Newcastle Writers’ Festival is coming to Cessnock!

Cessnock City Council is thrilled to welcome the 2019 Newcastle Writers Festival back to Cessnock for the second time. Once again the Festival is teaming up with Cessnock City Library and Cessnock Performing Arts Centre (CPAC) to host a prestigious author event and popular children’s author program in local schools.

Cessnock City Mayor, Councillor Bob Pynsent said last year’s event was excellent and it’s wonderful to see it coming back to Cessnock. 

“The festival has been running since 2013 and continues to grow. Last year the program boasted 140 writers, over 80 events and was enjoyed by around over 11 000 visitors, including 3 000 school children. We are excited to be a part of this fantastic celebration of writers and welcome visitors to our local government area.”

On Thursday 4 April local school students will be lucky enough to meet and hear from acclaimed Australian children’s authors Matt Stanton, Katrina Nannestad and Oliver Phommavanh. The authors will visit nine locations, attended by a total of 18 schools as part of the Festival’s Schools Program. The visiting writers will perform their work, talk about their craft and take questions offering students a unique and creative learning experience. 

On Saturday 6 April at 7.30pm, Secrets and Lies: An Evening with Michael Robotham will be held at CPAC. In 2018, Michael was headed to Cessnock as part of the Festival but instead found himself having life-saving heart surgery. We are proud to announce this much-anticipated talk has been rescheduled for this year’s festival. 

There is no doubt it will be a memorable evening with the novelist in his early years working as an investigative journalist across America, Australia and Britain. He investigated notorious cases such as the serial killer couple, Fred and Rosemary West and worked with clinical and forensic psychologists assisting police investigate psychological driven crimes.

In 1993, Michael quit journalism to become a ghostwriter for non-fiction titles involving prominent figures in the military, arts, sport, and science. Michael's 2004 debut thriller, The Suspect, sold more than one million copies around the world. In 2015, he won the UK's prestigious Crime Writers' Association Gold Dagger Award with his standalone thriller Life or Death and in 2018 won the Australian Book Industry Award for General Fiction Book of the Year with The Secret She Keeps. He has now written 13 novels that have sold millions of copies worldwide.

Tickets to Secrets and Lies: An Evening with Michael Robotham are $25 and available by contacting CPAC on 4993 4266. This event will be hosted by award-winning author Barry Maitland. Michael Robotham will also be signing books after the event.  

 2/25/2019