5 unexpected names included in the 2021 Byron Writers festival line up

Byron Writers Festival 2021 has revealed a program of celebrated authors and commentators, as well as new, surprising guests to mark its 25th anniversary.

Byron Writers Festival 2021 will beheld in the grounds of Elements of Byron Resort from August 6 to 8, and in venues throughout the region. Photo: Kurt Petersen

Byron Writers Festival 2021 has revealed a program of celebrated authors and commentators, as well surprising guests, to mark its 25th anniversary.

More than 150 writers and thinkers will gather in Byron Bay to celebrate the power of words and share inspiring stories with festival audiences.

This year, the festival program features memoirists, poets, medicos, environmentalists, commentators, politicians and artists.

Some of the most surprising names on the list are:

Professor Raina MacIntyre.

Professor of Global Biosecurity Raina MacIntyre: Raina MacIntyre (MBBS Hons 1, M App Epid, PhD, FRACP, FAFPHM) is NHMRC Principal Research Fellow and Head of the Biosecurity Program at the Kirby Institute, UNSW.

She leads a research program in control and prevention of infectious diseases, spanning vaccinology, pandemics, bioterrorism and emerging infections, and personal protective equipment. Her area of vaccine expertise is vaccination of older adults and immunosuppressed people, as well as the role of influenza and other infections on triggering cardiovascular events, and how these can be prevented by vaccines.

She is interested in surveillance for epidemics and biothreats, and developed an automated, open source rapid epidemic observatory, Epiwatch, to detect early signals of serious epidemic or bioterrorism events. She has over 400 peer reviewed publications.

She has received many awards, including the Sir Henry Wellcome Medal and Prize from the Association of Military Surgeons of the US, the Public Health Association of Australia’s National Immunisation Award (for her research on adult vaccination), and the Frank Fenner Award for Research in Infectious Diseases.

Activist and documentarist Ben Randall.

Activist and documentarist Ben Randall: Following the abductions of his friends from Vietnam in 2011, Ben founded The Human, Earth Project to raise awareness of human trafficking and women’s rights issues. His work has been seen by millions of people around the world via CNN, Discovery Channel, Newsweek, ABC, CBC, Channel NewsAsia, Walk Free, Freedom United, etc.

Comedian Christian Hull.

Comedian Christian Hull (Leave Me Alone): Christian Hull is a comedian, writer, podcaster and prolific content creator, best known for his personal, off-the-cuff videos. His podcast Complete Drivel drives over 9000 listeners tuning into each episode to hear his outlandish stories and general chit chat, and sits within the top 100 podcasts in Australia.

Poet Fiona Murphy.

Deaf poet Fiona Murphy (The Shape of Sound): Fiona Murphy is an award-winning deaf poet and essayist based in the Blue Mountains. Her work has been published in Kill Your Darlings, Overland, Griffith Review and the Big Issue, among other publications. Her debut memoir, The Shape of Sound, was released by Text Publishing in March 2021.

Northern Rivers businesswoman Pam Brook.

Businesswoman and innovator Pam Brook (We Can All Eat That!): Pam Brook was co-founder of Brookfarm (1999) and Cape Byron Distillery (2016). Not only the Northern Rivers resident is one of the most successful businesswoman in the area, an innovator and farmer, she is now also an author. Her new book We Can All Eat That! delves into the idea of raising adventurous eaters while helping prevent food allergies.

For a full list of writers and presenters, click here.

A separately ticketed program of Satellite Events throughout the region includes Archie Roach in concert at NORPA in Lismore, free artist talks at Tweed Regional Gallery & Margaret Olley Art Centre and Lismore Regional Gallery, Goorie-Koorie poet Evelyn Araluen at Southern Cross University Lismore, as well as a conversation with chef Matthew Evans and a Youth Poetry Slam at the The Regent Theatre in Murwillumbah.

Byron Writers Festival 2021 will beheld in the grounds of Elements of Byron Resort from August 6 to 8, and in venues throughout the region. For details visit www.byronwritersfestival.com/festival.