I have always cheered the Byron Bay Writers Festival as a forum for Australian authors, but in recent years a few international authors have joined the mix and I thank the new artistic director, Edwina Johnson, for bringing two of Britain’s best writers and public speakers to last weekend’s sparkling festival. Jeanette Winterson,  at the Sydney Opera House on August 10, gave a rousing keynote address about storytelling, memory, history and language. She also spoke about her venture into horror writing in The Daylight Gate. Best of all, she was interviewed by her partner, psychoanalyst-writer Susie Orbach (Fat Is a Feminist Issue), about her experiences of emotional breakdown and creativity. It was both performance and intimate conversation. Geoff Dyer’s brilliant persona – gentle naif meets Basil Fawlty – and a hilarious reading from Jeff in Venice, Death in Varanasi, about queuing at a bank in India, made him the festival's bestseller on day one. When I asked Dyer (pictured) later about a recent minor stroke he wrote about, he said he had recovered, except for a 2 per cent vision loss in one eye. An American friend suggested he would want to get that fixed, he told me, but Dyer replied, ‘‘Oh no, I’m English. I’m happy with 98 per cent.’’ Let’s hope he returns next year for the belated local publication of his latest book, Another Great Day at Sea: Life Aboard the USS George H.W. Bush.

A FESTIVAL FAREWELL

The artistic director is the public face of any arts festival, but as executive director of the Sydney Writers’ Festival since 2009 Ben Strout has been a quiet force behind its continuing growth and success. He will leave at the end of the year to find new challenges in the arts world, where he began in theatre before joining the Australia Council for the Arts. ‘‘Cultural festivals have a lifespan [for staff] and I’m very, very proud of what we’ve achieved,’’ he says. Working with three artistic directors, Wendy Were, Chip Rolley and now Jemma Birrell, and boards chaired by Sandra Yates and Deena Shiff, he has helped increase writers’ festival turnover by 60 per cent, drive attendances from 80,000 to 89,000 and expand to the suburbs and beyond. He is now focused on live-streaming events to regional arts centres and will stay on as adviser on audience development. Among his memories are Edward de Waal, author of The Hare with Amber Eyes, in conversation with Caroline Baum, bringing an Opera House audience of 1500 to tears, Breaking Bad ‘‘rock star’’ creator Vince Gilligan filling the Sydney Town Hall twice, and the Chaser boys creating mayhem with Irish writer Dermot Healy at the festival club.

RARE AUDIENCE WITH SIR VIDIA

It’s time to plan for the Ubud Writers & Readers Festival (October 1-5). Always a stimulating blend of Eastern and Western literature, politics, spirituality and food, this year the festival under director Janet DeNeefe has nabbed a grandee of literature. The Trinidad-born British writer V.S. Naipaul is a Nobel laureate for his many works of fact and fiction, such as A House for Mr Biswas, The Enigma of Arrival and Among the Believers: An Islamic Journey. A challenging subject, Naipaul will speak at a $150-ticket dinner and in conversation. For the full program, see ubudwritersfestival.com.

CORRECTION

A review of The Golden Fleece by Muriel Spark (Spectrum, July 26) wrongly said the book was edited with a preface by Penelope Jordan. The editor was Penelope Jardine.