Brisbane City Hall will host former New Zealand prime minister Jacinda Ardern in October, when she takes part in a conversation titled A Different Kind of Power.
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Ardern will appear with Brisbane author and journalist Trent Dalton at the Brisbane Writers Festival event on Sunday, October 11. The conversation is scheduled from 5pm to 6pm and shares its name with Ardern’s memoir.
The session will look at Ardern’s experiences in public life and political leadership, with the festival event providing the setting for her conversation with Dalton. The appearance puts a former national leader on the festival program alongside Australian and international authors.
A four-day festival across Brisbane
The Brisbane Writers Festival will run from October 8 to 11, with events taking place across Brisbane, including Brisbane City Hall and Brisbane Powerhouse.
More than 200 Australian and international authors are included in the 2026 program, with more than 110 events covering subjects including fiction, crime, romance, food, history, journalism, popular culture, politics, parenting, gardening and wellbeing.
The wider program includes international writers such as Susan Orlean and Andrew O’Hagan, while British author Alice Oseman is also scheduled to appear at Brisbane City Hall in a session focused on Heartstopper.
Australian writers including Kate Grenville, Richard Flanagan, Holly Ringland and Suzie Miller are also part of the program. The Queensland Literary Awards will form part of this year’s festival after Brisbane Writers Festival took over management and hosting of the awards from the State Library of Queensland.
The Queensland Literary Awards ceremony is scheduled for Thursday, October 8, with winners to be announced during the ceremony.
Ardern’s political career
Jacinta Arden was elected prime minister of New Zealand in 2017 at the age of 37, becoming the country’s youngest prime minister in more than 150 years. In 2018, she gave birth to her daughter, Neve, and became the first leader of a country in 30 years to give birth while in office.
Ardern stepped down as prime minister in 2023 and was later awarded the accolade Dame Grand Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit.
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Since leaving office, she has continued with writing and speaking. She is the author of the memoir A Different Kind of Power and What If You Could, a motivational book for teenagers.
The conversation with Dalton is scheduled for the final day of the four-day festival, running from 5pm to 6pm at Brisbane City Hall. Tickets for the Brisbane Writers Festival are on offer through the festival website.
Published 26-August-2026
