The National Young Writers festival is set to take Newcastle by storm in October. 

The National Young Writers Festival is a festival by young writers, for young writers.

It’s a place to gather and share ideas, learn from each other and grow professionally. It’s currently the country’s biggest organized collective gathering of writers, from cities and towns all across Australia, to demonstrate every form of writing in both new and traditional forms. 

This festival runs from the 2nd of October to the 5th, with full days of free programs for anyone to choose from, spread between 8 different venues across town. 

Yak Media’s very own Blair Wise will feature in several events across the festival, including the popular Criticism In A Time of Facism: Exploring censorship.

Blair will be talking alongside other highly respected writers, Patrick Marlborough, Mitch Cave, and Merryana Salem. 

Other events also include Who Do We Speak For?: he expectations & implications of writing about marginality, From My Pen to Yours: Exploring the art of personal essay writing, Queer readings: Our artists celebrate the joy, humour, and creativity of LGBTQ+ storytelling, Dichotomies of Language & Form: Linguistics interacting with craft, And Pitches, Taxes, & Everything Else: Covering the essentials of starting out in the industry. 

Booking is essential if you want to get a seat at any one of these events as they are in high demand and the organizers need to know how many people to expect.  

And for anyone who’s interested volunteering, here’s the contact email for the Artist Liaison and Volunteer Coordinator: kayla@youngwritersfestival.org    

And here’s a word from the Media and Marketing organizer: 

“One of the great things about NYWF in 2025 is that there’s something that appeals to writers and storytellers of all disciplines. When you think of a writers festival, you often think it’s only about those who are writing books. But we’ve got something for everyone, from poets and comics, to those who create zines, and tell stories through music, film, and video. As someone living in Newcastle, I’m really excited to see a program like this in my local area, offering something to the Newy creative scene.” – Monique Wallace, NYWF Marketing & Digital Coordinator