Sydney Writers’ Festival

Holding together a family in the face of life’s disappointments and let-downs – when beset by illness, unemployment, misfortune and misery – has long been the stuff of literature; as farce or as drama, comedy or tragedy. Paddy O’Reilly’s Other Houses follows Lily and Janks as they struggle pay-day to pay-day to try to offer their daughter the future they dream of. Toni Jordan’s Dinner with the Schnabels tracks Simon’s attempts to get things back on track after the failure of his business. These two deeply compassionate writers talk to host Nicole Abadee about how domestic pressures, financial anxiety and the chaos of modern life can make us laugh, cry and understand what’s going on behind closed doors of other peoples’ families. Bookings open now.