There's no more perfect gift than time shared together, especially when your quality time is taking place at one of this year's Melbourne Writers Festival events! Below is a selection of events we think are perfect to book in for you and a loved one this Mother's Day.

The Sands of Time

Prize-winning Gudanji and Wakaja writer Debra Dank (We Come With This Place) and bestselling Tracks author Robyn Davidson (Unfinished Woman) discuss their new memoirs about memory, land and family, with Kate Evans.

When: Sunday 12 May, 4.30pm
Where: State Library Theatrette
Tickets: $20-$25, book here

Toshikazu Kawaguchi: Before the Coffee Gets Cold

Japanese writer and global literary star Toshikazu Kawaguchi chats about his bestselling Before the Coffee Gets Cold series and forthcoming TV adaption, with Daniel Hahn.

When: Sunday 12 May, 12pm
Where: Athenaeum Theatre
Tickets: $30-$35, book here

Lauren Groff: The Vaster Wilds

An electrifying voice in modern fiction, American novelist Lauren Groff (The Vaster Wilds, Fates and Furies) appears in conversation with Kate Evans about her craft and career.

When: Sunday 12 May, 10.30am
Where: State Library Conversation Quarter
Tickets: $20-$25, book here

Peter Steele Conversation: Grace Yee

Grace Yee discusses Chinese Fish, her 2024 Victorian Prize for Literature–winning verse novel about migration, patriarchy and racism, with Maxine Beneba Clarke.

When: Sunday 12 May, 12pm
Where: State Library Theatrette
Tickets: $20-$25, book here

Familiar Haunts: Paul Murray and Bryan Washington

Irish writer Paul Murray (The Bee Sting) and American author Bryan Washington (Family Meal) discuss their newest novels’ shared interest in real and figurative ghosts, in conversation with Toni Jordan. 

When: Sunday 12 May, 10.30am
Where: Athenaeum Theatre
Tickets: $30-$35, book here

Leslie Jamison: Splinters

Bestselling American author Leslie Jamison (The Empathy Exams, The Recovering) discusses Splinters, her blazing memoir of divorce, motherhood, art and new love, in conversation with Rebecca Harkins-Cross.

When: Sunday 12 May, 3pm
Where: State Library Conversation Quarter
Tickets: $20-$25, book here

David Marr: Killing for Country

David Marr shares insight into Killing for Country, his gripping reckoning with the brutal history of Australia’s unresolved frontier wars, in conversation with Sally Warhaft. 

When: Sunday 12 May, 12pm
Where: State Library Conversation Quarter
Tickets: $20-$25, book here