AT THE GAYEST PARTY SINCE 1986 The Byron Shire Echo • Volume 41 #10 • August 19, 2026 • www.echo.net.au
Tears, anger and joy at 2026 Byron Writers Fest
Kerry O’Brien and Richard Flanagan at the 2026 Byron Writers Festival. Photo Jeff Dawson David Lowe There was a lot less mud and a lot more walking at this year’s glorious celebration of words, the Byron Writers Festival, which took place in a series of venues around Byron Bay over last weekend. Such a cornucopia is impossible to distil to a few paragraphs, so what follows are a few highlights, in vaguely chronological order. One highlight was Kerry O’Brien’s Thea Astley, Address ‘Lessons from History’, where he shared the stage with Booker-winner Richard Flanagan.
Most venues across the festival were packed to enthusiastic capacity, with the general consensus that the move into town was a great success, especially as the rain started falling across the weekend. On Friday, Radio National’s Richard Fidler gave an interviewing masterclass in his conversation with publishing legend Louise Adler, covering everything from her family’s Holocaust history up to the recent dramas surrounding Adler’s attempt to bring a Palestinian perspective to the last Adelaide Writers’ Week, which led to political
Lynda Dean Man seriously leaves with grace injured in Byron’s in peace ▶ p2 Railway Park ▶ p6
interference and ultimately the destruction of the event after a boycott from 180 authors in support of Adler. New writers were well supported at the Byron festival, with a series of events focusing on the fast-changing world of self-publishing, which has gone from being the poor relation of the publishing world to the main event, in some cases. Back in the big tent, an event honouring the mighty contributions of Mungo MacCallum to the craft of journalism saw a conversation between Sean Kelly and Antoinette
Lattouf, and Mandy Nolan stepping in as chair at short notice. After idealistic beginnings as a young journalist, Lattouf later found herself cancelled by the ABC after daring to report a Human Rights Watch post on local radio, then won against her former employer when the case went to court. In an era where politics has become more about performance than policy, and many journalists have become embedded in one way or another, the panel remembered Mungo’s ability to cut through political nonsense.
His widow Jenny Garrett spoke about his fury about the large space created for lobbyists when the federal parliament moved up the hill. The blurring of commentary and reporting was lamented, along with the loss of experienced rounds reporters and the way breaking news and commentary have replaced in-depth investigation as newsroom budgets have been cut. Mandy Nolan spoke up for publications like The Echo, as regional media increasingly goes the way of the dodo across Australia. ▶ More on page 27
Call on Janelle The cost Traditional owners Local Saffin to save of climate vs Adani’s mining business koalas ▶ p10 conspiracy ▶ p12 operations ▶ p16 in focus ▶ p21