Coming up: at
The Wheeler Centre

See all events »
Sun 26 May
Craig_sherborne_030_barcal
Craig Sherborne ON BEING ORDINARY
The School of Life Melbourne Secular Sermon Series
Mon 27 May
Tash_aw_pic_barcal
Tash Aw
Tue 28 May
Wuthering_heights_barcal
Wuthering Heights
Texts in the City
Tue 28 May
500x386_fifthestate_barcal
The Fifth Estate
The Fifth Estate
Thu 30 May
Th2_taramoss_504rt_fxtl_peterbrewbevan2011_barcal
Tara Moss: Deadlier than the Male: The Myth of the Evil Woman
Lunchbox / Soapbox
Thu 30 May
Th2_taramoss_504rt_fxtl_peterbrewbevan2011_barcal
Wodonga: Tara Moss
On the Road
The Wheeler Centre logo

Search our site:

Tune up with free Melbourne Jazz Festival masterclasses
Next Thursday: Tara Moss on the Myth of the Evil Woman
IQ Squared Debate: Our Children Are Over Diagnosed
City of Literature Calendar: Find an Event, or Add Your Own

Highlights

Video Texts_twelveangries_higgle

Texts in the City: Twelve Angry Men

File under: Videos (24 May 13)

Event Isobel_higgle

Amy Witting's I For Isobel

Born to a world without welcome, Isobel observes it warily – an alien trying to pass for a native. She’s more at ease with imaginary friends than the flesh-and-blood people she meets.

Cate Kennedy…

File under: Calendar

Presenter Approved_-_neil_armfieldcolourheadshot2007_higgle

Neil Armfield

Neil Armfield is a leading Australian director of theatre, opera and film. He was co-founder of Sydney's Belvoir Theatre and its Artistic Director for 17 years, during which time he directed over 50 productions.

File under: Presenters

Event 500x386_litspeeddating_higgle

Literary Speed Dating: Same-Sex Edition

Lovers of Sappho and pals of Armistead Maupin alike, it’s time to grab your favourite book, don your most flattering get-up and head to the Wheeler Centre to meet your next mate (or playmate).

Yes…

File under: Calendar

Daily Lydia-davis-300_higgle

'Great Indeed': Estelle Tang Reviews Lydia Davis

Acclaimed micro-fiction writer Lydia Davis won the Man Booker International Prize yesterday. Estelle Tang shares an in-depth appreciation of Davis's career-branching volume The Collected Stories of Lydia Davis. Read it and see what all the fuss is about.

File under: Dailies (24 May 13)

Event Whe013_webtile_500x386_-_fa6_higgle

Australian Democracy in 2013

It’s been a tumultuous term in the federal government – and now it’s time for us voters to decide if we’re ready for change. And as we prepare to exercise our democratic duty to vote our government i…

File under: Calendar

Daily Sam_higgle

Working with Words: Sam Twyford Moore

We chat to Sam Twyford Moore, director of the Emerging Writers Festival, about the importance of mentors, how he misses having to fight for someone to hear you, and why he believes you should write to engage and defy.

File under: Dailies (23 May 13)

Event Whe013_webtile_500x386_-_fa12_higgle

Our Children Are Over Diagnosed

These days, classrooms seem packed with children who report to the office to take medication at lunchtimes ­– or whose behaviour problems come with labels that didn’t exist when their parents were…

File under: Calendar

Presenter Ka4_2__higgle

Katie Allen

Professor Katie Allen is a Paediatric Gastroenterologist and Allergist practising in the field of Food Allergy at the Royal Children’s Hospital, Melbourne.

File under: Presenters

Presenter Nanderson_headshot_3_higgle

Nikki Anderson

Nikki Anderson is a communications and literary consultant, and coordinator of the Australian Embassy Beijing's annual writers week.

File under: Presenters

Daily 4indigwriters_higgle

First Nations Australia Writers Workshop

The Wheeler Centre's Lucy De Kretser was recently a participant in the inaugural First Nations Australian Writers Workshop in Queensland - established to foster a vibrant Aboriginal writing sector. She reports back on her highlights, from writers as diverse as Alexis Wright, Kim Scott, Anita Heiss and Sam Wagan Watson.

File under: Dailies (22 May 13)

Video Texts_onenightthemoon_higgle

Texts in the City: One Night the Moon

File under: Videos (22 May 13)

Event Tash_aw_pic_higgle

Tash Aw

Tash Aw’s third – and ‘most personal’ – novel, Five Star Billionaire, follows four Malaysian characters trying to make it in the new China, where the megacity of Shanghai is the new New York.

Aw’s…

File under: Calendar

Event Warhaft__sally_-_black_and_white_-_credit_thomas_deverall_higgle

Ballarat: Sally Warhaft

The broadcaster, former Monthly editor and indomitable host of our Fifth Estate events series takes her distinctive brand of political and cultural savvy to the new Museum of Australian Democracy at …

File under: Calendar

Event _dsc8584_higgle

The Larrikin Priest: Father Bob Maguire

When Father Bob Maguire was forced to retire from his South Melbourne parish, the community – and wider Melbourne – was devastated and outraged. Father Bob is an iconoclast, known for his radio and t…

File under: Calendar

Daily Thebigsleep_higgle

Book Covers: Design As You Read

Chicago designer Jenny Volvoski has set herself a fascinating new project - she designs her own covers for the books she reads. They're documented on her blog, From Cover to Cover.

File under: Dailies (21 May 13)

Daily Sts4710_higgle

Eco-Friendly Buildings Around the World

We share some amazing (and innovative) eco-friendly buildings from around the world - from the world's first vertical forest in Italy to a stunning mountain hut that generates 90% of its own power in the Swiss Alps.

File under: Dailies (20 May 13)

Presenter Virginia_murdoch_higgle

Virginia Murdoch

Virginia is a digital designer and one of the founders of Booki.sh, an e-book platform developed in Australia and since acquired by the US e-book giant OverDrive.

File under: Presenters

Event Th2_taramoss_504rt_fxtl_peterbrewbevan2011_higgle

Wodonga: Tara Moss

Tara Moss is famous for her kickass crime-fighting creations. First came model turned forensicpsychologist Mak Vanderwall – and her latest is the supernaturally gifted Pandora English, a…

File under: Calendar

Presenter Img_20130416_164449__2__higgle

Angela Meyer

Angela Meyer is a Melbourne-based writer and reviewer. Her work has appeared in *The Lifted Brow*, the *Australian*, *Seizure*, *The Big Issue* and many others, and her blog *LiteraryMinded* has been running for six years, including for three years on *Crikey.com*.

File under: Presenters

Video Iq2_anzac_higgle

Intelligence Squared Debate: Anzac Day is More Puff Than Substance

File under: Videos (19 May 13)

Video Hughdekretserlbsb_higgle

Lunchbox/Soapbox: Hugh de Kretser: All Right For Us But Not for Them: Selectivity in Australia's Human Rights Protection

File under: Videos (19 May 13)

Event Karen_pickering_publicity_image_higgle

Karen Pickering: In Defence of the Country Women's Association

The Country Women’s Association is not often thought of as a feminist organisation … if at all. But with the current interest in women’s rights and spaces, it’s arguably a ready-made grassroots…

File under: Calendar

Event Breakfast_club_500x386-11_higgle

Nurture over nature? How does your family shape your relationship with art?

Breakfast Club is a platform that interrogates how the world and art collide.

Following a highly successful series at the Wheeler Centre during the 2012 Next Wave Festival, your early morning shot of …

File under: Calendar

Daily Nasar_grab_higgle

Communists, Welfare Queens, and Entrepreneurs

Sylvia Nasar talks about why Marx was wrong (and why The Communist Manifesto was influenced by the Bible), the woman who invited the welfare state, Dickens' crusading journalism (and the true meaning of A Christmas Carol), how John Maynard Keynes fought the Depression, and Amaryta Sen's economic war against poverty.

File under: Dailies (16 May 13)

Daily Jon-stewart-china-580_higgle

Friday High Five: Gatsby, Novelist Death Threats and Satire in China

Jon Stewart is an internet hit in China - which seems to bode well for the future of satire. In a real-life Misery, Charlaine 'True Blood' Harris is receiving death threats from readers unhappy with the fate she's given her fictional heroine, Sookie Stackhouse. David Foster Wallace's This is Water is now a short film. The Guardian is unimpressed with the new New York Times Book Review editor. And we look at the wildly divergent reviews of Baz Luhrmann's The Great Gatsby.

File under: Dailies (16 May 13)

Daily Colin_batrouney_higgle

Working with Words: Colin Batrouney

Colin Batrouney on getting fantastic feedback on his work from Wells Tower, why you should make sure your writing stays true to your gut intention, and why referring to someone as a 'queer' writer is 'bullshit' and sets up lowered expectations.

File under: Dailies (15 May 13)

Daily Coinsinjar_higgle

Aussie Strugglers or Privileged Poor?

Just what constitutes middle class, middle income and genuine ‘struggling’ has been a hot conversational topic lately. We look at some recent arguments from social commentator Rachel Hills, the ACTU's Matt Cowgill and Fairfax writer Peter Martin.

File under: Dailies (14 May 13)

Video Bronwynbancroftcbf13_higgle

Children's Book Festival 2013: Bronwyn Bancroft

File under: Videos (14 May 13)

Daily Pat-diary2_higgle

Patrick Ness: In Defence of Teenagers

Award-winning YA author Patrick Ness spoke passionately in defence of teenagers when he accepted the Carnegie Medal last year. We share highlights (and footage) of his speech, in which he calls for our culture and governments to engage with teenagers and see past the negative - and reveals his own difficult teenage years.

File under: Dailies (13 May 13)


What is the
Wheeler Centre?

The Wheeler Centre is Melbourne’s home for smart, passionate and entertaining public talks on every topic.

Across 200+ events each year, you’ll find some of our finest local and international thinkers and speakers, sharing their expertise, their imagination and their ideas.

The majority of events are free.

The Wheeler Centre is the centrepiece of the Victorian Government’s City of Literature initiative.

Where to
find us

The Wheeler Centre Auditorium

176 Little Lonsdale Street
Melbourne
Victoria 3000

Explore

Privacy Policy | Site by Inventive Labs.