JOIN author Tom Keneally in conversation, find out the thoughts of former deputy prime minister Tim Fischer, hear Wendy Whiteley talk about her "Secret Garden" and discuss "Ageing in a Youth Obsessed World".

ABC TV presenters Kerry O'Brien and Sarah Ferguson are also among the speakers at next month's Byron Writers Festival.

In a 50-year career, Kerry has worked for newspapers, television and wire service, and as a foreign correspondent.

Byron Writers Festival 2016 features a stellar line-up of more than 150 writers, poets, journalists, politicians, photographers, architects, artists, gardeners, and philosophers.

Festival director Edwina Johnson says keynote guests so far include 2016 Pulitzer Prize winner William Finnegan, Cheryl Strayed, Charlotte Wood and Madga Szubanski.

Also on the program are TV personalities Stan Grant, Annabel Crabb and Leigh Sales.

"(They) head a stellar line-up of more than 150 writers and thinkers converging on our iconic coastal town of Byron Bay from August 5 to 7 to celebrate the festival's 20th anniversary," Edwina said.

"The festival program is underpinned by a fundamental belief in the importance and power of literature in shaping our lives.

"The festival facilitates the all-important and age-old art of storytelling and nurtures the myriad benefits that flow from tales and talking about life."

Festival workshops start on August 1.

This major annual literary event, the largest regional writers' festival, offers a seven-day program attracting more than 65,000 individual attendances.