Sydney · Australia
Sydney Writers’ Festival
Oceania does not run a major international rights fair. Sydney’s festival is the closest large professional-and-public gathering in May.
Next dates
3–9 May 2027
198 days away
Venue
Walsh Bay, Sydney
Typical slot — confirm
Author access
Authors are not the intended visitor
Floor
Public
English
The fair
There is no Australian equivalent of Frankfurt or London. Rights for Australian and New Zealand books are traded at those European fairs, and at a handful of smaller professional events. What Australia does have is a strong festival circuit. Sydney Writers’ Festival (typically around the harbour in May) is the flagship: editors, publicists and authors appear, but they appear as speakers, not as a stand you can walk up to with a sample chapter.
Advice for visiting authors
- Do not plan an Australian trip as a publisher-stand tour. Plan it as a listening and networking trip, or meet Australian publishers at London and Frankfurt.
- If you are an Australian author, your local publishers expect an agented or emailed submission, not a festival ambush.
- Melbourne Writers Festival (usually August/September) is the other national-scale event on the same model.
Address
Walsh Bay and surrounding Sydney venues, New South Wales, Australia
Typical early-May window; confirm on swf.org.au.