Australia’s most popular crime festival, The BAD Sydney Crime Writers Festival, is back. Mark 11-14 September in your diary.

The BAD Sydney Crime Writers Festival will be held at the State Library of NSW this year, offering a four-day festival program full of suspense, intrigue, misdemeanours, misdeeds, and the downright criminal. The festival kicks off with a day of workshops for aspiring writers to hone their skills with the masterful Candice Fox, Duncan McNab and Amanda Hampson.

In addition to entertaining and inspiring sessions with some of the biggest names in crime fiction, BAD continues its unique program of thought-provoking true crime-based sessions speaking with prominent figures who work in the criminal justice system – including former Deputy Police Commissioner Michael Willing who is making his BAD debut. They even ask the question of whether our insatiable interest in true crime is harmful or helpful?

Program Highlights include:

• When the justice system didn’t help, Steve Johnson worked for 30 years to uncover the truth behind his brother’s death. He streams into our panel on whether the flight for LGBTQI+ justice has reached a turning point with Michael Burge, Duncan McNab and Jonathan Butler.
• Fiction meets fact in panels on justice in the bush, spies in life and fiction, and a tough challenge – would you put to death the person who had killed a family member if it was legal?
• Give free rein to your true crime obsession with exposes on the crimes of religion, Roger Rogerson and other crooked cops, what really happens when a body is discovered, as well as turning the spotlight on whether true crime might be doing you harm.
• Location is everything of course so why do top Aussie writers like Candice Fox, the two Michaels ( Robotham and Brissenden) and Roger Simpson go abroad? Why is a fiction crime wave hitting WA and is all crime really local?
• Nothing is off limits in crime fiction – friends might turn out to be enemies, families are dangerous, even spies can make mistakes. Find out more.
• Historian Elliot Lindsay returns to the festival with his popular walking tours this time to the infamous Kings Cross and The Rocks, while last year’s Tea Ladies tour of Surry Hills with Amanda Hampson makes a return due to popular demand

Aspiring writer? Want to know more about publishing?

• Polish up your pitch and take it to three leading publishers and agents
• Get writing: start to Craft a page turner with Candice Fox; Smash out your crime novel with Amanda Hampson. Writer and ex-detective Duncan McNab shows you how to write true crime
• Find out who wins the Danger Awards for best debut crime, best fiction and best true crime and make sure your favourite wins the People’s Choice award back for a second year

View the full program at the Bad Sydney website