Sydney Writers’ Festival (SWF) 2025 went from May 19th to 27th of May in Everleigh’s iconic Carriageworks, bringing together readers and writers for Australia’s largest annual literary festival.
Session topics included AI, queer literature, culture and religion, family traditions, health, travel, art, history, and all things writing.
The ‘All-Day YA’ session took place on the 24th of May, with several events dedicated to the popular ‘Young Adult’ (YA) age bracket. These included ‘All the Thrills and Chills’, ‘In Full Blume’, ‘Heart and Soul’, ‘Lady’s Knight’, and ‘Wandering Wild’.
Adult tickets cost $25 with concession tickets costing $15. Wheelchair accessibility was available throughout.
The ‘YA’ section was popular at the pop-up bookshop. Photo by Eleanor Cooper, 24/05/2025.
Beloved Romantasy
The ‘Heart and Soul’ event was hosted by Annie McCann, in conversation with guest authors Keshe Chow, Sophie Clark and Tricia Levenseller. This session focused on ‘Romantasy’ in YA, a term combining romance and fantasy genres and growing in popularity all over the world. McCann introduced the event, stating: ‘The romantasy genre is thriving and not likely to lose its shine anytime soon’.
But why is it growing so rapidly?
Bestselling author Tricia Levenseller said ‘Romantasy is where we’re finally seeing women as the main characters in fantasy’.
The four writers discussed the history of fantastical literature and its canon, delving into the inherent lack of female protagonists. Yet this rising sub-genre is paving the way for strong leads in YA literature.
In light of her Romantasy debut, Sophie Clark added, ‘We’re seeing more super confident female characters now they are actually being allowed to exist’.
It is important female-identifying young adults have strong role models in books they enjoy reading.
Keshe Chow said Romantasy books emerging from Australia have global relevance.
The ‘Heart and Soul’ Event. Photo by Eleanor Cooper, 24/05/2025.
‘I’ve always loved fantasy and romance novels, and in the last year especially I’ve been obsessed with reading the Romantasy genre’, shared ‘Heart and Soul’ audience member and Western Sydney University student Natasa Aster-Stater. ‘I think the genre is really breaking barriers with diverse female role models’.
She said she loved hearing about the characters from the authors’ perspectives, and how the genre makes it okay for female protagonists to be both strong and feminine. ‘Romantasy embraces all the different hearts and souls of female characters’.
After the event, Tricia Levenseller told W’SUP, ‘I had a blast, and loved connecting with my Australian readers for the first time’.
Tonight is Ladies’ Knight
The ‘Lady’s Knight’ Event. Photo by Eleanor Cooper, 24/05/2025.
Co-authors Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner talked about their newest book ‘Lady’s Knight’ in an event hosted by Australian middle-grade fiction writer Jeremy Lachlan.
The stand-alone novel is a fun-filled tale set in a mediaeval queer-normative world. The writers acknowledged the importance of coming-out stories in today’s world, whilst challenging the lack of genuinely cheerful queer fiction.
Spooner claimed everything they’d ever seen on the back of a book that made them want to read it went into ‘Lady’s Knight’.
Of the book, Kaufman said, “It’s just such fun.”
While the event honoured their new book, they also tackled major mental health issues that accompanied the COVID-19 lockdowns.
Lachlan still gets comments about how the isolation that came with the COVID-19 pandemic must have been ‘perfect’ for writers. But the three panelists shared how it was quite the opposite.
Both Kauffman and Spooner experienced writer’s block, burnout, low motivation and all manner of writing-related issues. Eventually, they realised they needed a book that allowed them to escape and feel good again. And thus ‘Lady’s Knight’ was born.
At the festival’s conclusion, Lachlan told W’SUP: ‘I always have a blast at Sydney Writers’ Fest, whether I’m there as a regular punter or featured author, and my session this year with Amie and Meagan was an absolute delight’.
He said the crowd was engaged for the entirety of the event, complimenting Amie and Meagan’s honesty. He enjoyed partaking in the ‘perfect, natural balance’ between fun banter and deeper conversation.
‘Life as a full-time author can be quite isolating but having that space to come together with community and chat openly – about the highs and lows of publishing, Queernormative representation, rom-coms, the power of female friendship, mental health and the lingering effects of lockdown – is a real gift and privilege’.
Wandering, Writing, and the Wild
The ‘Wandering Wild’ Event. Photo by Eleanor Cooper, 24/05/2025.
The day’s final event took place in the auditorium to honour bestselling phenomenon ‘Wandering Wild’ by Lynette Noni, who was joined on the panel with her agent Alex Adsett.
Renowned for fantasy series, this marked Noni’s debut stand-alone contemporary novel. A drastic change of pace, the book takes place in the Blue Mountains, New South Wales, where a meta-fictive reality survival show goes awry, providing a thoroughly suspenseful local Aussie tale.
Noni’s sudden genre change was unplanned.
In the Q&A, Adsett asked about this and in response, Noni shared concerns that plagued her in the lead up to starting this novel.
Noni spoke about the extreme burn-out she faced following the completion of ‘The Prison Healer’ trilogy. Amidst this, her love for the craft was dwindling, and she grew terrified she would never write again.
To reignite her passion for writing, she decided to write something fluffy and light, something that didn’t matter… something that would ‘never be published’. When her publishers heard about this side-project, they decided it was worth pursuing; despite Noni’s fears no one would read it, given her reputation specific to the fantasy genre.
After completing the novel, it was successfully published and swiftly grew popular among Australian YA readers. Since this, Noni recovered her deep love for writing and completed more upcoming fantasy novels.
She expressed how the healing journey her two protagonists experienced throughout the novel translated into her own healing process.
‘I loved hearing Lynette Noni share how her real-life experiences, including her own burnout, often shape her books’, said audience member Jess Norman. She reflected on how much deeper she’s connected with Noni’s stories as a result.
Norman added, ‘Getting to connect with other readers on the night just made it all the more special’.
Each session was followed by a signing and meet-and-greet with the authors. Photo by Eleanor Cooper, 24/05/2025.
The All-Day-YA Scene
With more than 100,000 people attending SWF on average, this year’s popularity was no exception. Buzzing with energy, from the pop-up book shop to each event, the year marked another successful festival in Sydney’s growing literary YA culture.
To quote Jeremy Lachlan:
‘Book nerds really are the best’.
