Riverina Readers Festival

23/06/2026

The team in BLUE are here for YOU 🩵🫶🏼

On the day of your Riverina Readers Festival, you’ll find friendly, welcoming faces in hand-knitted blue cardigans and jumpers there to help you with everything you need!

Have questions about when the next session starts?
How much something costs?
Where to line up for book signing?
Find a volunteers in BLUE 🩵

Riverina Readers Festival
Saturday 11 July, 2026
All-Day, starting at 9:00am
Riverina Playhouse, Wiradjuri Country
www.riverinareadersfestival.org.au

22/06/2026

What to know about your Festival LUNCHBOX ⬇️

☁️ Pre-order at the time of purchasing your all-day Festival ticket via www.riverinareadersfestival.org.au

☁️ LUNCHBOX includes 2x sweet morning tea slices from Kurrajong catering, 1x warm soup + bread from The Gardens Wagga for lunch and 1x piece of fruit from WFS for afternoon tea

☁️ Upon entry to the festival, if you’ve pre-ordered a LUNCHBOX, you will receive a stamp with your teal wrist band

☁️ There’s no need to collect the LUNCHBOX, our friendly Reading Team volunteers will be serving each meal to you at the following times:
Morning tea ➡️ 10:30am
Lunch ➡️ 12:15pm
Afternoon Tea ➡️ 2:00pm

☁️ Have dietary requirements? There will be gluten free, vegetarian and dairy free options on the day. Just let us know as we serve you!

☁️ If we’re experiencing a sunny winter day, there will be picnic tables and chairs outside to connect with other Riverina Readers at while enjoying your meal, thanks to Riverina Party Hire

☁️ Not interested in a LUNCHBOX? That’s okay! BYO food and snacks are welcome, or you can duck in and out of the festival to find local food options close by like The Press, Johnston St Birdy Brew or Melba’s Bakehouse

✨ Festival LUNCHBOXES have been introduced based on 2024 & 2025 Reader feedback. We appreciate hearing from you and making your Festival experience all the more joyful!

Riverina Readers Festival
Saturday 11 July, 2026
All-Day, starting at 9:00am
Riverina Playhouse, Wiradjuri Country
www.riverinareadersfestival.org.au

21/06/2026

Meet MARGARET HICKEY (Margaret Hickey ) at your 2026 Riverina Readers Festival ☁️🩵

Marg is a beloved and award-winning crime fiction author in the Riverina! As a high school English teacher by day and thrilling rural crime writer by night, her days will never be without soaring stories and words.

With a PhD in Creative Writing and a deeply invested interest in living and writing about rural lives and communities, Marg’s books continue to become bestsellers year after year.

‘Cutter’s End’ was Marg’s debut novel and it was awarded the BAD Crime Sydney Festival’s Dagger Prize. Her novel ‘The Creeper’ has also taken the winning spot in the 2025 Ned Kelly Award for Best Fiction ⭐️

COLD RIVER is her latest novel, set deep in Victorian High Country with a mysterious disappearance, illegal trafficking and striking connections between Senior Countstable Sally White’s current case, and one from two years earlier.

Riverina Readers Festival
Saturday 11 July, 2026
All-Day, starting at 9:00am
Riverina Playhouse, Wiradjuri Country
www.riverinareadersfestival.org.au

20/06/2026

Hey Riverina Readers 🩵
Did you know you can view the 2026 Riverina Readers Festival program RIGHT. NOW.
Visit our website!

Riverina Readers Festival Held on the banks of the beautiful Murrumbidgee River, the Riverina Readers Festival is an inaugural one day reading festival that aims to bring the Riverina community together through the celebration of reading in all its forms. Soaring into Stories Get Your Tickets Meet Y...

17/06/2026

Your Riverina Reader girl made her way into Collins Booksellers Wagga Wagga (Collins Booksellers Wagga), to build out a hefty TBR pile ready for Saturday 11 July!

We’re proud to welcome back Collins Booksellers Wagga as your offical 2026 Riverina Readers Festival bookseller 📚🩵

Riverina Readers Festival
Saturday 11 July, 2026
All-day, starting at 9:00am
Riverina Playhouse, Wiradjuri County
www.riverinareadersfestival.org.au

15/06/2026

Meet AMY DOAK (Amy Doak) at your 2026 Riverina Readers Festival ☁️🩵

A lifelong lover of books, reading and writing - Amy is our ultimate pal in sharing our values of supporting “reading in all its forms”.

Amy’s debut young adult crime novel, ‘Eleanor Jones Is Not A Murderer’ in 2023 took home the Davitt Award for Best Crime Novel for YA readers and the Singapore Red Dot Book Award for Mature Readers.

Continuing the series with two more titles, then a stand alone YA mystery thriller, Amy is joining your 2026 Riverina Readers Festival as a moderator, while also speaking to her June 2026 release, the fourth instalment of the Eleanor Jones series.

Riverina Readers Festival
Saturday 11 July, 2026
All-Day, starting at 9:00am
Riverina Playhouse, Wiradjuri Country
www.riverinareadersfestival.org.au

10/06/2026

Three words. DON’T MISS OUT 💥
If you’re a lover of stories, words, books, e-readers and meeting new people in a friendly environment who ALSO love these things … Riverina Readers Festival is for YOU 🩵

Saturday 11 July, 2026
All-Day, starting at 9:00am
Riverina Playhouse, Wiradjuri Country
www.riverinareadersfestival.org.au

08/06/2026

Meet Ayesha Inoon () at your 2026 Riverina Readers Festival ☁️🩵

As a Sri Lankan-Australian writer whose work is shaped by her rich cultural heritage and lived experiences, Ayesha’s storytelling explores themes of identity, belonging, and the resilience of women across cultures.

THE SISTERS OF SERENDIB brings forth the real and raw themes of the asylum seeking experience to readers in a gentle and honest way.
Ayesha’s latest release follows her award-winning debut novel, ‘Untethered’ in 2023.

Riverina Readers Festival
Saturday 11 July, 2026
All-Day, starting at 9:00am
Riverina Playhouse, Wiradjuri Country
www.riverinareadersfestival.org.au

03/06/2026

Meet Mary Colussi (.colussi) at your 2026 Riverina Readers Festival ☁️🩵

Australian born and American raised, Mary has studied fine arts and dramatic writing in both Australia and the USA, making it an absolute given that her debut novel ‘Touch Grass’ would be awarded the 2025 Literary Prize ✨

TOUCH GRASS is wry and inventive, exploring identity, consent, digital disconnection and the hilariously messy business of being a friend, sister and human in modern day.

Riverina Readers Festival
Saturday 11 July, 2026
All-Day, starting at 9:00am
Riverina Playhouse, Wiradjuri Country
www.riverinareadersfestival.org.au

01/06/2026

Meet Tim Ayliffe () at your 2026 Riverina Readers Festival ☁️🩵

With a 25-year long career as a journalist in Australia and around the world, Tim’s thrilling crime novels have you captivated from page one!

Tim writes about espionage, extremism, and the global power games at play in the 21st century 🌍

Tim’s latest publication, ‘Dark Desert Road’ is set in the Riverina and captures the true isolation, mystery and deep secrets that a rural community can hold.

Riverina Readers Festival
Saturday 11 July, 2026
All-Day, starting at 9:00am
Riverina Playhouse, Wiradjuri Country
www.riverinareadersfestival.org.au