Read the Room

Read the Room is back at The Lock-Up on Saturday 24 October, from 2:30 pm to 4:00 pm. It's a reading party run by the Newcastle Writers Festival, and the format is pretty straightforward: you bring a book, spend some time reading, and then chat about it with the other people in the room. Solo readers are welcome, so you don't need to bring a mate to fit in.

This is the fifth session in a monthly series that the festival has been running across the region. It kicked off at the Newcastle Ocean Baths ahead of the 2026 festival weekend, and this October date is the fifth party in that sequence. If you've been following it since the start, you'll know the drill, but if this is your first one, it's a good way to spend a Saturday afternoon with a book and some company.

It's all part of the Newcastle Writers Festival, which has grown quite a bit since it first launched in 2013. That first edition brought together around 100 writers; these days it's more than 150 across 95 free and ticketed events. The festival also runs the Fresh Ink Emerging Writer Prize for writers living in regional NSW, and the joanne burns Microlit Award—a piece of up to 200 words co-hosted with publisher Spineless Wonders. The leadership has changed recently, too: festival director Rosemarie Milsom, a former Herald journalist, stepped down after 14 years, and Amy Lovat has taken over as Artistic Director with Tristan Sharp as Managing Director.

Read the Room is a free community event, though donations are appreciated. It runs from 2:30 pm to 4:00 pm at The Lock-Up, 90 Hunter Street, Newcastle NSW 2300, and you can buy drinks at the venue while you're there.