Sydney Writers' Festival: Day Four

It’s day four of the 2011 Sydney Writers’ Festival and today is the day that the main adults program begins.  It’s a lovely day here in Sydney and the atmosphere down at the site is buzzing.  The coffee queues are manageable (thank god!) and the view of Sydney Harbour is simply spectacular.  It’s a big week of sharing, words, ideas, and of course, meeting your favourite authors and this morning kicked off with a session from the delightful Georgia Blain, talking about her contemporary new novel, TOO CLOSE TO HOME.  There was also the inimitable Anita Heiss, in the Antipodes poetry panel, both a heartbreaking and highly hysterical session.  The poems ranged from the frightening to the funny and the packed crowd let out thunderous applause for each. It was like a laughter therapy session.  Things get a little more serious this afternoon, however, with sessions from Fatima Bhutto talking about Pakistan’s troubles, James Fergusson on the Taliban and Mike Carlton on HMAS Perth and the men who died fighting for her.  Should be fascinating.  Now the big problem – trying to figure out which ones to go to! To see what's on today, have a look at the Sydney Writers' Festival website  Alysha Farry is Head of Publicity at Random House Australia