Lewinsky, who first became widely known for her relationship with former US president Bill Clinton while she was an intern at the White House, is now a well-respected anti-bullying activist and writer. Zimet said in today's culture there was no one better qualified than Lewinsky to talk about the ubiquity of online bullying, humiliation and harassment.

"She is the self-described 'patient zero' of cyber bullying. As she says, people have been co-opting her story, her part in her own story, for a very long time and it's taken her almost 20 years for her to reclaim that narrative. People are starting to see and understand and acknowledge her resilience, compassion and her intellect," Zimet said.

Other international guests include Jia Tolentino, Mona Eltahawy, Fatima Bhutto and Curtis Sittenfeld. Local guests include Clare Wright, Patricia Cornelius, Aileen Moreton-Robinson, Courtney Barnett, Nayuka Gorrie, Maria Tumarkin and Aretha Brown.

Zimet, former programming manager at Sydney Writers' Festival, said she had been thinking about the idea of a feminist ideas festival for a long time.

"It is an unashamedly feminist agenda and ultimately it's about smart and funny and passionate people sharing their expertise and stories. In doing that we wanted to create a program that is celebratory, that is also a place for tricky and nuanced conversations that sometimes don't get the public airing that they need to."

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She said that people such as Lewinsky and novelist, essayist and short-story writer Smith had been on programming organisers' wishlists for years.

"Zadie Smith hasn't been here in almost 20 years. We're incredibly lucky, and lucky that it coincides with the publication of [her new short-story collection] Grand Union. There is nobody like her and I'm incredibly proud that she's part of our first line-up."

Zimet said it was crucial there would be a strong presence of local guests at the festival. "For us it's really important that we don't just see internationals as a drawcard. So we have people like Aileen Moreton-Robinson, who wrote Talkin' Up to the White Woman, which was Australia's first text about feminism from an Indigenous woman's standpoint. We have Helen Garner soon after the publication her diaries, Bhenji Ra, Mehreen Faruqi, the first Muslim female senator, Nayuka Gorrie and Patricia Cornelius."