First Word Opening Address

Keynote by Debra Dank

3–4pm, Thursday 8 October, Parkside Marquee

BWF’s 2026 opening speech will be delivered by one of Australia’s most accomplished authors and educators: the Gudanji/Wakaja and Kalkadoon writer Debra Dank. Dank’s luminous 2023 memoir, We Come With This Place, won an unprecedented four prizes at the 2024 New South Wales Premier’s Literary Awards, plus the Australian Literature Society Gold Medal; her recent books, Ankami and Terraglossia, delve with lucidity and grace into the vicissitudes of language, loss and living.

At this very special event, you'll also hear from BWF’s 2026 First Nations Cultural Curators, Bruce Pascoe, Samantha Faulkner and Bebe Oliver, from select event sponsors and from BWF Artistic Director Jackie Ryan.

Presented in partnership with The University of Queensland