What's On

Story Week 2023 (SW23) invites you to experience multilingual musings and Indigenous voices, the art of shouting, a slam final at Sydney Opera House plus a battle between ChatGPT and fresh poets. Audiences dive deep into live stories, challenges laid bare and writers exploding off the page.

Comedian Nazeem Hussain, creator of Legally Brown, has been named 2023 Story Week Ambassador. Nazeem will discuss What the Hell is an “Australian Story”? and open Kid’s Story Day with his new children’s book.

Also headlining this year are Australian Poetry Slam Champion Solli Raphael and award-wining poet Madison Godfrey; alongside disability activist Hannah Diviney and transgender non-binary author Dylin Hardcastle.

From Sydney Opera House to local community centres, SW23 presents a week of literarty experiences; showcasing close to 100 writers and idea-spreaders.

The program’s talks and performances will challenge how you view your daily experiences and explore new ways of interacting with each other and art. WTF do we love/hate about WFH? is a conversation about the complexities of remote work for creatives who need solitude but crave connection. Chat Battle is the first live test of poets against the near-infinite repartee ChatGPT has in its cloudy notebook – hopefully proving real-life writers have not been made redundant by AI … yet. Shouting 101 and Why Cry? are chats about the power of introverts and “wait, aren’t tears a good thing”?

At SW23, First Person Voice will be a showcase of First Nations artists in panels and performances Curated by Gamilaroi poet and Word Travels Creative Producer Luke Patterson. Delve into cultural discussions in Textures of Resistance, cross-generational storytelling in The Land is a Ledger, and fresh performances in the First Person Voice Showcase.

Unlock the storytelling prowess of 7 to 12-year-olds at Kid’s Story Day. This school holiday program features performances, workshops, a kids’ poetry slam and a session on illustrating First Nations poetry.

The day kicks off with Nazeem Hussain’s session How to Plan a Prank, where he’ll read from his new Hy-larious Hyena! book Get Lost! The action moves to Solli Raphael inspiring kids to slam poetry, and Bundjalung illustrator Charmaine Ledden-lewis collaborating with Gamilaroi poet Luke Patterson to teach young minds to mix words and art.

Other highlights of SW23:

Strong Stories of the Weak is presented in partnership FBi Radio. Lyricists, poets and writers get real for a tick and open up to the unforgiving mic with true stories about weakness.

Write What You Don't Know challenges the authenticity of the writer's voice, while Multilingual Stories embraces narratives in their original languages, celebrating the beauty of diversity.

The curtain will fall on Story Week 2023 with the Australian Poetry Slam National Final, a throwdown among the nation’s best outspoken wordsmiths on Sunday 8 October at Sydney Opera House; featuring Ubud Poetry Slam Champion Uphie Abdurrahman.