The Ten Best Things to Do at the Sydney Writers’ Festival

Are we changing sex or is sex, in fact, changing us? We might think the internet is the best thing since sliced bread, but do we actually have any idea what it's doing to us? If we had to write a totally honest letter to our closest friend, romantic partner or business partner, would he or she really want to read it? What happens to The Odyssey in the hands of one of the UK's greatest storytellers?

These are just a sprinkling of the questions to be tackled at this year's Sydney Writers' Festival. Authors, poets, troubadours, editors, critics, publishers, academics and media personalities from far and wide will be converging on venues around the city to talk about how our stories reflect, embody and influence who we've been, who we are and who we might become. Here are our picks of the festival's ten most dynamic, original and upbeat events.

Festival Club: Thursday

Thursday, May 23, 7pm, Pier 2/3 Club Stage, Pier 2/3, Hickson Rd, Walsh Bay, $10

Wednesday to Saturday nights, Festival Club will keep the action happening until the late hours. Created with the input of Eddie Sharp, these gatherings will see the meeting of an eclectic mix of writers, personalities and live music. Though they're all worth checking out, Thursday's our pick. There'll be 90 minutes of erotic fan fiction, featuring new stories from the likes of Noni Hazlehurst, Benjamin Law and Ben Jenkins; unpredictable banter between The Chaser crew and international guests Sylvie Simmons, Mark Forsyth, and Aleks Krotoski; and performances from Kate Miller-Heidke, Swimwear and Dave Graney.

The Silent History

Saturday, May 25, 10am, Pier 2/3 Club Stage, Pier 2/3, Hickson Rd, Walsh Bay, $10

What Charles Dickens made famous Eli Horowitz has taken into a brave new world: the serialised novel. Between October 1, 2012, and April 19, 2013, the ex-McSweeney's managing editor-turned-novelist published a 500-page narrative via daily updates accessible on iPad and iPhone. The Silent History is a futuristic dystopia about a generation of children unable to use or understand language. Horowitz will join Australian writers Krissy Kneen (Affection), Josephine Rowe (Tarcutta Wake) and Sam Cooney (The Lifted Brow) for a panel discussion.

Are we changing sex or is sex changing us?

Friday, May 24, 8.30pm, Sydney Town Hall, 483 George St, Sydney, $25/$20

Five 'sexperts' get together to talk about the topic that, once taboo, now seems ubiquitous. In conversation with Radio National's Natasha Mitchell, Benjamin Law (Gaysia), Frank Bongiorno (The Sex Lives of Australians), Naomi Wolf (Vagina), and Faramerz Dabhoiwala (The Origins of Sex) will be trying to determine who's actually wearing the pants these days: is it us or is it sex? And how do attitudinal changes in the west compare with those in other parts of the globe?

Daniel Morden: Tales from the Odyssey

Sunday, May 26, 10am, Pier 2/3 The Loft, Pier 2/3, Hickson Road, Walsh Bay, free

Daniel Morden, one of the UK's most gifted and charismatic storytellers, brings his modern magic to an ancient tale. Having worked as a professional weaver of tales for nearly 23 years, he's been described by BBC Radio as combining "the skills of the troubadour, the actor, the bard, the stand-up comedian and the preacher in the pulpit". He'll be making several appearances (including the opening address), but this, his idiosyncratic telling of The Odyssey is probably the pick of the bunch.

Literary Mag Revival

Friday, May 24, 2.30pm, Bangarra Mezzanine, Pier 4/5, Hickson Road, Walsh Bay, free

Back in the day, literary journals were the go-to for hot new writing talent. Their position diminished as a reading audience once unified by the homogeny of the print press and the dominance of a small selection of publishing houses became splintered by the internet. However, like vinyl, the literary mag seems to be experiencing something of a revival. Craig Taylor (editor of online UK mag Five Dials), Rebecca Starford (Kill Your Darlings), Sam Cooney (The Lifted Brow) and Alice Grundy (Seizure) discuss the why, how and where of this phenomenon.

Question Time with Sheila Heti

Saturday, May 25, 11.30am, Pier 2/3 Club Stage, Pier 2/3, Hickson Road, Walsh Bay, $14/$10

Drawing on the work of theatre creative Darren O'Donnell, Sheila Heti is planning on turning this Q&A upside-down. The sometimes divisive writer and Believer interviews editor will be the one asking the audience questions, in the process aiming to reveal what it is in other individuals that makes them fascinating to us. Anyone who's read Heti's novel, How Should a Person Be? will know that her approach to identity sure ain't about 'keeping yourself nice'.

Aleks Krotoski: Untangling the Web

Thursday, May 23, 11.30am, Pier 2/3 Club Stage, Pier 2/3, Hickson Road, Walsh Bay, $14/$10

What's the internet doing to us? It's impacting everything, from shopping to playing to communicating, but it all seems to be happening so quickly, how can we possibly figure out whether or not the long-term consequences are desirable? Social psychologist Aleks Krotoski has committed the past ten years to these questions. She'll be chatting about what she's discovered with Marc Fennell, self-confessed cyber addict and presenter of Radio National's Download This Show.

People of Letters

Thursday, May 23, 4pm, Pier 2/3 Club Stage, Pier 2/3, Hickson Road, Walsh Bay, free

This popular show will be making its Sydney Writers' Festival debut. Michaela McGuire and Marieke Hardy have asked five diverse pairs to compose letters addressed to their 'other half'. We'll be hearing words from the musical partnership of Brendan Maclean and Paul Mac, the media duo of Wendy Harmer and Angela Catterns, the literary relationship of editor Alex Craig and author Hannah Kent, the marriage of Kate Miller-Heidke and Keir Nuttall and the writing collaboration of Jacquelin Perske and Claudia Karvan.

Troubadours and Minstrels

Saturday, May 18, 12pm, The Rocks Square & Laneways, The Rocks Square, Playfair Street, The Rocks, free (bookings essential)

Pied Piper of Hamelin fans will love this one. After gathering at designated areas in The Rocks, audience members will be asked to follow wandering troubadours wherever they may lead. The destination is a series of intimate performance spaces, where the trusting will be treated to live poetry readings.

MCA Zine Fair

Sunday, May 26, 11am, Museum of Contemporary Art, 140 George Street, The Rocks, free

Fancy yourself an editor? Don't let the insular hiring practices of big media stop you. Have a go at creating your own zine at the MCA Zine Fair, which is now in its sixth year. Apart from attending DYI workshops, zine aficionados will have the chance to browse and buy an array of zine classics. There'll also be a 'show and tell session' conducted by MCA curator Glenn Barkley, who's something of a zine expert.

The Sydney Writers' Festival is on from May 20-26, 2013, mostly at venues in and around Walsh Bay's Pier 2/3 and 4/5. Check out the full program at their website.

Images courtesy of Sydney Writers' Festival, Museum of Contemporary Art and Miles Merrill.