Arts & culture

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© 2025 The Illawarra Flame

Arts & culture

Thirroul filmmaker’s debut movie heads home for Gala Cinema screening after successful run at film festivals

After months on the film festival circuit, travelling from the outback to London with “my baby girl on my hip”, Thirroul filmmaker Mara Jean Quinn is looking forward to the local screening of her debut feature, Andamooka, at Warrawong’s Gala Cinema on Saturday, August 2.

Genevieve Swart

SPAT plans for musical tale, improv challenge and the popular annual panto

The annual SPAT Singers supper show, Riversong was a great success and both the audience and those involved in the show had loads of fun. We are indeed fortunate to live in a community with so much musical talent, and this was certainly on display...

Where the light slips: Ceramic artist to hold debut show at Clifton School of Arts

Stanwell Park ceramic artist Alexandra Neville will launch her debut solo show, where the light slips, with a free opening event at 6pm on Friday, July 25.

Genevieve Swart

Behind the Curtain with Sidedoor Theatre

Twenty years ago, the space held a business that sold risqué goods of an adult nature. Twenty years before that, it hosted a Balkans-themed club where young men complained that cans of VB cost $2.50. Now the tiny bolthole under ground level hosts...

From Uruguay to Barrack Heights

By Alejandra Martinez My family landed at Cabramatta Hostel in the early 1970s. We were housed in a hot one-room corrugated iron half-cylindrical hut. It was far away from all that was familiar, including the coast, which is so prominent in...

The Illawarra Flame

South Coast Writers Centre celebrates ‘extraordinarily successful’ festival in Thirroul

The South Coast Writers Centre hosted its most popular festival at Thirroul Community Centre last weekend, with well over 1000 tickets sold and up to 150 book lovers present at any given time. “It’s been extraordinarily successful,” said SCWC...

Genevieve Swart

Wollongong’s Scott Radburn excited to share reunion plans for the legendary Four Kinsmen

It’s shaping up to be one of the biggest reunions in Australia’s entertainment industry, and veteran Wollongong performer Scott Radburn can’t wait. Stalwarts of the Australian live performance circuit since 1962, The Four Kinsmen, once a household...

From memoir writing to novel mapping: 6 new courses for writers at SCWC

Even though the South Coast Readers & Writers Festival has come and gone, there are still plenty of writing opportunities coming up at the South Coast Writers Centre, including SIX new writing courses and workshops for everything from romance to...

Elizabeth Heffernan

Yuin musicians to share songs and stories at free concert celebrating NAIDOC Week

Ahead of 2025’s NAIDOC Week celebrations, Yuin musicians Ron Callaghan and Kyarna-Rose will perform at the free Music and Tea concert at Wollongong Art Gallery tomorrow morning, July 3.

Tyneesha Williams

From the Gong to Edinburgh: Our top citizen set to appear at the world’s biggest fringe festival

Just when you thought the multi-talented Malika Elizabeth Reese’s year couldn’t get any better... it absolutely does. In February, Malika was named the Wollongong Citizen of the Year for her advocacy on behalf of victim-survivors of violence. She is...

Born in Wollongong, Nikki Gemmell returns for South Coast Readers and Writers Festival

The South Coast Readers & Writers Festival returns to Thirroul over the weekend of 5–6 July with a vibrant lineup of literary talent. General admission and single session tickets for the festival program are on sale now, featuring local...

Elizabeth Heffernan

Kooky fun with a Kiwi twist as Mr Red Light stops at IPAC

Set in a pie shop, Mr Red Light is set to serve up kooky humour “with a Kiwi twist” at the Illawarra Performing Arts Centre tonight. Think a touch of absurdism with “Buster Keaton-esque clowning”, says the show’s co-director, Ben Crowder.

Genevieve Swart

Find your voice: Learn how to keep bots away and memoir human at SCWC workshop

Starting on August 7, it will run once a week, for six weeks, online. All memoirists are welcome. Bookings are essential

Elizabeth Heffernan

Songkeeper Jessie Lloyd brings her modern take on ancient Songlines to Kiama

By Folk By The Sea’s honorary publicity officer, Nick Hartgerink Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Songkeeper Jessie Lloyd is bringing her Sing On Country show to Kiama’s Folk By The Sea festival in September, hoping to create a “pub-choir...

The Illawarra Flame

Award-winning author Kate Forsyth coming to South Coast Readers & Writers Festival in Thirroul

The South Coast Readers & Writers Festival returns to Thirroul over the weekend of July 5 and 6 with a vibrant lineup of literary talent. General admission and single session tickets for the festival program are on sale now, featuring local...

Elizabeth Heffernan

Celebrate NAIDOC with song

By Felicity Woodhill, founder of Inspire Music Australia In July, the monthly free Music and Tea at Wollongong Art Gallery concert welcomes Ron Callaghan and Kyarna of the Yuin Nation to share their songs and stories, honouring the strength...

Felicity Woodhill

Ahead of Readers & Writers Festival, local author David Stavanger shares the books that shaped him

The South Coast Readers & Writers Festival returns to Thirroul in less than a month! Join us over the weekend of July 5 and 6 for gripping and challenging conversations, tales ancient and new, poetry readings, current affairs, and insights into...

Elizabeth Heffernan

SPAT Singers present Riversong winter supper shows

By Lauren Mitsak of Stanwell Park Arts Theatre (SPAT) Riversong is this year’s SPAT Singers Show, compiled and directed by our musical maestro, Lindy Sharp. Performances will be held on Saturday, June 21 and Saturday, June 28, both at 7pm. There...

MerrigongX creator invites us on a walk through love and loss as ‘Dog People’ comes to IPAC

Local theatre maker Lucy Heffernan explores love, loyalty and loss in MerrigongX’s latest show, Dog People, which will run from Thursday, June 19 to 21 at Illawarra Performing Arts Centre.

Tyneesha Williams

Behind the Curtain with ‘Oliver!’ and the Arcadians

They’re in good hands – Victoria has studied at NIDA, stage-managed So Popera productions at the IPAC and WEC, and joined the crew for Harry Potter and the Cursed Child in Melbourne. Matthew has worked on Schools Spectacular and Southern Stars...

Winter Workshops at the South Coast Writers Centre

Coming up in June and July are a series of fantastic writing workshops for writers of all ages. On Sunday, 22 June, Bernadette Foley returns with her popular Editing and Publishing Masterclass. This intensive workshop with esteemed publisher and...

Elizabeth Heffernan

From IPAC stage to festival page, Pip Williams set to entertain Illawarra readers

Wollongong is having something of a Pip Williams moment, with her bestselling novel The Dictionary of Lost Words hitting the stage just weeks before she headlines the local writers festival. The excitement began building on May 12, when hundreds...

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