Australian author and journalist Trent Dalton chats all things books, life and lending rights.

Author Trent Dalton stands outside the National Library of Australia in Canberra.

We sat down with Trent Dalton at the Canberra Writers Festival for a candid conversation on the inspirations behind his writing and the power of stories to change lives.

Dalton’s fiction titles include Boy Swallows Universe (2018), All our Shimmering Skies (2020), Lola in the Mirror (2023). His latest non-fiction title is Gravity Let me Go (2025.) Non-fiction works include Love Stories (2021) and Detours: Stories from the Street (2011).

In 2024, Boy Swallows Universe was turned into a 5-time Logie-award winning Netflix series. More recently, Trent took out the number one spot on the ABC Radio National’s Top 100 Books of the 21st Century countdown. Dalton is a major supporter of telling Australian stories: 


‘I truly believe telling our own Australian stories is the most valuable and important thing we, as Australian writers can do,’ Dalton said.

‘I saw some really sad days, just had really sad days when I was a kid, and my happy days were reading books, you know, like, it's just the most transformative thing.’

In the interview, Dalton also reflects on the vital role libraries play in communities and in his own childhood.

‘I’m a product of an incredible place called the Bracken Ridge Library, which is on the north side of Brisbane, my hometown. And it's where I first fell in love with books. My brothers and I were constantly running from a billion things and finding sanctuary in a library.’

Dalton is one of the many Australian creators eligible for payments through the Australian Government’s Lending Right Schemes. We asked him why the support is so significant for Australian writers.

‘Public Lending Right payments are important for Australian writers is because they reflect the inherent relationship between an author and a library…It’s a real bonus. I can see how it would absolutely help a writer do their next novel and that next novel may be the one that changes some kid’s life,’ Dalton said.

‘My experience in engaging with Lending Rights has been wonderful.’

The Lending Right Schemes provides payments to Australian book publishers and creators as compensation for the loss of income caused by the free use of their works in Australian public and educational lending libraries.

If you’re part of the Australian literary sector, you could be eligible for an annual payment through the Lending Right Schemes. Publishers, authors, illustrators, editors and translators must submit their title claims by 31 March 2026.

For more information or to register for the Schemes visit the Lending Rights page.