English singer-songwriter Chris Jagger will open his Australian tour at the 2027 Agnes Blues, Roots & Rock Festival in Seventeen Seventy, Queensland. He is due to perform on the Marquee Stage on Saturday, 20 February 2027, and hold a Discovery Stage session on Sunday about his memoir and music career. The younger brother of Rolling Stones frontman Mick Jagger has released more than a dozen albums. The festival runs from 19 to 21 February at the SES Grounds, with nearly 40 acts across two stages. Three-day passes cost $179 until 1 November 2026.
Author and podcaster Ellidy Pullin says a new baby is her top priority following her engagement to partner Brock Wadsworth. Speaking on the Inherited podcast, she said she wants to give her daughter Minnie a sibling before any wedding planning begins. Brock recently proposed during a trip to Europe, though Minnie revealed the surprise on the plane. Pullin said the couple had kept their relationship private for about a year so their family could bond first. She lost her previous partner, Alex Pullin, in 2020.
Actor Anthony LaPaglia says he does not hold grudges over roles he misses and simply moves on. He reflects on his stage work with Allison Janney and Kerry Armstrong, his time on the television series Without a Trace, and Lantana, which he calls his most personally fulfilling role. He also discusses the difficulty of financing films and recalls a memorable encounter with a fan in New York. His memoir, The Life We Choose, is published on 27 October.
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Director Scott Hicks has released his autobiography, Shine: Persistence of Vision, about the film Shine, which told the story of pianist David Helfgott and starred Geoffrey Rush. The film premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in 1996 and earned seven Oscar nominations, including one for best director. Hicks, who studied film at Flinders University, still lives in Adelaide. To mark the film's 30th anniversary, Shine will screen at the Adelaide film festival in a new 4K digitally remastered print. The book is published by Wakefield Press.
Maribyrnong resident Shavina Hill has published her debut memoir, Why Did It Happen To Me?, on Wednesday 28 October. The book traces her childhood poverty and homelessness in India, her adoption by an Australian family at nine, and her founding of Street Born Foundation, which supports vulnerable children in India. Hill said she wrote it to help readers who ask similar questions about their own lives. She said her hope is that readers will recognise that their past does not have to define their future.
Angela Kelly, the late Queen's former dresser and longtime confidante, is reportedly preparing a fictional drama about life inside the royal household. According to Woman's Day, a source says Prince Harry is anxious about what she might reveal about him and Meghan. Kelly reportedly signed a non-disclosure agreement, and the production is said to avoid restricted terms by presenting itself as fiction. It is reported to revisit the 2018 dispute over the duchess wearing an emerald tiara, in which the Queen reportedly said Meghan could not have whatever she wanted.
Journalist Indira Laisram has published Between Two Skies, a book of personal accounts from 19 Indian Australians. The stories cover ambition, cultural identity, family and belonging, reflecting the varied experiences within the Indian community. Laisram, national features editor at The Indian Sun, drew on years of conversations with migrants who arrived under different circumstances. Early reviewers praised the collection's breadth. A launch in Melbourne is scheduled for November 2026, with the date and venue yet to be announced.
Former Liberal advisers Tony Barry and Niki Savva, sitting in for Barrie Cassidy, look at the media attention Josh Frydenberg has drawn this week while promoting his new memoir. They debate whether the former treasurer should seek to return to the Kooyong seat and pursue his ambition of becoming prime minister. The panel also considers Anthony Albanese's apparent difficulty in presenting an economic vision amid the cost-of-living pressures, and why they believe this could create risks for the Labor government.
A writer recalls attending a Greek school across the road from Middle Park Primary in Melbourne from the late 1960s. Founded by the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese in South Melbourne, it met in a former Protestant church with one teacher and combined classes. The writer describes learning the formal language Katharevousa, which he found demanding. He later credits the schooling with teaching him how language works, and says his children also completed twelve years of Greek school.
Evonne Goolagong Cawley recalls her long friendship with Ash Barty, whom she first saw play at the 2011 Australian Open Junior Championships. Goolagong Cawley says she acted as a mentor to Barty without pushing advice unless asked. In 2014, Barty was struggling with burnout and took a break from tennis, returning in 2016. In 2021, Barty became the first Australian woman to win Wimbledon since Goolagong Cawley's own 1980 title. Goolagong Cawley says she sent Barty a message before the final, reading Dreams do come true.
Former treasurer Josh Frydenberg says he was "loyal to a fault" during his time in parliament. He made the remarks at a Sydney Writers' Festival event on the day his memoir A Grateful Son was released. Frydenberg described former prime minister Scott Morrison as extremely ambitious and his leadership conduct as transactional. He defended the JobKeeper program and said the book has fuelled speculation about a return to politics, which he remains open to. Opposition leader Angus Taylor said he would welcome Frydenberg's return.
Former Bachelor star Snezana Wood says her daughter Eve gave her the courage to leave a difficult relationship. In her 2024 memoir Untold, Wood describes spending seven years going back and forth with Eve's father, from age 18 to 25. She says the relationship did not improve after she became pregnant. After Eve's birth, Wood's parents offered her and the baby a place to live, which gave her the support to leave. Wood writes that she had to start again from scratch, but says it was the best decision she could have made for Eve.
Indira Laisram has published her first book, Between Two Skies, which features nineteen Indian migrants telling their own stories of building lives in Australia. The accounts cover hardship, opportunity and lasting ties to the places they left. Laisram, a national features editor at The Indian Sun, says the stories show the diaspora as many individual lives rather than one shared narrative. Early readers have praised the book's range and honesty. It is due to be launched in Melbourne in November, with a date and venue yet to be announced.
Former treasurer Josh Frydenberg has not ruled out a return to federal politics or a future run for prime minister. Speaking on 60 Minutes, he said the Liberal Party is at an all-time low in the polls and must change. He said voters were leaving for One Nation. Opposition Leader Angus Taylor welcomed his help but rejected Frydenberg's proposal to raise the GST. Monique Ryan, who holds his former seat of Kooyong, said voters rejected him once and she was not bothered by his plans.
Barry York has published A Pentridge Memoir, an account of his jailing at Pentridge Prison in 1972 with two fellow La Trobe University students. The three were held for contempt of the Supreme Court of Victoria without trial or sentence. York describes harsh conditions in the prison, including violence in the maximum security wing. The memoir also covers the group's later work supporting prisoners and campaigning for prison reform. The book is self-published and priced at $34.95.
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Writer Carmel Bird has paid tribute to publisher and editor Hilary McPhee, who co-founded McPhee Gribble in 1975 with Diana Gribble. The small house gained a reputation for publishing women's writing and Australian stories. It published works by Helen Garner and Tim Winton, and in 1984 released An Aboriginal Mother Tells of the Old and the New by Elsie Labumore. McPhee later chaired the Australia Council for the Arts and was awarded an Order of Australia in 2001.
Liz Hicklin, now 95, will present her life story at Bowery Theatre in St Albans on Tuesday 27 October. The production, Sylvia Plath Stole My Boyfriend, is a funny and personal show about love, loss and finding your voice. Hicklin was 20 when her 18-month relationship with poet Ted Hughes ended after he met Sylvia Plath. Hughes' letters to her are now held by the British Library, but the show focuses on her own life. It runs from 2.00pm to 3.00pm at 33 Princess Street. Entry is free, but bookings are required.
A writer recalls childhood weekends at South Melbourne Hellas in the early 1970s, when his stepfather, Scottish-born captain Stevie Walker, played for the club. Ange Postecoglou, whose Greek immigrant father loved the club, was a young boy in the stands then. The writer describes how football bonded fathers and sons, and how Postecoglou's love of the game grew from time spent with his father. The piece also reflects on Walker's death twenty years ago and the writer's memories of Greek culture in Melbourne.
