomes more complex and dangerous. Led by Guardian journalist Ben Doherty, the panel discussed storytelling and truth amidst ongoing conflict and humanitarian crises. The New Yorker staff writers Ben Taub and Alexis Okeowo and the Daily Telegraph Russian correspondent Alec Luhn deliberated over some seemingly irresolvable issues; how to establish journalists’ safety when they’re seen as having hostile agendas and not as independent press, or how to maintain trust in news media when information is refuted by other actors in conflict. While they were occasionally quieted by the enormity of the task and gave long-established advice – “read widely” – the panel passed on great insights into the struggle and importance of sharing truth in conflict. Olivia Gee
Julia Gillard: On Power and Gender – the gathering wave of #MeToo
The Town Hall was heaving for Julia Gillard’s sold-out conversation with journalist Laura Tingle, as they discussed her world and our world, post-misogyny speech smackdown. Gillard ruminated on international female leaders, the impact of the #MeToo movement, and her work with the Global Institute for Women’s Leadership in the UK. And, who better to analyse the role of gender in power than Gillard really?
Her observations about Theresa May, Hillary Clinton and Jacinda Ardern were paired with a call to acknowledging the everyday working woman. “#MeToo is not just about famous people,” said Gillard. “...If #MeToo is going to ultimately make the big difference we all want to see, it’s got to mean something for the woman who gets harassed in her workplace.”
She passionately proclaimed, “This gathering wave is going to be remembered as one of the big moments of feminism.” Yeah! Go 2018! It’s overwhelming to experience such tangible idolatry and respect for Gillard from an Australian audience: she was one of the most publicly ridiculed political figures in our country and it was heartening to feel part of a large mass of people giving their attention and affection to the stage with a raucous standing ovation. CF
Stanley Johnson: Kompromat – a Brexit Remainer changes his mind
Stanley Johnson, 77, is a prominent environmentalist, former European parliament member and the author of 25 books. His other claim to fame is that he’s the father of UK foreign secretary (and co-architect of Brexit) Boris Johnson. Johnson Sr’s latest book is a satirical thriller, Kompromat, that fictionalises the Brexit vote and the election of Donald Trump and weaves them into a conspiracy involving Russia and a Murdoch-like media mogul. In conversation with Louise Adler, Johnson said that he was now in favour of Brexit despite being a Remainer before the referendum. Why? “The country voted.” He added that it wasn’t a given that Brexit would be a disaster in the long run, and that he had faith that his son “had thought about his position”.
At one point Johnson casually asserted that Russian trolling could have influenced not just the US election but also last year’s UK election, given the surprising success of Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour party. He also said that he had put it to Boris (in an email) that trolls might have influenced the Brexit vote too. The foreign secretary’s response? “Give my best to Paul and Cecilia.” ND
SWF Gala: Power – power as privilege and how you use it
“I am a feminist. I’ve identified with that word since I was 17,” said Aminatou Sow, founder of Tech LadyMafia, the first speaker at the Sydney Town Hall event. Each speaker talked on the theme with surprising and varied opinion. For Sow, it was calling for activism in feminism – “It won’t be comfortable or convenient. It won’t get you cookies” – and to read books (a statement she repeated). But for Russian-American author Masha Gessen, it was about “the power of uncertainty”. The author of The Man Without a Face: the Unlikely Rise of Vladimir Putin said they’d learned to live comfortably with uncertainty.
The more rousing speeches came from those closer to home. LGBTQIA activist Sally Rugg was candid with her coming out story (“It felt like I was discovering cancer: I was terrified”) before calling out the media for how they treated stories belonging to LGBTQIA people. “Our very existence is political. When marginalised people have to tell our stories, our stories become tools to challenge power, they become an advertising campaign.” MP Tanya Plibersek called upon the audience to respect and support democracy; “Democracy needs friends more than ever,” she said. “Read widely. Support new media. Support free speech.” And filmmaker Warwick Thornton shared a personal anecdote about a friend who’d written “a terrible” film that later became Sweet Country. The moral being that good stories don’t often follow the rules: “He had written one of the most important films, but I had not recognised it. He told the truth. A lot of our history has been written by the coloniser, and it’s always in favour of the coloniser. It didn’t fit the Hollywood idea.”
For two of the speakers, their issue with the theme of power meant addressing racism. For Tayari Jones, she said “It felt like I were asked to talk about all the ways I am excluded from power”. Instead, the author of Silver Sparrow chose to share a story about the time Judy Blum came to her rescue, connecting her with the head of a publishing house after a series of rejections from publishers. For Pulitzer Prize-winning critic Wesley Morris, his story was about a platonical dumping, by a friend who believed Morris had the power to help and he didn’t. “I had never thought about myself as having any power,” says Morris, who sighed and explained that his friend is a white male and that he, a black male, was carrying “400 years of people who’ve helped me go to work every day.” He says, “It’s a burden to carry this power. Think about the power that you have and how you use it.” EJ