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Professor Ben Kiernan is the multi-award-winning author of Blood and Soil: A World History of Genocide and Extermination from Sparta to Darfur, recipient of a 2008 Gold Medal for the Best Book in…
David Mitchell found it ‘addictive and gratifying – not unlike sudoku’. Anna Goldsworthy has written one for children’s classic The Magic Pudding. And Ian Rankin wrote one for Scottish Opera.What is …
How do you maintain live music in a culture that does not value it? Jon Rose, acclaimed improvising violinist and instrument-maker, examines Australia’s history of improvised music and musicians and …
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…
Join the cream of Australia’s theatre crop for this very special event to celebrate the publication of Colin Batrouney’s second novel, Creative Writing for Beginners.Actor Geoffrey Rush, director…
Climate change. Pandemics. Peak oil.These days, many of us have grimly accepted the fact that the human species is hurtling towards oblivion – if not in our lifetime, in that of our children or…
Western women today enjoy unprecedented freedom and power – but it can sometimes seem to be a game of two steps forward, one step back.Yes, Julia Gillard is our first female prime minister … but her …
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 …
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…
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…
Don’t miss this rare opportunity to enter the minds of the world’s greatest jazz masters. Thesefree masterclasses, hosted by Fem Belling, see the festival’s headline artists discuss and explore…
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…
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…
Our fabulous double bills are back – bringing you three big nights of international writers, presented back-to-back.From genre-bending fiction bestsellers to young adult authors with cult…
Our fabulous double bills are back – bringing you three big nights of international writers, presented back-to-back.From genre-bending fiction bestsellers to young adult authors with cult…
Our fabulous double bills are back – bringing you three big nights of international writers, presented back-to-back.From genre-bending fiction bestsellers to young adult authors with cult…
We share our favourite finds from the internet this week.Jon Stewart and comedy in ChinaJon Stewart has recently discovered that he’s a hit in China, from the millions of viewers who see his show in …
Apathy towards rights protections. An underdeveloped rights culture. Opposition to the equal sharing of rights. All these things undermine Australia’s (otherwise good) record on human rights…
Apathy towards rights protections. An underdeveloped rights culture. Opposition to the equal sharing of rights. All these things undermine Australia’s (otherwise good) record on human rights…
Sylvia Nasar is best known as the author of A Beautiful Mind, which the New York Times called ‘perhaps the best economics-related book of the past quarter-century’. In her latest book, Grand…
Colin Batrouney is a Melbourne-based writer. His second novel, Creative Writing for Beginners, was published by Affirm Press this month. He has occasionally worked in professional theatre as both…
The front page of today’s Age pictures a newlywed Altona couple, aged 25 and 27, as examples of the typical Australian, worried about rising costs of living.They earn $130,000 a year between them…
Last year, Patrick Ness won the prestigious Carnegie Medal for the second time, for his YA novel A Monster Calls, a heartbreaking story about cancer and loss, told through the metaphor of a yew tree …
We share some of our favourite finds from around the internet this week.30 abandoned places that look beautifulTake a coffee break and have a long look at these eerily stunning images of 30…
Tom Doig is a writer, performer and editor who has been published in the Big Issue, The Lifted Brow, Sleepers Almanac and Voiceworks magazine (where he was once editor). His plays include Survival o…
Due to a technical failure, there will be no video of last night’s session with Anna Krien and Helen Garner. Luckily, we were there with a notebook and pen … please enjoy our account of last night’s…
In this very special event, two generations of Australian reportage royalty come together, as the world- renowned Helen Garner interviews Anna Krien, one of the brightest writers of her generation…
By Paul Mitchell There’s been a lot of talk about ‘sausage fests’ over the past few weeks, with the first all-female Miles Franklin shortlist sparking memories of the all-male lists of the recent…
By Joel Deane People with disabilities – and the everyday challenges they face – have been in the spotlight over the past week, as the national Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) has dominated…
We bring you some of our favourite finds from around the internet this week.Why Steven Soderbergh quit making moviesSteven Soderbergh (Traffic, Magic Mike, the Oceans Eleven series) has recently…
By Pepi RonaldsPepi Ronalds takes us on a tour of Melbourne’s locally-made comic book scene – up alleyways, behind hidden doors and down in the tunnels below Flinders Street Station.I am yet to ride …
Kylie Ladd is a Melbourne writer and novelist whose essays and articles have appeared in the Age, Griffith Review, Sydney’s Child and O magazine, among others. She works part-time as a…
The plucky bravery of the Anzacs is one of our great national stories – it plays into our idea of who we are. But why is one of the touchstones of our identity based on a historic defeat?Some are…
The plucky bravery of the Anzacs is one of our great national stories – it plays into our idea of who we are. But why is one of the touchstones of our identity based on a historic defeat?Some are…
The Miles Franklin shortlist for 2013 has been announced – and in a reverse of the much-talked-about ‘sausagefests’ of 2009 and 2011, all five of the shortlisted authors are women.This is the first …
It’s that time of year again, where we welcome a new batch of writers to our Wheeler Centre hot-desks. And a wonderfully varied crowd it is.There’s a singer–songwriter venturing into memoir, a poet …
Anna Goldsworthy’s first book, the memoir Piano Lessons, has been released in the US and Korea, adapted for the stage, and is currently in development as a film. Anna’s writing has appeared in the…
By Shauna Bostock-SmithShauna Bostock-Smith reflects on her family’s past, and the way personal stories are shaped and interpreted – and the importance of acknowledging both the bad and the good in…
Are you still looking for the Mr Darcy to your Elizabeth Bennett? Cathy to your Heathcliff? Or even a playboy millionaire for a little B&D, if that’s your thing. What better way for bookish sorts to …
By Anthony Morris Game of Thrones is the hit show of the moment – and holds the dubious honour of producing some of the most pirated television episodes ever. It’s rare to hear a bad word about it…
The passage of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in December 1948 was the last act of World War II – and the first act of the post-war human rights movement. In the first in a three-part…
Presented with the Australian Centre for Jewish Civilisation at Monash UniversityThe passage of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in December 1948 was the last act of World War II – and the f…
Our first ever event was a Debut Monday. Three years on, it’s still going strong, introducing new Australian talent each month.Whether it’s meeting Australia’s latest wunderkind or hearing an…
By Billie TumarkinWe asked Year Eleven student Billie Tumarkin to explore what Anzac Day means to her generation. She dabbled in some amateur psychology with friends and reflected on Anzac Days…
Neil’s notable productions include Cloudstreet (toured to London twice, Dublin, Zurich, New York), Hamlet (toured Australia starring Richard Roxburgh), Diary of a Madman (with Geoffrey Rush, toured t…
By Greg Foyster In the midst of a stellar advertising career, Greg Foyster came to the realisation that the work he was doing had grave consequences for the health of the planet. He became a walking…
Krissy Kneen is a Brisbane-based writer and bookseller. Her memoir, Affection, was published in 2009 and shortlisted for the Queensland Premier’s Literary Award and the ABIA Award in 2010. Krissy…
The Emerging Writers' Festival brings writers together – with each other and new audiences – to inspire, create and entertain. It just keeps getting bigger and better … and this year, it gets a new d…
Laura has been shortlisted for national and international awards; in 2011 she won the Alan Marshall Short Story Award. She lives in Melbourne.
Virginia has worked extensively with booksellers, publishers, literary agents, authors and others in the book industry, in roles as various as manuscript assessment, illustration, cover design…
Analee’s latest book is Scatter, Adapt, and Remember: How Humans Will Survive a Mass Extinction. She is the editor of the anthology She’s Such a Geek: Women Write About Science, Technology, and…
The first ever Stella Prize for a work by an Australian woman writer was awarded last night, to Carrie Tiffany for her novel Mateship with Birds. Carrie Tiffany: ‘The Stella is…
India is booming: everyone says so. The economy is growing to match its massive population, and new industries like IT are creating a thriving middle class. Yet millions of Indians, especially…
Kristina Olsson’s mother married aged sixteen, madly in love with a too-charming older man. After they moved far from her Brisbane family, he turned abusive, starving and badly beating her. As she…
We can’t wait to get back on the road again – bringing some of our favourite writers to regional Victoria. We’ll be packing up the car with books and authors, travelling from country to coast … and m…
We’ve created an Australian Classics book club, just for you – with special writerly guests each month.Last year’s hugely popular Australian Literature 101 set the scene by introducing ten texts our …
With a solo career spanning nearly 30 years, the six-time Grammy nominee and recipient of Guitar Player magazine’s Certified Legend Award for 2012 is not afraid to bring numerous styles and ideas – h…
By John Martinkus John Martinkus has been a war reporter for a decade, covering East Timor, Iraq (where he was abducted, and released) and Afghanistan. He defends the continued celebration of Anzac…
Presented by the Melbourne International Comedy FestivalWebsites, blogs, social media, YouTube, iTunes, live streaming and podcasts…The worldwide web has put a worldwide audience directly into the…
She was an economics correspondent for The New York Times and is the John S. and James L. Knight Professor of Business Journalism at Columbia University. Her work has appeared in The New Yorker…
She was an economics correspondent for The New York Times and is the John S. and James L. Knight Professor of Business Journalism at Columbia University. Her work has appeared in The New Yorker…
Our picks of the internet this week.Hannah Kent on her path to publicationThe lead article in the current Kill Your Darlings is by its deputy editor, Hannah Kent … who shot to worldwide fame last…
What’s funnier (and sexier) than 50 Shades of Grey? Long before E.L. James turned her Twilight fantasies into a cash cow, there was Erotic Fan Fiction – a crowd favourite and unstoppable cultural…
It’s been quite a week for Australian literary award shortlists (and a pair of longlists). We share them with you here – along with a reminder about the inaugural Stella Prize, with the winner…
His other books include The Carpet Wars: A Journey Across the Islamic Heartlands, Bamboo Palace: Discovering the Lost Dynasty of Laos, and a historical novel, The Chase, set in Australia in the…
Kerryn Goldsworthy is a freelance writer and critic with a long and illustrious career on the Australian literary scene. She is a former editor of Australian Book Review and a member of the…
Last night, the news broke that Margaret Thatcher – Britain’s first female prime minister (and the twentieth century’s longest serving one) – had died, aged 87, of a stroke.‘Margaret Thatcher…
by Yvonne Ward When Yvonne Ward began researching Queen Victoria’s Letters, she found that key aspects of her life were deemed unsuitable for public consumption: her experience of motherhood, her…
She writes and performs with the female theatre collective I’m Trying To Kiss You – in fact, a return season of their acclaimed show I Know There’s A Lot Of Noise Outside But You Have To Close Your…
Rebecca Starford is a Melbourne-based writer, reviewer, editor and publisher. She is editor of Kill Your Darlings, associate publisher at Affirm Press, and has been deputy editor at Australian Book…
In a special web-only interview, award-winning Indian-born American writer Abha Dawesar (Miniplanner, Babyji, That Summer in Paris, Family Values) drops by to chat to us about the beginnings of…
When Queen Victoria died in 1901, two literary gentlemen took on a monumental task: selecting and editing her vast correspondence. The book they produced would influence perceptions of Victoria for g…
By Jill Stark What’s the place of alcohol in our lives? When does fun become a habit too hard to break? And how are the culture, alcohol companies, Australian sports and even our friends lined up to…
By Michael Green Michael Green lifts the lid on the Victorian government’s ‘good news’ approach to climate change. ‘Gradual changes in temperature potentially enable industries to transition and…
Madeleine St John was the first Australian woman shortlisted for the Booker Prize (in 1997, for The Essence of the Thing) – but until Text Publishing published her first novel, The Women in Black…
This year, PEN Melbourne’s annual International Women’s Day event features a conversation with the bestselling author Alice Pung, the celebrated author of Her Father’s Daughter and Unpolished Gem…
Visiting from the United States for the Rationalist Society of Australia, Sean Faircloth speaks to the issues raised in his book Attack of the Theocrats: How the Religious Right Harms Us All – and…
Chris Somerville’s stories have appeared in literary journals including Voiceworks, The Lifted Brow, Paper Radio, Islet and Stilts. In 2003, he won the State Library of Queensland Young Writers…
Last Sunday, we held our annual Children’s Book Festival (in partnership with the State Library of Victoria). From 10am until 4pm, the State Library Lawns, our Performance Space, Little Lonsdale…
Since 2009 he has lectured in Journalism, Media and Communications at UTAS in Hobart. In 2011 he was commissioned by the Australian War Memorial to travel to Afghanistan as The Official Australian…
Studying a book or film can be a short-cut to consigning it to boredom. But our Texts in the City series – a gift to students, their teachers and lifelong learners – brings the VCE English and…
This year’s Miles Franklin longllist was announced in an unusual – but thoroughly contemporary – way.The covers of the nine longlisted books were revealed, one by one, on Twitter, in what Crikey
J.M. Coetzee is one of the world’s most prized literary treasures – and we’re lucky enough to have him living right here in Australia.The first author to win the Booker Prize twice, he won the Nobel …
J.M. Coetzee is one of the world’s most prized literary treasures – and we’re lucky enough to have him living right here in Australia.The first author to win the Booker Prize twice, he won the Nobel …
Two editors describe what it’s like to work between the lines.By Melissa CranenburghIt’s hard to imagine now, but when F. Scott Fitzgerald first submitted a manuscript to New York publisher…
Celebrated children’s book illustrator Freya Blackwood has a diverse creative background – extending from working on special effects for the Lord of the Rings films to her many collaborative books…
Bronwyn Bancroft is a Bundjalung woman, fashion designer and artist, whose credits include being one of the first Australian designers to be invited to show their work in Paris. Her career in…
Our pick of the news and articles from around the internet this week.The Stella Prize shortlist announcedThe shortlist has been announced for the very first Stella Prize, awarded to the best book of …
We’ve created an Australian Classics book club, just for you – with special writerly guests each month.Last year’s hugely popular Australian Literature 101 set the scene by introducing ten texts our …
In May 2012 Kirstie Clements was sacked after more than a decade in the editor’s chair at Vogue Australia. In her book The Vogue Factor (and this edition of Lunchbox/Soapbox) Clements tells the…
She is among Australia’s most senior indigenous politicians, and has been a prominent indigenous activist, including as an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission (ATSIC) Central Zone…
Simmone Howell spent her teen years writing love odes to eighties pop stars and English essays for her friends. Her novel Notes from the Teenage Underground was awarded the 2007 Victorian Premier’s…
Dr Nelson is a former federal minister for defence. During his time as minister, troops were deployed to Iraq, Afghanistan, East Timor and the Solomon Islands. In November 2007, he was elected…
John Wood left a lucrative career at Microsoft to found Room to Read, a global charity that has helped more than six million children in developing countries to become literate in their native…
Matthew Lamb, the new editor of Island magazine, is also the editor and co-founder of the digital short-story publication Review of Australian Fiction. This makes for an interesting and varied…
What is the role of the modern ambassador? How much influence do they really have? While the days of Argo are probably long gone, so too is a life of garden parties, cups of tea and private clubs…
Studying a book or film can be a short-cut to consigning it to boredom. But our Texts in the City series – a gift to students, their teachers and lifelong learners – brings the VCE English and…
Studying a book or film can be a short-cut to consigning it to boredom. But our Texts in the City series – a gift to students, their teachers and lifelong learners – brings the VCE English and…
What were your favourite childhood reads? The books that formed and nurtured your childhood imagination?In honour of the Children’s Book Festival this weekend, Wheeler Centre staff have shared their …
Monday mornings can be tough. If you’re suffering Mondayitis and could use a little pick-me-up, take time out to browse these particularly good-looking book covers we’ve sourced from around the…
We’ve been talking to tech-savvy writers and publishers this week, finding out how they navigate the brave new world of promoting books online.Today, we share some dos and don’t for writers, from
Michelle Dicinoski’s memoir, Ghost Wife, about love, secrets, and same-sex marriage, was published by Black Inc. this month. It’s her second book; her first was the poetry collection Electricity for …
By Mel Campbell The obesity debate is everywhere at the moment – along with an accompanying moral panic focused on overweight bodies. Karen Hitchcock’s controversial essay in the current Monthly
With the rise of e-publishing, online bookstores and social media, mastering the web has become increasingly important for authors and publishers when it comes to selling books. But how do they…
We bring you our favourite findings from around the internet this week.International Women’s Day: Media voices & the ‘glass ceiling index’It’s International Women’s Day today – and there’s a slew of …
From her studies as the only foreign apprentice in a prestigious Chengdu cooking school to her storied career as an award-winning food writer, there are fewer better guides to a Sichuan kitchen…
Spraying sulphur compounds into the upper atmosphere to reduce the amount of sunlight reaching the planet? Transforming the chemistry of the world’s oceans so they soak up more carbon? These ideas…
We live in the foodie age – where celebrity chefs are the new rock stars. But while organic food is a must-have fashion accessory, obesity and food intolerances are on the rise.But there are good…
Lesley Jørgensen won the 2011 CAL Scribe Fiction Prize for an unpublished manuscript for what is now her debut novel, Cat & Fiddle.We spoke to Lesley about her first forays into writing, the buzz of…
By Monica Dux Mothers' groups attract strong feelings – they’re either loved or loathed by their members, as strongholds of sisterhood and support, or arenas of judgement and one-upmanship. Why are…
Edward St Aubyn’s semi-autobiographical Patrick Melrose novels have been called ‘some of the most perceptive, elegantly written and hilarious novels of our era’. The fourth, Mother’s Milk, was…
When bestselling Scottish crime writer Ian Rankin swept through Australia to promote his book Standing in Another Man’s Grave, he dropped into the Wheeler Centre to chat about the return of Rebus…
Most of the news we hear about publishing these days is pretty grim, to say the least … it’s all about bookshops closing, sales plummeting and jobs being lost. So, it’s especially nice to hear the…
Jill Stark is a senior writer for the Sunday Age who has worked for the Age since 2006, where she has predominantly covered health, specialising in alcohol and drug issues, mental health, and…
When we think about cities of the future, we think about edgy architecture and technological breakthroughs. But what we should be thinking about is how to plan for a Melbourne that seems likely to…
Edward St Aubyn’s novels are like black diamonds: dark, glittering jewels.His dark-witted books about the misdeeds of the privileged upper classes have been compared to Evelyn Waugh and Oscar Wilde. …
Late last year, the Wheeler Centre hosted a Fifth Estate discussion of food culture. ‘It seems to me it’s become out of control,’ said host Sally Warhaft, of our current obsession with food.‘I’m…
Nelly recently released her latest comedy DVD, The Talk (a sexual health and ethics DVD for teens) and released her first book What Women Want with Random House in 2012 to popular and critical…
Zora Sanders recently became the new editor of Meanjin, aged just 25 – quite an achievement. But maybe not surprising, given that her grandmother worked on the magazine in the 1970s, with original…
Popular comedian and contrarian John Safran is known as a seeker of awkward and unusual truths. He infiltrates a secret world of madness, agitation and unrest. In this event, he’ll present his…
We bring you our favourite findings from around the internet this week.Wells Tower takes his dad to Burning ManWells Tower reports on his father-son trip to Burning Man, the world’s largest…
The Wall Street Journal calls Jared Diamond ‘a star among public intellectuals’.The big-brained anthropologist built his own brand of intellectual blockbuster with the Pulitzer Prize-winning Guns…
Sarah Marland is a human rights campaigner, researcher and author. Since 2006, she has worked as Amnesty International’s Campaign Coordinator and Researcher on Indigenous Rights.Using participatory m…
Once the Apple Isle, Tasmania’s size and isolation made it the butt of mainland jokes. But those qualities – and its stunning natural environment – are now seen as major advantages. And the buzz…
Favel Parrett’s debut novel, Past the Shallows, was shortlisted for the Miles Franklin Award in 2012. She won Newcomer of the Year in the Australian Book Industry Awards and the Dobbie Literary…
Joyful Strains, as the title suggests, is a new anthology exploring the sometimes bittersweet experiences of new migrants to Australia. From the relief of being welcomed to a new homeland, to…
Our Ideas for Melbourne events web series, by journalist Michael Green, explores three topics that loom large in local debates, each Wednesday for three weeks. Last week he explored homelessness
In this edition of our Texts in the City series, focussing on VCE English texts, join Tony Birch and Josephine Rowe explore the secrets and tensions in Raymond Carver’s 1976 short story collection…
2013 is an election year and we know that domestic issues will dominate the campaign and decide our next prime minister. But, at a time when the world is confronting major changes, our foreign…
We travel vicariously to some of the world’s most unusual – and beautiful – bookshops.The Book Barge, UKThe Guardian has called The Book Barge ‘quite possibly the coolest bookshop in the UK’…
Last year’s hugely popular Australian Literature 101 set the scene by introducing ten texts our experts deemed unmissable Australian reading. This year, we invite you on a brand new, leisurely…
Graeme Simsion’s The Rosie Project is one of the most awaited books of 2013. Since winning the Victorian Premier’s Literary Award for an Unpublished Manuscript last year, it’s been a whirlwind…
We bring you our favourite findings from around the internet this week.It’s … Groundhog Day! 20 years onGroundhog Dog is one of those quietly classic films – it’s not showily clever, it didn’t win…
Once upon a time, older generations could berate young people for not realising their relative good fortune. But these days, it seems that opportunities for young people are dwindling … along with…
Melbourne is famously multicultural – but the past year has proven that racism is also rife.For instance, a VicHealth survey reported 97% of Aboriginal Victorians had experienced racism in the past 1…
Alan Attwood has been the editor of the Big Issue Australia since 2006. He is a Walkley award winner and former New York correspondent for the Age and Sydney Morning Herald. He has also been a…
In 30 years, Melbourne’s CBD will have another 220,000 new residents. A ‘second CBD’ has been proposed for Melbourne’s west, along with a third runway for Tullamarine airport – and more green wedge l…
In 30 years, Melbourne’s CBD will have another 220,000 new residents. A ‘second CBD’ has been proposed for Melbourne’s west, along with a third runway for Tullamarine airport – and more green wedge l…
Our Ideas for Melbourne events series explores three topics that loom large in local debates: city planning, homelessness, and racism. Over the next three Wednesdays, we’re running a series of…
He also hosts The Rereaders podcast (www.therereaders.com).
Studying a book or film can be a short-cut to consigning it to boredom. But our Texts in the City series – a gift to students, their teachers and lifelong learners – brings the VCE English and…
Leonard Cohen at his desk in Montreal, Canada, 1963 Yesterday, we welcomed our first round of Hot Desk Fellows to the Wheeler Centre, where they’ll work on their writing…
James Ley is the editor of Australia’s newest literary publication, the Sydney Review of Books, our (online-only) answer to the London Review of Books and New York Review of Books.We spoke to him…
Let the wild rumpus start!The Wheeler Centre kicks off our first season of events with a celebration of storytelling that revels in the deepest recesses of the imagination. This year, we dedicate…
We bring you our favourite findings from around the internet this week.Using the internet to market books in AustraliaCrikey’s Amber Jamieson has interviewed digital marketing staff at a number of…
When The First Tuesday Book Club asked Australians to vote for their favourite Aussie books of all time, Markus Zusak’s The Book Thief was ranked number two, beaten only by Tim Winton’s…
Monica Dux is a writer, social commentator and co-author of The Great Feminist Denial. Her new book, *Things I Didn’t Expect (when I was expecting) will be published by MUP in March. Monica is…
When you travel, you don’t become a whole new person – you carry your interests with you. That’s why some people plunge themselves into daredevil adventure travel and others plan their trips around w…
There’s an uproar on the internet right now about the recent makeover of Sylvia Plath’s The Bell Jar. While the original cover was a concentric ring of mesmerising circles, the fiftieth anniversary e…
You are funny. We are funny. Everyone is funny. Some celebrate the use of humour; others merely come across it. Some are completely unaware of it. But all of us can develop it if we choose.Writer…
A co-presentation with Melbourne Conversations.You are funny. We are funny. Everyone is funny. Some celebrate the use of humour; others merely come across it. Some are completely unaware of it. But a…
We bring you our favourite findings from around the internet this week.Lizzie Bennett: Looking good at 200 years oldIt was the two-hundredth birthday of Pride and Prejudice this week – and the New…
She is a contributing editor to Vanity Fair and writes frequently on arts and culture for numerous magazines and newspapers. She is currently writing for a new major US TV series. She lives in New…
Catriona began her television career on Wonder World!, and has worked on radio, television and print since. In addition to her media roles, Catriona is always involved in community work and is…
His work includes Waiting for the Barbarians, Life and Times of Michael K, The Master of Petersburg, Disgrace and Diary of a Bad Year. He lives in Adelaide.
Lili Wilkinson is a reader and writer of young adult literature; she has written five books for teenagers. The most recent is Love Shy (Allen & Unwin). Lili worked at the State Library of…
His short stories and non-fiction have appeared in Voiceworks, The Lifted Brow, The Emerging Writer and elsewhere.
The first tells the story of African prostitutes working in Belgium; the second is the about the relationships between mothers and daughters.Unigwe’s stories have been broadcast on BBC World…
By Andie FoxMiddle age can make you a more savvy audience for art … but also a lazier one, as it must be squeezed into an ever-more time-poor life. Andie Fox realises that she’s become so risk…
By Maria TumarkinMaria Tumarkin emigrated to Australia from the former Soviet Union in 1989. She reflects on her memories of ‘being new’, of compulsively doing ‘compare and contrast’ with the old…
Kutcha has toured, performed and forged connections both nationally and internationally. He has recorded several albums with others and, since going solo and forming The Kutcha Edwards Band in 2002, …
We bring you our favourite findings from around the internet this week.Men’s magazine culture and the worst celebrity profile everThe internet has been aflame this week over what’s been described as …
Rock star writer Neil Gaiman has a reputation for reinventing genres – and for following his imagination wherever it leads. He’s written everything from journalism to episodes of Doctor Who, fantasy …
Josephine Rowe’s second collection of short stories, Tarcutta’s Wake (UQP), was published last year – and was one of Michael Williams' best books of 2012. Her non-fiction, short stories and poems…
It’s always nice to have new neighbours. And we’re especially thrilled to welcome the ten new writers who’ll be moving into the Wheeler Centre Hot Desks in the first half of 2013. With the generous s…
Novelist Charlotte Wood launched a new publication this week, The Writer’s Room Interviews, taking its inspiration from the famed Paris Review interviews with writers, by writers. We spoke to…
David Sedaris has long been opposed to seeing his work adapted for the screen. He told the New York Times that a decade ago, he began work on a movie adaptation of his essay collection Me Talk…
Born and educated in South Africa, Durbach practised as a political trial lawyer and human rights advocate, representing victims and opponents of apartheid laws. In 1988 she was appointed solicitor t…
Christopher Tolkien on why he hates the Peter Jackson moviesThe whole world may be in love with Peter Jackson’s adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings trilogy (though less so with The…
Pip Smith is currently poet-in-residence at The Lifted Brow. She has had her poems and stories published in HEAT, Meanjin, Voiceworks, Going Down Swinging, Island and Pan Magazine, and also runs…
2012 was a bad year for the print media. What Queen Elizabeth might call an annus horribilis. So, after a year packed with announcements of staff layoffs at Australia’s major newspapers, it’s nice…
Comic literary novelist Gary Shteyngart is almost as well known for his prolific blurbing of his fellow authors' work as he is for his critically acclaimed books, Absurdistan and Super Sad True Love…
The digital revolution has hit the book business in a big way over the past couple of years, with the rise of e-books, e-readers and online bookshops.The Brotherhood of St Laurence was an early…
We share five of our favourite links, articles and issues from around the internet this week.George Monbiot on climate change and Australia’s heatwave‘Climate change denial is almost a national…
Damon Young is a philosopher, author and commentator. He is regularly published in the Age, the Australian, by the BBC and elsewhere. His first book, Distraction, has been published in the UK, the…
By Billie TumarkinFollowing Christopher Bantick’s article arguing that Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s Love in the Time of Cholera is inappropriate for students due to an incident of sex with a minor, the…
It’s a whole new year in publishing and reading – and if you’re already making up your ‘to read’ list, we can help. A plethora of publications have just published their lists of books to look out…
What’s the next big thing in YA fiction?According to tabloid UK publication The Daily Mail, it’s ‘sick-lit’ – ‘a raft of morbid novels, which all too often inadvertently glamorise shocking…
In our last Friday High FIve for 2012, we collect five of our favourite articles and items of interest from the internet this week.Adam Mansbach’s F_ _ king Weird Year on the Bestseller ListsAdam…
Paddy O'Reilly’s latest novel, The Fine Colour of Rust, was published in the US, UK and Australia this year; it was selected as one of the Wheeler Centre staff picks in our Best Books of 2012…
When we think twenty-first-century Christmas, we also think shopping. And if you think Christmas shopping is its own special squashy, noisy hell for you, just imagine (or remember) what it’s like…
Yesterday, Wheeler Centre staff shared our favourite books of 2012. Today, some of the writers who’ve been part of the Wheeler Centre programme this year – whether as presenters, website…
His most recent books are Bloke (Penguin), Fog (Magabala) – a book for children, The Chainsaw File (Oxford) – for teenagers, and Convincing Ground (ASP) – a non-fiction book.He is of…
Michael Williams DirectorMy top 13 are:Gone Girl – Gillian Flynn Behind the Beautiful Forevers – Katherine Boo The Australian…
The courtroom: the ultimate arena for dramatising issues of justice and morality, and a stage where the most admirable and most despicable elements of human nature are performed in equal measure…
We share five of our favourite links, videos and articles from around the internet this week.No, Actually: Debunking a Christmas film favouriteLove, Actually, Richard Curtis’s celebrity-packed…
Gideon Haigh has been a journalist for over 30 years, writing on subjects as diverse as business, literary criticism – and cricket, for which he is especially renowned. (The Australian has called…
By Rochelle Siemienowicz Go to your local cinema on any given day, and more likely than not, the screens are dominated by recycled superheroes in suits, animated animals voiced by celebrities, and…
By Jessie ColeLast week, we had an impassioned response to Catherine Deveny’s Lunchbox/Soapbox decrying ‘helicopter parents’ in favour of ‘70s parenting’. Here, novelist and mum Jessie Cole gives…
Acclaimed novelist Charlotte Wood is also a passionate home cook – and her latest book, Love and Hunger, is a warm and lovely celebration of the pleasures of simple food, well made. It’s the perfect …
It’s December – and the holiday season has kicked into full gear, tinsel decorations and all. Any day now, we’ll be hearing carols broadcast in the shopping centres. Holiday decorations are festive…
Tim Richards' writing has appeared in newspapers, magazines and websites around the world. While he writes on a range of subjects, from lifestyle and the arts to science, he specialises in travel…
By Catherine DevenyCatherine Deveny decries helicopter parents, attachment parenting, yummy mummies, kids in cafes and trampolines with fences around them – in favour of 1970s-style ‘blimp…
Adam Zwar, creator of Wilfred and Lowdown, will direct a dramatic live reading of the classic film 12 Angry Men for the Wheeler Centre this month. We spoke to Adam in advance of the event about the…
It’s been a weird year for publishing, with bad news about plummeting advances, disappearing bookshops and dwindling sales everywhere you turn.But there’s been the occasional good news too. A couple …
By Adrian MartinIn the lead-up to 12 Angry People, our dramatic live reading directed by Adam Zwar, film critic Adrian Martin takes a fond look at the Oscar-nominated 1957 film 12 Angry Men. He…
We share five of our favourite links and articles from around the internet this week.Why your passwords don’t protect youWired senior writer Mat Horan was famously targeted by cyberhackers earlier…
There has never been more time, energy and thought spent on the raising of babies, toddlers and children – and it is detrimental, counterproductive and narcissistic, argues 1970s parent Catherine…
Karen Andrews is program manager of the Emerging Writers' Festival. She is also an author and publisher at Miscellaneous Press, with two books under her belt – the picture book Surprise! and most…
Michael Leunig is best loved as our wizard of whimsy, creator of quirky characters like Mr Curly, the duck and Vasco Pyjama. Asked how those creations were born, he says, ‘I felt maybe society…
The online age has heralded the rise of the celebrity journalist: ‘personalities’ with headshots, Twitter accounts and guest spots on Q&A. How does this impact on the quality of our journalism? What …
By Sam CooneyThe publishing industry is a tough arena, and never more so than now. Sam Cooney looks at the weird, annoying and sometimes puzzling things publishers (and writers) do to promote their…
As the Communist Party of China’s 18th National Congress oversees the biggest leadership transition in decades, Sally Warhaft catches up with China watcher and correspondent John Garnaut to examine t…
A packed (and somewhat awed) crowd gathered at RMIT’s Storey Hall last week to hear Helen Garner deliver the keynote address of the NonFictioNow conference.She spoke generously about her struggles…
Michael Leunig is an undisputed national treasure. His particular blend of whimsy and wit, provocation and pure magic, has been bewitching Melburnians since his first cartoon in 1965.He’ll be
David Shields has been hailed as a writing revolutionary. His wildly inventive ‘manifesto’ Reality Hunger, a broadside against the contemporary novel, has been welcomed with open arms by novelists…
There’s a huge public appetite for non-fiction storytelling in all its forms, from literary and political essays to the shelf-filling genre of memoir, and the much-maligned reality TV.This is a…
There’s a huge public appetite for non-fiction storytelling in all its forms, from literary and political essays to the shelf-filling genre of memoir, and the much-maligned reality TV.This is a…
We collect five of our favourite links and articles from around the internet this week.Carver’s OK Cupid profile, edited by Gordon LishWhat if Raymond Carver wanted to hook up, and turned to the…
Dr Adam Kerezsy is a freshwater ecologist who works in some of the driest rivers and springs of inland Australia. Working with Bush Heritage Australia, he focuses on recovering populations of the…
Helen Garner’s narrative non-fiction is practically its own genre, attracting international acclaim. Her landmark The First Stone, a controversial bestseller, broke new ground for Australian…
Margaret Simons is an award-winning freelance journalist and author. She is also the director of the Centre for Advanced Journalism and coordinator of the new Masters in Journalism at the…
We’ve partnered with one of Melbourne’s oldest institutions to create the Wheeler Centre Zoo Fellowships – a unique opportunity for Melbourne artists to soak up the zoo’s surrounds and create work…
In 2012, we partnered with one of Melbourne’s oldest institutions to create the Wheeler Centre Zoo Fellowships – a unique opportunity for Melbourne artists to soak up the zoo’s surrounds and create w…
Tim Flannery spoke to a passionate crowd at the Wheeler Centre last night about the crisis in biodiversity. He was urgent about the need for immediate, informed and ‘businesslike’ action on the…
In the clash between money and conservation, money usually wins – with devastating results in a land that tolerates few mistakes. Tim Flannery delivers a wake-up call about the consequences of…
Interview by Jo Case, for the Wheeler CentreLily Brett is one of Australia’s most-loved writers, best known for the blackly comic novels (like her masterpiece Too Many Men and most recently, You…
By Anthony MorrisFilm writer Anthony Morris has interviewed your average wish-list of Hollywood celebrities, from Matt Damon to Sarah Jessica Parker. But, he warns, it’s not as fun as you might…
One of the most exhilarating things about travel is the way it takes you outside yourself – to discover new people, places and ideas. It also shifts your perspective: from the outside, everything…
One of the most exhilarating things about travel is the way it takes you outside yourself – to discover new people, places and ideas. It also shifts your perspective: from the outside, everything…
We’ve been sharing some amazing/horrifying/telling photos of the effects of climate change on social media over the past week, and judging from the response, we’re not the only ones who find it…
She has recently appeared on the ABC’s Agony Aunts, Southern Star Production’s Tangle as Elle, and prior to this, was seen as Annie Blythe on Sleuth 101 and as Lara in the ABC series East of…
Her other television credits include The Henderson Kids, G.P., The Flying Doctors, Class Act, Boys From the Bush, Blue Water High and Raw FM for which she was nominated for an AFI Award for Best…
Theatre credits include The History Boys and The Hypocrite for MTC, This Is Our Youth for Inside Job Productions, of which Ashley is a founding member, and BC for The Hayloft Project for which he…
Beth has worked for Playbox (now The Malthouse Theatre), MTC and La Mama theatres in Melbourne.Beth has performed the role of Rita in series I & II of Lowdown other TV credits include the…
He has appeared in numerous stage productions including Bruce Beresford’s acclaimed season of Moonlight and Magnolias, Clybourne Park, The Importance of Being Earnest, Peter Evans’ The Ugly One by…
He served as the first president of the Special Court for Sierra Leone (which indicted Charles Taylor) and as a ‘distinguished jurist’ member of the UN’s Internal Justice Council. He has argued…
In today’s wired-up world, we can be with anyone, anywhere at any time. We have hundreds of ‘friends’, habitually ‘follow’ strangers and work from virtual offices. What does all this mean for…
John lived in Beijing for two years in the 1980s, while his father was posted as the Australian ambassador, and returned there with his wife and children in 2007. He is author of the new Penguin…
The multi-talented Cate Kennedy (short-story writer, novelist and poet) is one of Australia’s most loved writers. Her books include the acclaimed short-story collection Dark Roots and the…
Ramona Koval has long entered the lounge rooms and accompanied the car journeys of book lovers around Australia with ABC Radio National’s The Book Show. In By the Book, she shares the authors who…
By Julianne SchultzIn this edited version of the introduction to Griffith Review 38: The Novella Project, editor Julianne Schultz tells us what’s so special about the novella as a literary art form…
By Tim Coronel Tim Coronel, former publisher of Bookseller and Publisher magazine, looks at the dramatic changes in ways of doing business over the past five years in the Australian book trade – and…
By Aden Rolfe Aden Rolfe is not your average fiction editor. His job is to fix the mechanics of writing, like any good editor … but editing romance novels comes with its own specific set of…
Michael Palin was first famous as ‘the nice one’ in the Monty Python team (despite fraudulently selling John Cleese a dead parrot), then as an actor in films from Brazil to A Fish Called Wanda. He’s …
We bring you our five favourite links and articles from around the internet this week.Playing with your foodErnie Button really, really loves cereal. He’s spent the past decade working on a series…
It’s the ultimate writing championship! Come see Australian authors go head-to-head in a fearsome battle of wits, words and waggery. Jeff Sparrow, Amy Espeseth, Shane Maloney and Wayne Macauley will …
Five years ago, the tone of discussion about the book industry shifted from ‘confidence’ to ‘crisis’, as online shopping and the emergence of e-books shook up the established ways of doing business.I…
Melbourne GP Jacinta Halloran discovered a second career when she was shortlisted for the Victorian Premier’s Literary Award for an Unpublished Manuscript in 2007, leading to the publication of her…
Death is the most personal of matters, but it’s also a political hot potato.Most of us don’t choose (or even expect) the way in which we die, but for the terminally ill, death is a looming certainty …
Nate Silver’s New York Times blog, FiveThirtyEight, was responsible for 20 per cent of visits to the NYT site this week – that is, one in five visits to the sixth most trafficked US news site.He’s…
On the occasion of Victoria’s public holiday in honour of gambling … we mean, a horse race … we thought it was timely to share an advertisement made for ABC1’s Gruen Planet that aims to make…
Reverend George Exoo has helped over 102 people to die. He’s the euthanasia activist people are referred to when the mainstream organisations won’t take their cases – many of his clients were not…
With the US presidential election held next week, we thought we’d share five of the most amusing, clever or simply interesting celebrity endorsements for the two presidential candidates. (Not…
What is ‘forced people movement’, or ‘mixed flow migration’ – and where do refugees fit? We use many terms for those people who feel compelled to leave their home country and relocate.Forced…
Geordie Williamson, one of our leading literary critics, approaches books and writing with the ardour of an enthusiast – though he’s also alarmed at the way classic Australian literature is falling o…
With the US presidential election just a week away, some of Australia’s savviest political writers and commentators gathered at the Wheeler Centre – with a packed and engaged crowd – to talk about…
Shakira Hussein is no stranger to pain that, on a scale of 1 to 10, goes all the way to 11. She writes that one day her multiple scelorosis may usher in ‘the body-snatchers’ for good. This would…
The Wheeler Centre has become home to 20 writers this year, thanks to our Hot Desk Fellowships, supported by the Readings Foundation.Each writer has received a $1000 stipend and a desk at the…
This week’s selection of articles and links from around the internet is animal-themed. Just because!How a Hitchcock heroine lived, filmed and slept with lionsA recent New York Times Q&A with Tippi…
In the fight against the Japanese during World War II, the most disturbing events endured by the Australian soldiers occurred at Sandakan, in North Borneo.Join Sydney-based historian Paul Ham, as he …
Tom Trumble is the author of the travel book Unholy Pilgrims (Penguin) and is currently working on his second book, as a recipient of a Wheeler Centre Hot Desk Fellowship, supported by the Readings…
This video contains some strong language.The annual Foxtel Screenwriter’s Address, presented by the Australian Writers’ Foundation, recognises the ways in which writers shape our society and…
Eleanor Hogan lived and worked in Alice Springs for several years. She came back to urban life with a book, recently published in the New South Cities series, a nuanced understanding of issues like…
Richard Gill has worked in music and education for 50 years – and has never missed a chance to sing the praises of both. In a frank and fearless new memoir that will get tongues wagging, he shares…
As we gear up for the final showdown between presidential candidates Mitt Romney and Barack Obama, in the form of the final debate, you might like to distract yourself with this less conventional…
Australia’s first major literary prize for women’s writing, The Stella Prize, will be officially launched in 2013. One woman with a book published in 2012 will receive $50,000 in prize money.The…
Bedtime stories are a treasured ritual for parents and children everywhere – and not just because they’re the best recipe invented for a good night’s sleep.Mem Fox and Judy Horacek, the much-loved…
His current professional areas of interest include advance care planning, end of life care and organ donation. He undertook his training in Perth and London and has been at the Austin Hospital since …
During this week’s presidential debate, Mitt Romney answered an audience question about creating opportunities for women in an unfortunate way.‘We took a concerted effort to go out and find women…
Dr Nouria Salehi OAM is executive director of the Afghan Australian Development Organisation. A voluntary, non-profit, non-government, member organisation, its primary purpose is to implement…
The revolutionary potential of rock and roll has long been a worn-out cliché in the West, where the Rolling Stones do commercials and rappers hang with royalty. But in contemporary China, rock (or…
Mikey Cahill writes the ‘Rock City’ column for News Ltd. He reviews and writes about music for Hit, jmag and Inpress, and has twice been a judge for the Australian Music Prize. We spoke to him for…
Step into a time capsule and go back 20 years … Paul Keating is prime minister of Australia. The Twin Towers dominate New York’s skyline and September 11 is the date of a Chilean coup. Pauline…
There was a suitably festive atmosphere at the Regent Ballroom for the Victorian Premier’s Literary Awards dinner last night, as writers swapped their standard work wear of tracksuit pants and…
Hilary Mantel has won the 2012 Man Booker Prize for Bring up the Bodies, making her the first woman – and the first British person – to win it twice. (The only other writers to win the prize twice…
The winners have been announced for the Victorian Premier’s Literary Awards 2012.Victorian Prize for LiteratureThe Victorian Prize for Literature, Australia’s richest literary prize (worth $100,000) …
What does it mean to be Lord Mayor of one of the world’s most liveable cities? And how can we keep that ‘liveable’ status – and the relaxed lifestyle we enjoy – in the face of pressures like a…
What does it mean to be Lord Mayor of one of the world’s most liveable cities? And how can we keep that ‘liveable’ status – and the relaxed lifestyle we enjoy – in the face of pressures like a…
Melinda Harvey is one of our current Wheeler Centre Hot Desk fellows, supported by the Readings Foundation. She’s working on a creative non-fiction essay called ‘Lip Service’ (part memoir, part…
Scriptwriting professor John Glavin told the Washington Post recently that turning a book into a film works best when the writer is willing to reinvent the book to suit the film medium, rather than a…
The Alan Jones affair. The Brunswick peace march for Jill Meagher. Margie Abbott and the Downton Abbey Defence. Peter Slipper’s texts and Julia Gillard’s speech. All of these events sparked debates o…
We share some of our favourite links and articles found on the internet this week.Mitt Romney versus Big Bird versus ObamaThe US presidential campaign has taken another bizarre pop culture twist in t…
Following the tsunami and ensuing nuclear disaster at Fukushima last year, former diplomat and ambassador Richard Broinowski travelled to the irradiated zone, to look at all aspects of nuclear power …
We look at the aftermath of an extraordinary week in politics, talking to Ben Eltham, national affairs correspondent of New Matilda, Stephanie Convery of Overland, feminist writer Alison Croggon and…
What do we expect from a 21st-century university? Which ideals have survived the transition to our brave new education world? And what does it mean when students become customers? Moral philosopher R…
Richard Broinowski is a former Australian diplomat. He was Australian ambassador to Vietnam, South Korea, Mexico, the Central American republics, and Cuba. He became general manager of Radio…
By Michelle Smith In this edited version of her Lunchbox Soapbox address, Michelle Smith looks at why girls’ bottoms are a major problem for the nation’s media and celebrity women, how today’s moral…
Christmas is here! Yes, we know it’s October … but in bookselling, October marks the beginning of the Christmas period, with publishers releasing their under-the-tree hopefuls onto the shelves. It’s …
Charlotte Wood is an Australian novelist whose fourth novel, Animal People, set in inner-urban Sydney, was longlisted for the Miles Franklin Literary Award this year. It featured a character who had…
We bring you our favourite links and articles we’ve found around the internet this week.Mad spoof of Apple mapsApple maps has to be the most embarrassing product launch in Apple history (and a…
Sex, sex, sex … and celebrity. Not all storytelling is about boarding schools, bloodsuckers and bow-slinging lady killers. In this adults-only night of fantastical tales, anything goes.Four writers s…
Today’s consumer culture persistently uses girls as icons of sexual attractiveness in advertising, film and television. In the nineteenth century, print media did not dare positively associate girls …
Hannie Rayson is a playwright and screenwriter best known for Hotel Sorrento, which was also produced as a feature film. She made history when her play Life After George was the first play to be…
By Helen RazerLast week, Karen Pickering asked, why should writers work for free? She wasn’t stuck for reasons why they shouldn’t. But long-time professional writer (and fellow freelancer) Helen…
Conversations about sex and sexual identity are constant in our times: from the debate about gay marriage to the intense discussions and disagreements about consumerism and commercialisation of sex. …
It’s the fiftieth anniversary of Lego being sold in Australia – and to celebrate, Lego has commissioned British photographer Mike Stimpson to put together scenes of ten great Australian moments, in L…
By Clementine Ford In this edited version of her Lunchbox/Soapbox address, Clementine Ford asks why men like Alan Jones think women are ‘destroying the joint’, exposes how Hollywood contributes to…
In this instalment of Sam Pang’s series – focussing on the odd obsessions and unlikely fascinations of familiar faces – broadcaster Jess McGuire spills the beans about her love for British reality…
Hey Girl, it’s Paul RyanIn the tradition of the Ryan Gosling ‘Hey Girl’ meme, lovestruck conservative ladies have started a tribute Tumblr dedicated to blue-eyed Catholic boy Paul Ryan, aka the…
For many, multiculturalism has come to mean a flawed approach to integrating migrants. But has it been a failure? Political philosopher and commentator Tim Soutphommasane puts forward his case for…
James Fallows has been writing politics, global and national, for the Atlantic (where he is national correspondent) for over 30 years. Just prior to the presidential debate series, he joined us to…
Elmo Keep is a writer and broadcaster whose non-fiction work has appeared in places like The Awl, the Age, Meanjin, the Big Issue and The Rumpus. She was a writer/producer on three series of ABC…
For many, multiculturalism has come to mean a flawed approach to integrating migrants. But has it been a failure? Political philosopher and commentator Tim Soutphommasane puts forward his case for…
by Karen Pickering Freelance writer and editor Karen Pickering had a ‘learning experience’ recently when she was commissioned to write a piece for a national publication – then wasn’t paid for it…
Her experiments with the form of the 2012 Next Wave Festival demonstrated an ongoing interest in new contexts that bring people together; in the live experience, and how this is changing. From…
Her novel, The Island Will Sink (forthcoming through Hunter Publishers) is a combination of the two. Most recently she wrote an essay on maternity from the perspective of a robotic birth simulator…
China is fast becoming the next world superpower, while India – with its vast young population, booming jobs market and burgeoning economy – is on the march. Meanwhile, Wall Street has plunged the…
China is fast becoming the next world superpower, while India – with its vast young population, booming jobs market and burgeoning economy – is on the march. Meanwhile, Wall Street has plunged the…
by Mel Campbell Mel Campbell is currently writing her first (non-fiction) book. She responds to Rebecca Giggs' Overland essay on women’s non-fiction writing, subjectivity, bias and writing the…
When Michael Kirby retired from the High Court in 2009, he was Australia’s longest-serving judge. But it’s not his time on the bench that makes him so beloved; rather it’s his long record of human…
Here’s a novel literary take on the American elections – Martin Amis talks to Daily Beast TV about the Republican National Convention.‘Conventions have been the scenes of incredible dramas and power …
Romney’s Responsibility MapRepublican presidential candidate Mitt Romney is negotiating a major campaign obstacle, after a secret video was released of his candid remarks to a donor gathering, who…
Today’s American media is sharply divided along left and right political lines, with little room in the middle for the objective news and current affairs that was once the norm. From Fox News to The…
Michael H. Shuman argues that there are a number of initiatives communities must take to support local economies and small business – and that the knock-on effects of local investment are vast…
Earlier today, Williamstown – in Melbourne’s inner Western suburbs – welcomed its new library. The project, which cost $8.1 million, offers 18 computers, iPads, gaming consoles, a gallery, meeting…
Former The Lifted Brow editor Ronnie Scott is also contributor to The Believer, Lucky Peach, Meanjin, the Big Issue, Australian Book Review and ABC Radio. He is currently a Hot Desk Fellow here at…
From the old days of The Brady Bunch and Bewitched to today’s ‘golden age of television’, where screenwriters and show-runners like Joss Whedon and Matthew Weiner have become household names –…
Aaron Sorkin’s new HBO series, The Newsroom, is politely labelled ‘critically contested’. While it’s been lambasted for sexism, general awkwardness, smugness (and dodgy use of Coldplay), it also has …
When President Obama was welcomed for his ‘night of friendship’ dinner with Prime Minister Gillard in Canberra last year, he feasted on ‘a macadamia and thyme encrusted lamb canon with avocado cream …
Private remarks made by Mitt Romney to a small group of wealthy campaign donors have been made public today, in a secret video that commentators are already saying may cost him the presidency.He…
Margaret has provided strategic advice on educational pathways, human resource management, equity and employment and industrial relations to governments, industry and a broad range of institutions…
by Stephanie Honor ConveryIn the wake of the book-reviewers-for-hire furore, Stephanie Honor Convery examines the scandal’s context: a proliferation of ‘consumer review spaces’ and a shift from the…
Hiroshi Ishiguro is one of the top 100 geniuses alive in the world today – and the creator of some of the most life-like robots ever made.Ishiguro’s shockingly human androids (including his own…
First ads for famous booksA new book, Read Me: A Century of Classic American Book Advertisements, gives a fascinating peek at how famous writers were packaged and pitched to the reading public –…
Hiroshi Ishiguro is one of the top 100 geniuses alive in the world today – and the creator of some of the most life-like robots ever made. Ishiguro’s shockingly human androids (including his own…
In a passionate attack on the idea that gender equality has been reached and feminism is irrelevant, Clementine Ford explains why there is much left to be achieved – and presents a slew of…
Q: What’s as Australian as Vegemite and as American as apple pie? A: The new issue of McSweeney’s, the US literary journal so hip it should be wearing black-framed glasses and riding a bicycle.…
Jordan Bass is the managing editor of McSweeney’s. He’s in Melbourne this week for two events with the Wheeler Centre, including tonight’s launch of McSweeney’s 41, a special Australian Aboriginal…
David Marr’s Quarterly Essay on former PM Kevin Rudd marked the beginning of the end. Was it a well-timed coincidence, or a body blow he never recovered from? Now, Marr turns his pen to…
When Dave Eggers first started McSweeney’s Quarterly, the iconic US literary magazine, he sold lifetime subscriptions for $100 – the same price as a two-year subscription.‘That was as long as the…
David Marr’s Quarterly Essay on former PM Kevin Rudd marked the beginning of the end. Was it a well-timed coincidence, or a body blow he never recovered from? Now, Marr turns his pen to…
If you look up ‘literary hipster’ in the dictionary, you just might find a picture of McSweeney’s, the San Francisco-based publishing company started by rule-bending writer Dave Eggers.Jordan Bass…
A new book from Phaidon gathers 500 of the best graphic designs created since mechanical reproduction began. The images span magazine covers, advertising logos and images, film graphics, book covers …
We’ve recently welcomed our second round of Hot Desk Fellowships, supported by the Readings Foundation, to the Wheeler Centre.We bid a sad farewell to our first round of fellows: Luke Ryan, Mel…
This month, our AMERICA series features a whole host of great events focusing on the US, just as the world watches the ailing superpower as it heads into a presidential election. This week, we…
Chris Flynn is the books editor of the Big Issue and published his debut novel, A Tiger in Eden, this year. He was also guest editor for McSweeney’s 41, the Australian Aboriginal fiction edition…
Leunig’s many books include The Penguin Leunig, Ramming the Shears, Everyday Devils and Angels, Short Notes from the Long History of Happiness, Why Dogs Sniff Each Other’s Tails, Goatperson and…
His other books include The Thing About Life is That One Day You’ll Be Dead, a New York Times bestseller, Black Planet: Facing Race during an NBA Season, Remote: Reflections on Life in the Shadow of…
Ben has written 12 major bestsellers, including Stark, Popcorn, Inconceivable (filmed as Maybe Baby, which he also directed), Dead Famous, High Society (which won the WH Smith People’s Choice Award 2…
Tim oversaw the publication of the University of Melbourne Book Industry Study in 2009. He has been published internationally in Publishing Research Quarterly, Publishers Weekly, Publishing…
Today is Indigenous Literacy Day – and time to announce the winner and shortlist for the biennal Victorian Premier’s Literary Award for Indigenous Writing.Anita Heiss was announced as the winner…
Mixing photography, installation, collage, text, film, sound and projections, Cole’s work exposes the latent and unspoken power dynamics of Australian culture in the here and now. She subtly but…
Mary Lou was a member of the former St Kilda Council for nine years, and is the founder of the St Kilda Festival and St Kilda Film Festival.She has been a board member of Artbank, Craft Victoria…
Looking for a literary rest-stop on today’s tour of the internet? Sit back and have a browse at these weird and wonderful libraries from around the world, from the Michaelangelo-designed Laurentian…
Hollywood icon Clint Eastwood gave a memorable performance at the Republican convention last Thursday. But he was thoroughly upstaged by his co-star: an empty chair.Eastwood spoke to the chair – and …
We share our favourite links and articles from around the internet this week.Hey Girl, It’s Feminist ObamaFans of Ryan Gosling (does this exclude anyone?) have long been following the many tumblrs…
In this week’s Working with Words, debut author Kristy Chambers speaks to us about writing her memoir, finding the humour in nursing (via Sedaris) and why being offered a contract was like winning…
Why should Melbourne get all the fun? It’s not like if you live east of the Dandenongs or west of Bacchus Marsh you’re not interested in Books, Writing and Ideas. So in 2012, we’re getting in the…
Is Australia’s literary culture too nice? Too clubbish? Is our critical culture based too much on who you know, and not enough on what you know? Writer and lecturer Emmett Stinson argues that it is…
By Catherine Deveny The public/private schooling debate hit the news again last week, sparking debate over government funding of those schools – and how the Australian government will respond to the…
This week’s Friday High Five brings together a selection of our favourite recent links and stories from around the internet.‘Loose with the Truth’: Leigh Sales vs Tony AbbottThis spectacular…
By Benjamin LawIn Benjamin Law’s new book, Gaysia: Adventures in the Queer East, he goes on a journey to find out how different his life might have been if he’d grown up in Asia. He goes backstage…
Lisa Dempster is the director of the Emerging Writers Festival – and the new director of the Melbourne Writers Festival. She’s currently in Bali, working on the Ubud Readers and Writers Festival, as…
By Jeff SparrowIn Jeff Sparrow’s new book, Money Shot, he explores the relationship between porn and censorship, and what it reveals about our social values. Along the way, he journeys from the…
Robots that look like people, programmed to have their own emotions and facial expressions and to react to human interaction?It sounds like science fiction, but within the past decade, it’s also…
She is a graduate of a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Creative Writing Production at the Queensland University of Technology. This year Ellen completed a two year editing mentorship under Sue Abbey as…
In this week’s Friday High Five, we celebrate what would have been Dickens' 200th year with a look at five pieces from around the web that look at Dickens' legacy, or use it as a springboard for…
Sam Cooney is a writer and editor who has recently become the editor of The Lifted Brow. He is also one of our crack team of VPLA reviewers; you can read his review of Wayne Macauley’s The Cook
Over the past week or so, we’ve been celebrating Melbourne’s arts festivals at the Wheeler Centre Dailies.Today, we interview Brett Sheehy, artistic director of the Melbourne International Arts…
We’ve long wondered about Mars and the question of whether the red planet can support life – so much so that the shorthand for alien life forms is ‘Martian’ (as in, citizen of Mars).This month’s…
Most people know that children’s author Dr Seuss used a pseudonym: his real name was Theodor Geisel. But did you know that his day job was in advertising?In this week’s Friday High Five, we share
Premier Ted Baillieu this morning announced the shortlisted titles; pictured, with some of the works' authors. The Victorian Premier’s Literary Awards shortlists have been …
New Zealand writer Emily Perkins has received international acclaim for her fiction. Her last book, Novel About My Wife, won the Believer Book Award (US) and the Montana Award, New Zealand’s top…
Stephanie Honor Convery is one of the Melbourne Writers Festival’s official bloggers. In a special guest post for us in the lead-up to MWF 2012, she reflects on the relationship between readers and…
This week, we’ll be celebrating Melbourne’s arts festivals at the Wheeler Centre Dailies.Today, we interview Michelle Carey, artistic director of the Melbourne International Film Festival, finding…
We collect our favourite links and articles from around the internet this week.Olympic art: an athletic London busHere’s an eye-catching example of Olympic art, via the Atlantic: a London bus that…
Mel Campbell is a freelance journalist specialising in cultural criticism. She co-founded the award-winning publishing project Is Not Magazine and culture website The Enthusiast and is currently…
In the lead-up to this year’s Melbourne Writers Festival, we spoke to new program manager Mike Shuttleworth about what this year has to offer, how the festival came together, and what he’s most…
India observers, devotees of immersion journalism and lovers of good writing agree: New Yorker staffer Katherine Boo’s account of life in a Mumbai slum is the best book about India in decades. The…
India observers, devotees of immersion journalism and lovers of good writing agree: New Yorker staffer Katherine Boo’s account of life in a Mumbai slum is the best book about India in decades. The…
Film reviewer Anthony Morris responds to Bruce Guthrie’s recent suggestion that violent films might cause real-life violence. He argues that if you’re looking for answers to the Colorado killings in…
What does global warming look like? We’re beginning to have a pretty good idea. It looks like catastrophic floods in Queensland and New South Wales, like the Victorian bushfires. It looks like the…
Jodi Picoult has created her own genre. She writes edge-of-your-seat stories about everyday people facing extraordinary situations, inviting her readers to wonder: what would I do?Between the Lines, …
Between the Lines – Jodi Picoult’s first book for young readers, co-written with her daughter Samantha Van Leer – is for every girl who’s believed, however whimsically, that her one true soulmate…
Always diverse, occasionally devilish, the one thing you can always expect from Unexpected Passions is an evening of laid-back laughs, with wizard of wit Sam Pang at helm. Who’s next?Well… it’s…
This week’s Friday High Five is a visual spectacular, as we bring you five fabulous sculptures, all made out of books. Enjoy!By Robert The.By Nick Georgiou.‘A wonderfully crafted and cleverly folded …
Join the Wheeler Centre and Ballarat Art Gallery for a special event with writer Anna Funder, as she discusses her Miles Franklin Award-winning novel All That I Am.Anna Funder is an internationally a…
Mark McKenna won the Prime Minister’s Award for Non-Fiction this week for his biography, An Eye For Eternity: The Life of Manning Clark. The judges said, ‘This is a masterful biography, a deeply…
Australia’s population has become a political hot potato. With forecasts of 30–40 million people by 2050 and up to 60 million by 2100, Australians are becoming increasingly concerned about the…
Catherine Deveny explains why 50 Shades of Grey is one of the worst books she’s ever read, with terrible writing and sexual politics alike – but she’s still really glad that people are reading…
In this heated discussion about the benefit and sustainability of economic growth, host Sally Warhaft is joined by risk analyst and author Satyajit Das, and economist, author, and former senior…
The media coverage of the weekend’s mass shooting at a Colorado movie theatre continues to roll out, dominating front pages and news headlines. Myriad questions are being asked, with blame laid in…
Mother, feminist and blogger Andie Fox unpicks the controversy surrounding the appointment of pregnant 37-year-old Marissa Mayer as CEO of ailing internet giant Yahoo – all focused on how she’ll…
The Wire: As Told in Lego AnimationJust when you thought you’d seen and read everything you could possibly handle about The Wire (aka The Best TV Show Ever Made), here comes something you need to…
Join Roscoe Howell of Slavery Links Australia as he outlines the forms of modern slavery – discussing how it intersects with our daily lives more than we might imagine – and explains how we can…
Estelle Tang is online editor of Kill Your Darlings and a freelance writer and reviewer. She has been published in the Australian’s Review of Books, Australian Book Review and The Lifted Brow, and…
The Wheeler Centre’s Shannon Hick confesses her unexpected passion for the daytime soap Days of Our Lives – and how she once shaped her uni schedule around it, so as not to miss the antics of Devil…
In the midst of the general gloom and doom about the state of the worldwide publishing industry, it’s a welcome relief to celebrate some good news.Burial Rites, the debut novel from 27-year-old…
What do literary ladies (and men?) love more than their books? Their cats. At least, that’s the stereotype. And it’s kind of backed up by the frequency with which LOLcats seem to pop up on literary…
The author strikes backPatrick Somerville’s account of his new book being panned in the New York Times seems, at first glance, like another authorial whinge about being misunderstood by entitled…
Insightful and empathic, witty and graceful, Richard Ford has proven himself both a master stylist and a master storyteller. Here, discussing Canada and writing with Sean Condon, he is as warm and…
In our ecologically-threatened world, birds have a vitally important place in the human psyche. At a more intimate level their wondrous nests – exquisite, painstakingly-constructed creations that…
In this special Working with Words, we talk to Great American Novelist Richard Ford about his first piece of writing, bad advice from Gordon Lish and why writing will probably make you ‘really…
Kabita Dhara, of Melbourne-based, Indian-focussed publisher Brass Monkey Books, reflects on her love affair with the Jaipur Literature Festival. Publisher Kabita Dhara Afte…
The Fifth Estate is the Wheeler Centre’s new series of fortnightly forums: a more measured approach to news and current affairs. Provocative and studied, authoritative and unhurried, this is real…
Gideon Haigh tells it like it really is: from falling in love with your subject to the long, hard (yet fascinating) slog of actually writing a book. He talks about the reality of shutting yourself…
What is the future for media in Australia? How can newspapers adapt and survive in the digital age? And what is the role of the national broadcaster in a rapidly changing media landscape? As Gina…
Comedian Lawrence Leung shares his dirty little writing secret – his habit of filing away life moments for use in his work, even while he’s living them.I was trying to write – or to put it another…
In all the complex contemporary debates around food, Michael Pollan’s advice is as simple as it is revolutionary: ‘Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants’. In his bestselling calls-to-arms, In…
Ten signs you’re a book hipsterTake this quiz to find out if you’re a book hipster. (Clue: If you’re reading this post, the signs are that you just may be one.) Here’s a sample:1) You don’t want an…
For many years Sean Condon was represented by the most respected and influential agent in Europe. But when she died suddenly he had to find a new one. It wasn’t easy.
Nicholas Jose is general editor of the Macquarie PEN Anthology of Australian Literature. He is the author of several novels, most recently Original Face. His work has appeared in Asian Literary…
Ita Buttrose is, as she says, experiencing something of a renaissance, in the wake of the ABC TV biopic Paper Giants.‘A lot of the things I’ve done through Paper Giants are now back in the public…
From child soldiers in Sudan to gang violence in Papua New Guinea; tsunamis in the Pacific to earthquakes in New Zealand, we’re confronted with communities in need every day. Who should we help? How …
Kim Haworth is in her early twenties and has called Melbourne home since relocating for university studies five years ago. She is a recent honours graduate from the University of Melbourne, where…
It’s not often that a government public information campaign video goes viral. But the European Commission’s teaser video for their new campaign, Science: It’s a girl thing!‘ has been viewed and…
Two weeks ago, prime minister Julia Gillard hosted a morning tea. Fairfax parliamentary sketch writer Jacqueline Maley wrote:Australia’s most popular ‘mummy bloggers’ – mothers and wives who write…
In Unexpected Passions, host Sam Pang invites familiar faces to share their less familiar obsessions. This time around, Dave Graney drops by to tell us about his passion for explorer Sir Richard…
This week’s Friday High Five is food-themed, in honour of our event with ‘liberal foodie intellectual’ Michael Pollan, next Sunday 8 July.The school lunches seen around the worldHere’s a story to…
Fiona McGregor is the author of four works of fiction. Her most recent, Indelible Ink, won the Age Book of the Year 2011. She has also written a travel memoir, Strange Museums and is a performance…
Jenny Gray, CEO of Zoos Victoria, speaks passionately about the role of zoos in fighting extinction, in preserving species at risk, and in engaging communities to take action to help animals. In the …
In 2012’s instalment of the annual Walter Lippmann Memorial Lecture, hear former Federal Minister for Finance and Deregulation, Lindsay Tanner argue that while the mechanical effects of immigration o…
We’re pleased to announce the awarding of this year’s Hot Desk Fellowships, supported by the Readings Foundation.Twenty lucky writers were selected from a whopping 85 applications – and have been…
Clementine Ford speaks back to a recent column by Sydney Morning Herald regular Elizabeth Farrelly, who prefers ‘writing with a higher IQ and lower pH than most women can manage’. Citing Jeanette…
In his spare time, Pixar story artist Josh Cooley likes to sketch wildly inappropriate cartoon images of classic movie scenes, in the style of the iconic Golden Book children’s series.After two…
We share our favourite internet reads and discoveries over the past weekWhy French Bookshops Don’t Get AxedThe New York Times has reported that the French are doing things differently (as is their…
Sexual violence against civilians is a common feature in modern wars. The impact on survivors, primarily women and girls, and their communities is devastating. There have been strong moves by the…
On the back of the release of Inheritance – his fourth book – bestselling fantasy sensation Christopher Paolini joined us (in partnership with Melbourne Writers' Festival) for an hour of lively…
Chris Womersley is the author of the novels The Low Road and Bereft; the latter was shortlisted for the Miles Franklin last year. It won the Indie Award for Best Fiction and the ABIA Literary…
The Australian army needs more women, said Lieutenant General David Morrison, chief of the Australian army, in a Wheeler Centre event last week. He’s committed himself to increasing the quota of…
We’ve toured the web and found some of the world’s worst book covers, for your amusement. Some are the victims of bad design, some of unfortunate titles, and others were just plain bad (or weird…
It’s a manic Monday indeed for all Australians interested – or invested – in the future of local journalism, with Fairfax announcing sweeping changes to its business model. Nineteen hundred jobs…
Over four days, our 20 plus speakers – philosophers and theologians, historians and writers, believers and non-believers – will consider what it means to be religious, and what role the voice of…
We take a look at five features from around the internet that caught our eye this week. Enjoy!John Bryson on Azaria ChamberlainThis week, a Northern Territory coroner has found that a dingo was…
Judge John Smallwood is currently the Judge in charge of the County Koori Court which sits in the regional area of the Latrobe Valley. In this presentation, he discusses the concept of the court…
In this panel discussion (which opened our Faith and Culture lectures), series curator Raimond Gaita, Asma Barlas, Susan Neiman, Bernadette Tobin and Scott Stephens examine and expand on the ideas…
In his address to open the Wheeler Centre’s Faith and Culture program, series curator Raimond Gaita makes the case for why, in a world beset by religious conflict on the one hand and ‘the new…
Jeff Sparrow is the editor of Overland literary magazine, and has authored and co-edited several books. His latest book is Left Turn: Political Essays for the New Left, co-edited with Antony…
Stanley Hauerwas, often described as America’s leading theologian, was promised to God from an early age: before birth, in fact.His mother, who was having trouble conceiving, made a bargain with…
In this instalment of our Texts in the City series, host Ruby Murray discusses The Rugmaker of Mazar-e-Sharif with co-authors Robert Hillman and Najaf Mazari. They discuss the facts behind the…
What is the role of Australia’s Defence Force in the 21st century? In the recent federal budget, defence spending was cut to the smallest proportion of national wealth since 1938. Does Australia…
An Incredible Race of People is a highly personal and at times challenging investigation of our politics and industry over many decades: heroes are applauded and pretenders dismissed, urgent issues a…
Leading political journalist Laura Tingle argues that something deep in our culture now amplifies antagonism and complaint. She’s joined in discussion by veteran ABC political correspondent Fran…
Expanding on his recent essay for Griffith Review, historian and biographer Jim Davidson examines the complex history of Australia’s relationship with the British monarchy, and the various attempts t…
No matter how compelling a novel or a film might be, if you have to study it, there’s always the risk you’ll end up hating it. Not any more! A gift to VCE students, their teachers (and of course…
Susan Neiman is an optimist; and a progressive. Hope is at the core of her quest to take back words like ‘moral clarity’ and ‘moral values’ from conservatives.Her book Moral Clarity (2008) is the…
Novelist Kylie Ladd reviews Richard Ford’s eagerly awaited new novel, Canada, a rich, nuanced study of tipping points and transgressions.‘First, I’ll tell you about the robbery our parents…
Join the Emerging Writers' Festival and editor Karen Pickering for the book launch of The Emerging Writer, an insider’s guide to navigating the writing world. This event will include the…
‘Only connect,’ said E M Forster. Could Mr Forster have envisaged a world in which one person connected with another, thousands of miles away, through free video and voice calls, instant messages…
In this instalment of Texts in the City, we look at Hannie Rayson’s Two Brothers. Host Ruby Murray and guest speaker Stephen Armstrong examine the text’s themes of political and social justice…
How does the relationship between Australia and Indonesia work? In the past week Prime Minister Julia Gillard announced that three Indonesian nationals accused of people smuggling – who claimed to…
While it may be true that nature is red in tooth and claw, it seems that for animals subject to human law – rather than the law of nature – life is much more like a lottery. In this presentation…
The arts aren’t immune to their own kind of sexism. So let’s talk about it. What can current generations of feminists learn? What’s different and what sticks? How are our public and media figures…
Masha Gessen is the author of a controversial new biography of Putin, The Man Without a Face. She has also written extensively on the lives and roles of women in contemporary Russia. Sheng Keyi’s…
In person, Jeanette Winterson has a somehow otherworldly appearance. Small and lithe, her short hair curling over her ears and at the nape of her neck, she resembles an elf or a pixie.Light-footed…
When Jeff Kinney created Diary of a Wimpy Kid, he thought he was telling stories for adults who like cartoons. Instead, the eccentric everyday comic adventures of middle-class middle child Greg…
Literary young man Chad Harbach (a founding editor of Brooklyn lit-mag n+1) has hit a home-run with his first novel, The Art of Fielding. Ostensibly about an unlikely baseball star in a liberal arts …
When serious authors wear silly outfitsLooking for an end-of-week giggle? Flavorwire has published a selection of photos of writers looking silly. There’s Susan Sontag sitting at her typewriter in a …
Tamsin Roberts opened her first gallery in 2005 in Beijing. Now the director of Art Melbourne, previously known as the Affordable Art Fair, she discusses the rise of art within communities…
Who tells the story of a country? What story does a country’s national literature tell about its people and its identity? Is there such a thing as Australian literature at all?With major…
In this special video-only edition of Texts in the City, the Wheeler Centre’s Jenny Niven looks at Collected Poems of Gwen Harwood with Chris Wallace-Crabbe – writer, Australian Poetry chair and…
Dava Sobel is the author of Longitude, Galileo’s Daughter, The Planets, and A More Perfect Heaven: How Copernicus Revolutionized the Cosmos. In this appearance, she speaks with ABC Radio National’s R…
Barbara Arrowsmith-Young turned her life-defining learning disabilities into an unlikely asset. Unable to process language or decode symbols, she compensated with her fierce determination to learn…
Running Dogs author Ruby J. Murray (Photo: Brad Dunn) Ruby J. Murray’s first novel, Running Dogs, was published (to a warm critical reception) this month. Ruby has written…
Stella Rimington is the latest in a literary club that boasts the likes of Graeme Greene and John Le Carre as members: spooks turned spy novelists. Dubbed ‘housewife superspy’ when she was appointed …
Born to Libyan parents in New York, growing up between Tripoli and Cairo, Hisham Matar is perfectly placed to translate the tumult behind the Arab Spring to western readers. His perceptive…
The Marriage Plot, Jeffrey Eugenides’ third novel, opens with a look at the bookshelves of his heroine, English literature major Madeleine. It’s stacked with nineteenth-century romantic novels…
Composer Joshua Cody says he’s not really a writer – but his raw, cerebral cancer memoir, [sic], suggests otherwise. The New York Times called it ‘the memoir of the year’ and praised the way its…
Bad for business, good for ‘struggle street’, sharing the resource boom, hampering overseas investment. This is just some of what’s being said about Labor’s 2012-13 budget.One week on from budget…
In this instalment of our Texts in the City series, we turn our attention to Moral Disorder by Margaret Atwood. Hosted by Ruby J Murray, with guest Carmel Bird (Child of the Twilight, The Fabulous…
Jeffrey Eugenides is one of the most celebrated names in contemporary American literature. From the darkly hip, deceptively slender The Virgin Suicides to the sprawling, eccentric gender adventure…
Clementine Ford attended Bettina Arndt’s Lunchbox/Soapbox on Why Sex Matters So Much to Men at the Wheeler Centre last Thursday. She tells us why she vehemently disagrees with Arndt’s views on men…
When Roddy Doyle self-published his first novel, The Commitments, in 1987, he was told he’d struggle to attract readers beyond Dublin. Decades later – after a Booker Prize (for Paddy Clarke Ha Ha…
Icelandic author Sjón is a rock ‘n’ roll renaissance man. He writes poetry, pens lyrics for Björk, wrote a whale-watching ‘splatter film’, and won the Nordic equivalent of the Man Booker for his…
Some memoirs are less about the subject than about meeting the writer on the page. New York composer Joshua Cody’s [sic], ostensibly about being a young cancer patient, is one of those memoirs. Cody …
Across the world, the story is the same. Sex scandal. Media frenzy. Another prominent man caught with his pants down. Sex therapist and social commentator Bettina Arndt talks about why men take such …
Kathy Lette pioneered smart, funny fiction with a frivolous edge (and a feminist flavour). In 2012’s The Boy Who Fell to Earth, Lette’s character Lucy has more to manage than most: she’s trying to…
Too often, the big issues feel ill-served by parliamentary question time or the 24-hour news cycle. Big issues and bigger ideas deserve informed and passionate consideration. Beyond the soundbites…
In this session of Texts in the City, Andrew McDonald is joined by Josh Nelson to discuss Tennessee Williams' A Streetcar Named Desire. (For dedicated students, Tony Wilson and Hannie Rayson…
Too often, the big issues feel ill-served by parliamentary question time or the 24-hour news cycle. Big issues and bigger ideas deserve informed and passionate consideration. Beyond the soundbites…
Who tells the story of a country? What story does a country’s national literature tell about its people and its identity? Is there such a thing as Australian literature at all?Australians are…
Who tells the story of a country? What story does a country’s national literature tell about its people and its identity? Is there such a thing as Australian literature at all? If there is, Hilary…
The talk of Twitter today is the surprising announcement that HBO rejected the pilot for the planned series of Jonathan Franzen’s The Corrections. Not only does The Corrrections have that rare…
Estelle sits on the board of SPUNC, the programming advisory committee of the Melbourne Writers’ Festival and the editorial advisory committee of the Paper Radio podcast.
In this instalment of Texts in the City, Ruby J Murray and Dickens scholar Dr Grace Moore look at Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol and its complex political undertones.
Stella Rimington, former director-general of MI5, has been called Britain’s most famous spy. She’s also rumoured to be the inspiration for Judi Dench’s character M, in the James Bond franchise. But R…
Paul D. Carter spent much of his youth going to Collingwood football matches with his Dad and brother, Marcus. In 2001, Paul completed a Bachelor of Arts with honours from Deakin University and in…
For our brand new season of Texts in the City, we’ve asked schools to nominate which texts on the curriculum they’d most like to see discussed. By presenting speakers who are intimately familiar…
Sex, sex, sex…and celebrity. Not all storytelling is about charming fables and whimsical yarns. This is an adults-only night of fantastical tales where anything goes. Four writers each write a short …
In our series of lectures and discussions on the classics of Australian literature, Ramona Koval and critic Kerryn Goldsworthy bring Helen Garner’s classic book (later a successful film), Monkey…
Are modern lyrics dropping the ball? Can we blame the iPod generation’s short attention cocker spaniels for a lack of intelligence in pop or does this just make songwriters try harder to be heard…
Are modern lyrics dropping the ball? Can we blame the iPod generation’s short attention cocker spaniels for a lack of intelligence in pop or does this just make songwriters try harder to be heard…
WikiLeaks – the rise, the backlash, the perilous fate of its Australian founder, Julian Assange – is one of the biggest news stories of the new millennium. WikiLeaks’ revelations have exposed…
For full transcripts of all lectures plus audio and video of the events, visit our series archive.A four-day lecture series from Thursday 14 to Sunday 17 June at BMW Edge, Federation Square.A day or …
Join Lizzie O'Shea, Greg Barns, Bernard Keane, Scott Ludlam and Suelette Dreyfus for a discussion about the facts of the case against Julian Assange – founder of WikiLeaks – the role of media and…
In this major new weekly series hosted by Ramona Koval, running in parallel with the university calendar, contemporary writers speak on seminal Australian texts, giving context, sharing their…
Ken Haley speaks about the advantages of wheeled mobility, and asks what disability grips those bipeds who can’t see they should be in envy of wheelchair users — those lucky souls on a thrill ride…
Ken Haley speaks about the advantages of wheeled mobility, and asks what disability grips those bipeds who can’t see they should be in envy of wheelchair users — those lucky souls on a thrill ride…
Jodi studied creative writing with at Princeton, and had two short stories published in Seventeen magazine while still a student.She has worked as a technical writer for a Wall Street brokerage…
Her writing has appeared in publications such as the Guardian, Observer, Independent, Independent on Sunday, Daily Telegraph, Sunday Telegraph, Sunday Times, The National, New Statesman, Granta…
Join two heavyweights of Foreign Affairs, Gareth Evans and Alexander Downer, in conversation with host Sally Warhaft about the history and nature of the portfolio and its importance in government.How…
No matter how compelling a novel or a film might be, if you have to study it, there’s always the risk you’ll end up hating it. Not any more! A gift to VCE students, their teachers (and of course…
Independence Day was awarded the Pulitzer Prize, and the PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction, the first time the same book had won both prizes.
Katter follows in his father’s footsteps as the Member for Kennedy, with Hon. R.C. Katter Sr. holding the seat for 24 years. Originally a National Party member for most of his parliamentary career…
Josephine’s fiction, poetry and non-fiction have appeared in Meanjin, Overland, Best Australian Stories, Best Australian Poems, The Iowa Review, Griffith Review, Australian Book Review, the Age, and …
Wondering what to do with your old books? It can be hard to get much (or any) cash from your local second-hand bookshop these days. If you’re a dab hand with scissors and a glue-gun, you might like t…
Chris Stedman is an atheist working to foster positive and productive dialogue between faith communities and the non-religious. Visiting from the States in advance of his new book, he charts his…
Chris Stedman is an atheist working to foster positive and productive dialogue between faith communities and the non-religious. Visiting from the States in advance of his new book, he charts his…
For the Children’s Book Festival, co-presented with the State Library of Victoria, 2012-2013 Australian Children’s Laureates Boori Monty Pryor and Alison Lester join Paula Kelly to discuss their…
In this major new weekly series hosted by Ramona Koval, running in parallel with the university calendar, contemporary writers speak on seminal Australian texts, giving context, sharing their…
Speculation about a change in political leadership seems almost perpetual in Australia—it is a tenuous bargain, with more similarities to street gangs than business enterprises. Glyn Davis…
For the first time in history, humans sit unchallenged at the top of the food chain. To coincide with the publication of the latest Quarterly Essay, Us and Them, Anna Krien investigates the…
In light of Tony Abbott’s newly proposed policy aspiration to extend the childcare rebate to nannies, host Sally Warhaft discusses childcare and family/work life in Australia with Catherine Deveny…
Rebecca Starford, managing editor of Kill Your Darlings, writes back to Geordie Williamson’s Long View essay on Australian rural writing and wonders: what does this trend of privileging the rural…
Her writing has been published in The Rumpus, The Awl, Meanjin, The Big Rock’s Back Pages, The Hairpin, and elsewhere where she covers music, webculture and travel, and profiles musicians…
Robyn was born on a cattle property in Queensland. She went to Sydney in the late sixties, then returned to study in Brisbane before going to Alice Springs where the events of this book began. Since …
We all know Jonathan Franzen is a twitcher. But did you know Tom Hanks likes to collect 1940s typewriters? Or that Johnny Depp likes to play with dolls?Sadly, Tom and the two Johnnies couldn’t be…
Who tells the story of a country? What story does a country’s national literature tell about its people and its identity? Is there such a thing as Australian literature at all? In this major new…
Who tells the story of a country? What story does a country’s national literature tell about its people and its identity? Is there such a thing as Australian literature at all?Australians are…
Join Michael Shmith, Age Senior Writer and Opera Critic, for hi-jinks and hilarity, as he runs through his A-Z hitlist of terrible words and phrases he never again wishes to see in print or hear in n…
Robert Dessaix has long been one of Australia’s foremost essayists. Also a compelling public speaker, Dessaix brings his trademark eloquence to this leisurely guided tour of his chamber of…
To celebrate the 50th anniversary of The Australian Writers’ Guild, David Williamson AO – president of the AWG and acclaimed playwright and screenwriter – presents a major State of the Industry…
No matter how compelling a novel or a film might be, if you have to study it, there’s always the risk you’ll end up hating it. Not any more! A gift to VCE students, their teachers (and of course…
Brilliant in a bust and selfish in a boom – that’s the assessment of ‘the Australian moment’ by one of our most authoritative and independent political commentators. George Megalogenis speaks on…
Most audience members for Tuesday night’s Intelligence Squared debate, Animals Should Be Off the Menu, murmured to each other that they were clearly in the majority company of vegetarians, vegans…
In this weekly series hosted by Ramona Koval, running in parallel with the university calendar, contemporary writers speak on seminal Australian texts, giving context, sharing their responses and…
His repertoire as a recording artist, soundtrack composer, producer, lyricist, expert in the music of Melanesia, and as a uniquely Australian songwriter, singer and social commentator, Bridie has…
No matter how compelling a novel or a film might be, if you have to study it, there’s always the risk you’ll end up hating it. Not any more! A gift to VCE students, their teachers (and of course…
Intelligence Squared’s 2012 series of debates kicks off with a look at the ethics of eating meat. Six speakers are divided into two teams for lively and insightful arguments for and against the…
The Fifth Estate is the Wheeler Centre’s new series of fortnightly forums: a more measured approach to news and current affairs. Provocative and studied, authoritative and unhurried, this is real…
This year, PEN Melbourne’s annual International Women’s Day event features a conversation with the playwright Tracey Rigney, a Wotjobaluk and Ngarrindjeri woman from Victoria and South Australia…
Who tells the story of a country? What story does a country’s national literature tell about its people and its identity? Is there such a thing as Australian literature at all? In this major new
Novelist Alex Miller and historian Jim Davidson mark the first anniversary of the untimely passing of their friend Hazel Rowley. In the space of just four books, Rowley established herself as one of …
No matter how compelling a novel or a film might be, if you have to study it, there’s always the risk you’ll end up hating it. Not any more! A gift to VCE students, their teachers (and of course…
Today, we launch our new long-form review series, The Long View. Wheeler Centre director Michael Williams explains the thinking behind the series.One of the most frustrating things about working at t…
Who tells the story of a country? What story does a country’s national literature tell about its people and its identity? Is there such a thing as Australian literature at all? In the debut event of …
More than half of the world’s 1.3 billion Muslims, and 60% of the world’s Christians, live along the ‘tenth parallel’. This latitudinal line, spanning the globe ten degrees north of the equator, is t…
For over a decade, Jamie Oliver’s books and TV series have inspired millions across the world to cook from scratch using fresh ingredients, and to enjoy the pleasure of eating great food. In recent y…
In The Fifth Estate’s debut event, and in the wake of Kevin Rudd’s challenge to Julia Gillard’s leadership, Lindsay Tanner, former Finance minister and ALP heavyweight, talks with Sally Warhaft…
In her book The Journalist and the Murderer, Janet Malcolm argued that if they are honest with themselves, most journalists know that ultimately, they betray the people they cover. What did she…
Janette Turner Hospital, one of Australia’s most admired writers, speaks on a lifetime of writing – and teaching – literature. She notes similarities between America’s South and Australia’s…
When should the international community intervene in civil conflict? What made last year’s Libyan conflict suitable for intervention, while Syrians continued to struggle against despotism alone? In t…
Her books are published both in Australia and overseas. She likes to draw, knit woolly animals and create small worlds.
Alom Shaha is a British–Bangladeshi film-maker, science writer and unabashed atheist. In The Young Atheist’s Handbook, he argues that regardless of the strictness of the traditions you are raised…
Publisher Hilary McPhee, editor of celebrated film-maker Tim Burstall’s diaries, explores the impetus to diarise and the appeal of diaries as windows to the past. Burstall’s diaries in particular…
Few thinkers have succeeded in bringing the world of ideas beyond the ivory tower with such clarity and grace as Alain de Botton. In an event that extends one of the Wheeler Centre chief themes for t…
A gift to VCE students, their teachers (and of course life-long learners) Texts in the City is a weekly exploration of the classic texts – both old and new – that appear on the VCE English reading…
A former president of the Federal Parliamentary Press Gallery and a Churchill Fellow, she is chief political correspondent with SBS TV, a long-time newspaper columnist and radio commentator, and a…
Taking the lead from George Bernard Shaw, who claimed ‘It is not disbelief that is dangerous to our society; it is belief’, we opened our brand new year of programming by dedicating our annual…
We’re kicking off 2013 with a series of public forums that take a closer look at the city wecall home – and the problems and challenges facing Melbourne right now. What better way tobegin than by…
The first chapter of her piece South Spirit: The Locket Heart won the 2011 John Marsden Prize in the Under 18 Short Story/First Chapter of a Novel category; it is published in the most recent…
He has been fiction editor for Wet Ink: The Magazine of New Writing, book reviewer for Triple R’s Breakfasters, and a panellist on the Australian Department of Innovation’s federal Book Industry…
She is the author of Yirra and her Deadly Dog, Demon, I’m Not Racist, But… , My Story: The Diary of Mary Talence, Sydney 1937, and a series of chick-lit novels, including Not Meeting Mr Right and…
Tanya has directed classic and contemporary theatre works for companies including Sydney Theatre Company, Malthouse Theatre, NIDA WAAPA and Griffin Theatre Company. She recently received a Mike…
Her first novel Floundering is long-listed for the Miles Franklin Award. She has been anthologised in Best Australian Stories and Best Australian Essays, Voracious: The Best New Australian Food…
The year in Australian politics was one characterised by tumult, indifference and a degree of soul searching – but there were big changes, too. Julia Gillard succeeded in introducing the
A new biography of Kurt Vonnegut has invoked a ill-tempered man consumed by bitterness and loneliness, a shadow of the avuncular persona well known to his adoring fans. The biography alleges that
A new exhibition at Paris' new-ish Quai Branly museum has become the most talked-about exhibition of the season, according to the Guardian. The exhibition, ‘Human Zoos: The Invention of the Savage’, …
She was the only daughter of one of the most famous and ruthless tyrants in history. She said she was doted upon, and only once did her father threaten to hit her, but when at 16 she fell in love…
Christos Tsiolkas, author of The Slap, has been nominated for a Bad Sex Award by the Literary Review. It’s the 19th year the awards have been held to celebrate the worst depictions of sexual…
In the last Lunchbox/Soapbox event for 2011, Thomas Keneally spins a tale hatched in his Campsie yard as a child of seven — of racial anxiety, wartime politics and the life and death of White…
Is the world split between those who want to save the planet and those who want to save themselves? In Quarterly Essay 44, Andrew Charlton exposes the rift that will shape our future: progress…
It’s the 48th anniversary of the assassination of US President John F. Kennedy in 1963. The New York Times has published a short film by noted documentarian Errol Morris called The Umbrella Man, in w…
The State Library of Victoria’s reading room Library-lovers will go weak in the knees for this list of the world’s 35 most amazing libraries, but Victorians have an added p…
If the Wheeler Centre was a bar and café, what would it look like? We like to think it would look just like The Moat, a bar and café located in the basement level underneath the Wheeler Centre…
(Click to watch video.) “This year two thirds of all world growth has come out of the developing economies. And we think we can have a debate about the…
In the week the Senate finally passed the carbon tax legislation, new research indicates that the amount of carbon emissions being released into the atmosphere grew by a record amount in 2010. The…
(Click to watch video.) Historian Bill Gammage’s recent Lunchbox/Soapbox event was subtitled ‘How Aborigines made Australia’. In the course of his address, …
It was the prime ministerial event we had to have. On this special Sunday evening presentation, Paul Keating joined Robert Manne for a conversational marathon, coinciding with the publication of his …
A push by parishioners of Father Bob Maguire to have his retirement delayed a second time has failed. The Catholic Archbishop of Melbourne Denis Hart has written to the popular priest that his…
While Palestinian attempts to secure full membership of the United Nations are still pending, signs have abounded that they will ultimately prove futile. Representatives of the Palestinian…
“This Halloween, give someone a scary book to read.” That’s the message Neil Gaiman is spreading this Halloween in a clip promoting All Hallow’s Read, an attempt to inaugurate a tradition in the UK o…
Bill Gammage AM is an Australian academic historian. In this Lunchbox/Soapbox presentation, he discusses the mistaken belief that Aboriginal Australians were passive occupiers of the land before…
Today is the day the United Nations Population Fund has deemed the day most likely the world’s population hits the seven billion mark. We’ve just uploaded the video/podcast of our recent event…
“If you allow this toxic combination of religion and politics to become too closely entwined, then you’re in trouble.” In her recent Lunchbox/Soapbox, Dr Susan Mitchell spoke on the topic of her…
New Scientist magazine has reported on the results of a study into who runs the global economy. The study was conducted by three complex systems theorists at the Swiss Federal Institute of…
Why should we worry about poverty? The answer might seem obvious, so let’s try it another way: is the justification for worrying about poverty based solely on compassionate grounds or is there an…
The words ‘psychopath’ and ‘psychopathy’ have a chequered history in psychiatry. Widely used in the mid-20th century, they’ve become more contested in recent decades as the psychiatric community…
Since December of last year, across the Middle East, dictatorial regimes have toppled and people power has triumphed. But what does this much-heralded wave of revolutionary fervour mean in the…
Ever since Tony Abbott assumed the leadership of the Liberal Party, bipartisanship has all but disappeared. The opposition leader’s combativeness seems to have helped create a national political…
“[A]lthough the Man Booker can change a writer’s life, a prize is only a prize,” Booker Prize judge Gaby Wood has written in the Telegraph. “It’s not an investigation, it’s not a work of criticism…
“We, the undersigned writers and all who will join us, support Occupy Wall Street and the Occupy Movement around the world.” Hundreds of writers have lent their names to the website Occupy Writers
The reviews are starting to come in on the film adaptation, by Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson, of The Adventures of Tintin: Secret of the Unicorn, the classic detective-adventure hero whose…
Its title is now a stock-standard phrase of the English language. It’s sold some 30 million copies since it was first published some 75 years ago. It single-handedly invented a new kind of book, one …
According to most estimates the world’s population has just hit – or is just about to hit – the seven billion mark. A United Nations estimate has the world’s population peaking at about 9.3 billion i…
In recent days, tragic events in Cairo’s Tahrir Square have overshadowed the previous gains of the Arabic Spring. The violence claimed the lives of 26 and injured some 300 more – all unarmed – after …
It’s Anti-Poverty Week and, coincidentally, the Occupy Wall Street movement, having mushroomed across North America, has now jumped the Pacific and is set to reach Melbourne this Saturday. Having…
Last week we reported on the betting frenzy surrounding the lead-up to the announcement of the Nobel Prize for Literature. The frontrunner was the Syrian poet Adonis, although there were serious…
(Click to watch video.) One of the most fascinating of the many fascinating topics Jonathan Safran Foer discussed with Michael Williams during his recent…
We recently reported on how the next edition Oxford Dictionary is to incorporate words such as sexting and woot. Now comes news that another major English-language dictionary, Collins, has announced …
The annual game of shadows and mirrors that accompanies the October announcement of the Nobel Prize for Literature is in full swing. The Millions, a US online literary magazine, has published ‘An…
In his latest book, The Psychopath Test, British sleuth and documentary maker Jon Ronson comes across the influential psychologist who developed the industry standard ‘psychopath test’ and who is…
Join Nick Coyle (Pig Island, Me Pregnant!), Justin Heazlewood (aka the Bedroom Philosopher) and host Virginia Gay as our guests read excerpts from their own personal archives of angst and ecstasy –
The UK arm of Amnesty International has launched a series of weekly vodcasts called Amnesty TV. In a preview of this week’s vodcast published by the Guardian online, psychiatrist Dr Philip Hodson…
By Mark MordueThe Rolling Stones song ‘Emotional Rescue’ is a seduction song thinly veiled in romance. The urgency and strut that it exudes, Mick Jagger’s startling use of falsetto – it’s all about g…
Today’s edition of Crikey features a link to a YouTube video of a BBC interview with London-based independent trader Alessio Rastani speaking with unusual forthrightness, if not downright nihilism…
Samah was selected as the 2010 Australian Youth Representative to the United Nations, and completed a fellowship with the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. Her…
Dissident Chinese writer Liao Yiwu has published an account of how he escaped China in the New York Times. We have previously reported on the writer’s travails on several occasions. Earlier this…
Detail of an image of Kalgoorlie’s super-pit gold mine (the biggest man-made hole in the world) courtesy Kate Raynes-Goldie/Flickr Journalist Paul Cleary has warned that…
Yesterday was Talk Like a Pirate Day. Coincidentally, it was also the day we uploaded the video/podcast of a Wheeler Centre event last week featuring Canadian journalist Jay Bahadur. Bahadur is the a…
No longer is alarmism about modern-day psychiatry the preserve of conspiracy theorists and Scientologists. That a forthcoming appearance at the Wheeler Centre by Jon Ronson, author of The Psychopath…
The French colonialists dubbed the central African nation of Rwanda ‘the country of a thousand hills’. At around 6pm on 6 April, 1994, on a day she describes as a perfect day, Leah Chishugi, working …
During that time, Andrew served as Australia’s senior official to the G20 summits and the Prime Minister’s representative to the Copenhagen Climate Conference. He previously worked for the London…
Just as we’ve uploaded the video/podcast of our recent Intelligence Squared debate on Australia’s war in Afghanistan (see below), the broader public debate on the topic has reignited. A…
Kim Scott’s novel That Deadman Dance took out the inaugural Victorian Prize for Literature last night at the Victorian Premier’s Literary Awards dinner. All five category VPLA category winners &ndash…
Image of a Lego WB Yeats via Dunechaser/Flickr Poetry – even poets don’t always like it. Marianne Moore, a major 20th-century American poet, wrote a poem, appropriately…
A bookshop in the Libyan capital Tripoli was among many businesses to reopen last week following the fall of the Gaddafi regime. But more than most, the owner is hoping that the inauguration of a…
Image credit: Ingvar Kenne Mark Mordue on why modern-day fatherhood is all about eating breakfast standing up.It’s Father’s Day morning, the year 2011. No Glad Wrap in the …
“[V]ibrant and living and edgy and cool and urbane.” Lord Mayor Robert Doyle was dispensing the adjectives liberally yesterday following news Melbourne has edged out perennial winner Vancouver in…
“Prison is a place where one can meet the most extraordinary people,” according to Russian tycoon and billionaire jailbird Mikhail Khodorkovsky. According to an Agence France Presse report published …
Screenshot from the trailer of Alfred Hitchcock’s Notorious [1946], via WikiCommons There are two kinds of people in this world: those who read the last page or two of a…
Perhaps no journalist can match Polish writer Ryszard Kapuściński’s reporting on revolutions around the world. His analyses of political change remain as relevant now as they did in his lifetime. As…
Poster of a Queensland production of the Casey Bennetto musical, Keating!, via Jiggs Images/Flickr In a recent Wheeler Centre event celebrating great speeches, a variety…
A Newsweek infographic listing every book US President Barack Obama has read since he ran for president in 2008 makes for interesting, er, reading. In September 2008, for example, Obama was reading…
The Melbourne Writers Festival begins this week and the Wheeler Centre is pleased to be presenting an adaptation of Shaun Tan’s award-winning ‘The Arrival’ in partnership with the Festival. On…
Detail of San Francisco’s City Lights bookstore from the linocut, ‘Remarkable Collection of Angels’, from the blog Fiji Island Mermaid Press Saturday was National Bookshop…
Pioneering publications are giving us a glimpse of what the book of the future might look like – and that future can best be summarised as augmentation.1. The Hybrid BookIn the US, the New York…
In recent weeks, in the light of the stock market’s schizoid behaviour, a new argument has been added to the arsenal of opponents of the carbon tax. With stock markets around the world in chaos…
Among our favourite moments during the televised parliamentary inquiry into phone hacking at News International was when James Murdoch was asked if he was familiar with the legal term ‘wilful…
“There are some people who don’t like change. For everyone else, there’s WikiLeaks.” A viral YouTube ad produced by WikiLeaks and featuring Julian Assange is using guerrilla advertising techniques…
Imagine you are a publisher of serious literature and you receive a submission for a novel that goes something like this:“Cesar is a translator who’s fallen on very hard times due to the global…
This is a cross-post of a piece published on the blog ‘Alephantine’ by Alex Landragin.The ABC Radio National’s ‘Book Show’ yesterday broadcast a panel discussion called ‘The fact versus fiction…
1. The Politics of Helvetica“Anyone who used a computer in the late twentieth-century,” writes Edward Mendelson on the 2007 documentary Helvetica in the New York Review of Books blog, “remembers…
Image of Icelandic sulphur pools courtesy Stuck in Customs/Flickr Iceland’s capital city Reykjavik has been designated a City of Literature by the United Nations…
Today we finish our week-long series of reviews written by Victorian librarians of books shortlisted for the Premier’s 21. There are five categories, and we’ve published a different category every…
Sophie Marozeau is a French journalist based in Melbourne. She is the founder of Emue Books, an innovative publishing house which promotes French books around the world. Emue books are available in…
Image courtesy Robert Scarth/Flickr Click on the ‘What’s New’ page on the website of the Project for the New American Century and you’ll notice that the Washington…
The Sydney Opera House’s Festival of Dangerous Ideas released its program today, and for many Melbournians, the festival’s most dangerous idea is that we would have to skip the AFL Grand Final to…
All week we’re publishing reviews by Victorian librarians of titles shortlisted for the Premier’s 21. The reviews will be published by category, and today we publish reviews of titles shortlisted to …
Every day this week we’ll be publishing reviews of each of the Premier’s 21 titles shortlisted for the Victorian Premier’s Literary Awards. These reviews are not written by professional reviewers…
(Click to watch video.) The Wheeler Centre recently hosted an event in our series, ‘The Late, Great…’, on Ruth Park. Today, as we publish the…
“To win book of the year after being a kid who had issues with reading and writing means maybe I’m not so bad at it,” Anh Do told ABC radio Tuesday. It was a quote reprinted in a report in The Age
Image by Douglas Cason Arts/Flickr For those who are mourning the premature passing of a great and troubled talent, here are a few readings on the incomparable, late Ms…
Image of Poussin’s ‘Adoration of the Golden Calf’, before it was vandalised, courtesy the National Gallery via Wikipedia “The art of Nicolas Poussin might obsess someone…
The Victorian premier Ted Baillieu announced the shortlists for the 2011 Victorian Premier’s Literary Awards this morning at the Wheeler Centre. In all, 21 books have been shortlisted across five…
At the start of the Tour de France, we published the translation of a report by Albert Londres of the race’s beginning in 1924. Today, to coincide with the race’s end, we publish an extract of his…
Image via WikiCommons Expensive, time-consuming, redundant – and still necessary. News of the death of investigative reporting has been greatly exaggerated, if Hackgate is …
“At the moment the Australian effort at nation building in Oruzgan province is grossly underdone,” writes ex-army chief Peter Leahy, now director of Canberra University’s National Security…
It’s 60 years since The Catcher in the Rye was published. Brigid Delaney, journalist and columnist, reflects on what the book means for her.I was 11 or 12. It was my mother’s book club novel and had …
For as long as we can collectively remember, humans have struggled with the problem of memory. Its unreliability was compounded by the dishonesty and disingenuousness of the mind, in both its…
Will they use a condom? Cover art of an historical romance novel by Tom Miller, c1960s, courtesy anoldent/Flickr It’s perhaps the most common controversy in the world of…
When News International announced that the disgraced News of the World would be printing its final edition last Sunday, they sent in two senior editors. Their brief was simple: scour every last line …
Dissident Chinese writer Liao Yiwu has gone into exile. Liao is the compiler of The Corpse Walker, an astonishing collection of interviews with 27 Chinese at the fringes of society in the People’s…
Of all the photographs on the ABC’s online list of casualties in Operation Slipper, the name given to Australia’s Afghanistan mission, perhaps none is as affecting as that of Private Grant Kirby…
We were saddened to learn that Reader’s Feast, on Swanston Street in Melbourne’s CBD, is closing. The 22 staff losing their jobs will bring the total amount of jobs lost by REDgroup’s insolvency to 1…
An opinion piece by Eric Felten published on the weekend in the Wall Street Journal has served as a reminder of the crucial role publishers play as a filter. Entitled ‘Cherish the Book Publishers &ndash…
“The essay is to prose what the lyric is to poetry; it is intensely personal. It is not a statement of facts, it is not a cold, abstract argument, it is not an inflammatory harangue; it is a quiet…
The Tour de France, which this year is 98 years old, begins Saturday. To celebrate, we’re publishing, for what we believe is the first time in English, an extract of a report of the first stage of…
Image via sivioco.com We already knew that birdsong changes over time as birds' environments change – hence this video of a bird imitating the ringing of a mobile phone…
While we’ve covered the epublishing revolution many times, it feels ironic that Australia’s tyranny of distance nowadays seems to apply mainly to technologies that are designed to make the world…
The LulzSec Twitter avatar They’ve been described as “a loose, decentralised group of like-minded computer users, who are almost impossible to track down”, a vigilante…
An image posted on the Facebook page ‘Free Amina Abdalla’ In his 2010 book Reality Hunger, US writer David Shields argued against traditional realist fiction in favour of a…
Prime Minister Julia Gillard announced yesterday that Australia’s military mission in Afghanistan will not be scaled back despite measures announced by President Barack Obama for a scaledown of US…
Western Australian novelist Kim Scott was named the winner of the 2011 Miles Franklin Award for his novel, That Deadman Dance. The award ceremony was hosted last night by the State Library of…
The Miles Franklin Award will be conferred on one of three shortlisted nominees tonight at the State Library of Victoria, the second year it hasn’t been hosted by Sydney’s Mitchell Library as the…
An article in Saturday’s Weekend Australian has raised questions about the role food bloggers play in the new media landscape. In a feature entitled ‘Everyone’s a Critic’, Elizabeth Meryment…
Image of vintage Smith-Premier typewriter via WikiCommons Typewriter art has been around since at least 1867, with the oldest surviving example dating back to 1898…
Sydney Opera House 1975, image by Gregory Melle, via Flickr Sydney is appointing a city poet to sing the virtues of the city in verse. For $20,000 over 12 months, the poet …
Screenshot from the trailer of Alfred Hitchcock’s Notorious [1946], via WikiCommons It’s Bloomsday. People all over the world – including Melbourne – are attending public r…
Fantasy master Terry Pratchett has come under fire in the UK for his involvement in a television documentary screened on Monday night advocated assisted suicide. In the documentary, which was…
While the Chilean volcano Puyehue continues to spew ash that has caused air traffic chaos halfway around the world, Chileans are grappling with another kind of combustion altogether. A Chilean judge …
La Trobe University’s Ideas and Society Program and ‘Thesis Eleven’ present a special symposium exploring the implications and ramifications of Wikileaks. What does it mean for journalism, for…
The Shakespeare authorship question is perhaps literature’s most famous and enduring conspiracy theory. Since its birth in the early 19th century, some 70 different candidates have been proposed as b…
In his six-part documentary series, The Ascent of Money (currently available entirely online), Niall Ferguson narrates, “Banks financed the Renaissance, while the bond market decided wars. Stock…
Image of Mao Tse-Tung via WikiCommons The Chinese government’s chief literary institutions are finding it difficult to quash rumours that Mao’s Little Red Book was…
Image via WikiCommons Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s first novel, the reflective and loosely-structured Narrative of John Smith, is set to be published later this year by the…
Image of an ant via WikiCommons It’s one of the most mysterious aspects of animal behaviour, one even Charles Darwin struggled with: why would an animal choose to…
Image of a model of a heart via WikiCommons Three years ago, a man fainted at the international airport of Pristina, the capital of Kosovo. When authorities went to his…
Illustration of the duel that killed Russian poet Alexander Pushkin via WikiCommons Another of English literature’s enduring feuds has ended. Indian-Caribbean novelist VS N…
The Sydney Morning Herald reports that Jonathan Franzen, author of The Corrections, has weighed in on a debate surrounding a proposed development of a house in the picturesque waterside suburb of
‘Students at a Lecture’, by William Hogarth [1736], Jesus College, Oxford, via WikiCommons How do you write a graduation speech? New Yorker cartoonist Bruce Eric Kaplan…
US president Barack Obama’s signature has been likened to a baby tyrannosaurus rex playing with a ball of yarn. But does his signature have anything to say about the man? Perhaps he identifies as a b…
PET image of a transaxial slice of the brain of a 56 year old male patient via WikiCommons A new book claims that, while one in 100 people in the general population are…
A portrait of Jane Austen sketched circa 1810 by her sister Cassandra at the National Portrait Gallery, London, via WikiCommons A rare Jane Austen manuscript will be…
Sheet music of ‘Stars & Stripes Forever’ by John Philip Sousa, from the Library of Congress via WikiCommons The debate over Philip Roth’s legacy continues following his…
Cover image of ‘Circus: The Australian Story’, by Mark St Leon Jugglers, lion-tamers, bearded ladies and freak shows – the world of the travelling circus is increasingly a …
Image via WikiCommons Philip Roth, titan of male Jewish-American postwar literature, has taken out the biennial Man Booker International Prize, announced yesterday at the S…
Nine-metre bronze sculptures of Saddam Hussein in the grounds of the Republican Palace, Baghdad, 2005, by Kim Gordon, USDoD, via WikiCommons The comedian Sacha Baron-Cohen …
Sonia was born in 1984 in Kabul, Afghanistan. Due to the war in her country, she and her family had to flee to Pakistan twice, where she completed her schooling. Sonia is the only female director on …
Liao Yiwu, photographed in Cologne last year, via Wikipedia Meet Liao Yiwu, an author and musician from China’s Sichuan province, which borders Tibet in central China. In h…
‘The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse’, by Viktor Vasnetsov, 1887, via WikiCommons God has finally set a date for the end of the world. The apocalypse is set to take place o…
In her Australia Day speech to the nation this year, Prime Minister Julia Gillard said the phrase “demography is not destiny” was a defining Australian characteristic. One of the most common ways to …
Its publication was a milestone in the making of modern England. For centuries, it was all the literature many English speakers around the world ever knew. It peppered our language with phrases like …
Q, the equal-highest point-earning letter in Scrabble and one of five that appear just once, via WikiCommons A book designed to settle disputes is bound to provoke many…
Amanda was also Australia’s ambassador to Italy from June 2007 to May 2010. She was a Liberal Senator for South Australia from 1984 to 2007, and held several ministerial portfolios in the Howard…
In the 1940s and 50s, Australian fiction wasn’t so much dominated by names like Patrick White and George Johnston as by Gordon Clive Bleeck, Carter Brown, Don Haring and KT McCall. These pensmiths…
Detail of Barack Obama’s long-form birth certificate, released last week There’s no body. The body was hastily dumped. The photos are too inflammatory to be released. He…
Image of mid-1960s perfume set from the Soviet Union via WikiCommons Fashion icon Karl Lagerfeld is reportedly working on a new fragrance based on the smell of old books…
Illustration of the golem by Philippe Semeria via WikiCommons “I think it’s a part of a bigger trend of Americans almost apologizing for being Americans,” said Mike…
He is a former arts editor and travel editor of The Age. Although he specialises in arts journalism, he writes on many other subjects – mostly for The Age’s opinion and books pages. He has co-edited …
Lord Byron in Albanian dress, by Thomas Phillips, 1813, collection of the British Embassy, Athens, via Wikipedia The History channel’s website has a neat feature: a…
Image of this morning’s flashboards by Sarah Masters The death of Osama bin Laden is still sending shockwaves through the world (or is it?). It cost many lives and $1.3…
Image via Flickr Beginning today, and over the next two Mondays, we’re featuring essays written by our three Unpublished Manuscript Fellows – Peggy Frew, Andrew Nette and…
There are children’s books, and then there are children’s books that make a difference. The Boy and the Crocodile tells the story about East Timor’s national origins that doubles as a fable about…
Julio Cortázar, who spent much of his writing life in exile in Paris, via WikiCommons Argentinian lawmakers are considering a proposal that will pay a special pension to…
Indigenous Tasmanians on the margins of their own country, as painted by William Gould in River Scene with Aborigines, 1838, courtesy W. L. Crowther Library, Tasmanian Archive and…
Ex-libris by József Faragó [1866-1906] via WikiCommons To most book-lovers, the ex-libris, or bookplate, is a cherished relic of the past. Bookplates were small labels…
Portrait of Miles Franklin via WikiCommons A warm congratulations to Chris Womersley, Kim Scott and Roger McDonald for yesterday’s announcement that they have been…
1871 illustration of a Russian grave-digger by Viktor Vasnetsov [1848-1926] from the Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow, via WikiCommons The publication of David Foster Wallace’s…
Image of a storm breaking over Robinson, an outstation near Borroloola in the Northern Territory’s Gulf country, by Peter Nihill via WikiCommons. Publisher Simon &…
Image of Keel’s Simple Diary covers via WikiCommons Though often derided, the diary is a distinguished literary form as well as a source of consolation. A new website…
Turntable image by Johnny Magnusson via WikiCommons Crikey’s Bernard Keane wrote yesterday about the reasons behind the Chinese government’s crackdown on dissenting…
Detail of an image by Christoph Michels via WikiCommons So you have this friend, the author.He’s writing a book. Or so he says. He spends years of working away in solitude …
Image of Smith-Premier typewriter via WikiCommons There’s a revival going on – our favourite type of revival, the type that appeals to old-fashioned types like us. Just as …
Image of crucifix via WikiCommons Update, Friday April 8:All week we’ve been talking about the division of religion and state, particularly in relation to education. We…
Opponents of a decision by Fairfax Media to outsource its subediting from 2012, and thus make redundant its subeditors, will take to the streets at lunchtime today. The publisher of The Age and The…
Image via WikiCommons Not quite as naughty as le vice anglais but far more prevalent is le vice online. Procrastination is practically universal. Research shows that up to …
Look up the word ‘parenting’ on Amazon and expect to wade through some 61,559 responses. ‘Pregnancy’ is slightly more manageable at 25,678.First-time couples about to embark on the long haul of…
Photograph of an actual leopard via WikiCommons By Tony WilsonI’ve spent the last hour on my knees in our shed, searching for VCE English essays that are 21 years old…
An Ampelmädchen street light at a pedestrian crossing in Dresden, Germany, via WikiCommons Late last year a US-based organisation advocating for women in the literary…
Image of Jeremy Bentham’s Panopticon via WikiCommons Jeffrey Archer is in town on March 22, in conversation with Jennifer Byrne at the Collins Street Baptist Church…
Melissa has been an independent screenplay assessor for Screen NSW and Screen Tasmania for nearly a decade, and is a current member of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Arts Board of the…
Photograph of Finnish accordionist Lässe Pihlajamaa via WikiCommons Michel Houellebecq, the bête noire of French literature, has just released a single entitled ‘Le Film…
Often criticised for her speaking style, Julia Gillard delivered an historic speech before the US Congress overnight. In her address, she pulled no stops in underlining the strength of the alliance b…
Rarely has one 10 year old child had such an impact on a country. The picture of young Seena Akhlaqi Sheikhdost crying at the funeral of his parents seems to have started something. He …
A banner that reads ‘Leave!’ during protests in Tahrir Square last month in Cairo. Image via WikiCommons While the ripples of a 24-year-old Tunisian grocer’s
(Image via WikiCommons)The Daily Beast reports that 15 previously unknown stories by the legendary writer Dashiell Hammett are due to be published following their discovery. The man who popularised …
She joined Deakin in February 2007 having taught Middle East politics, International Relations, and Australian foreign policy at Macquarie University in Sydney for 9 years.Sally is an author and…
Guest speakers at the Gala Night of Storytelling. Image by Jesse Marlow. Archie Roach backstage at the Melbourne Town Hall. Photo by Jesse Marlow. Mem Fox opens the night with an arresting story…
Still Life with Dish of Fruit, by Balthasar van der Ast, Staatliche Museum, Berlin, via WikiCommons “The Roman historian Livy famously regarded the glorification of chefs a…
Butterfly illustrations by Meyer via WikiCommons Vladimir Nabokov’s legions of fans know how infuriating their idol can be. Infuriatingly contrarian, infuriatingly
Virginia graduated from the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts in 2005. She spent three years pretending to be a nurse on Chanel Seven’s All Saints, six months pretending to be Julia…
Image courtesy Wikicommons There’s hardly a book-lover in the world who isn’t familiar in one way or another with Sherlock Holmes. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s classic…
Image courtesy Walking Paris with Henry Miller. In what has been dubbed l'affaire Céline, the ghosts of France’s political past have sprung back to life. On this occasion, …
(Dunwich Marshes, Suffolk, via WikiCommons)Fans of WG Sebald’s melancholic masterpiece The Rings of Saturn will be curious to see how two English filmmakers have transposed the book for the screen. …
Two e-readers (image courtesy of Bobbi Newman, via Flickr) Dianna Dilworth at eBookNewser wonders whether ebooks will change the way books are sold across regions.The…
The cover of Dylan’s first volume Readers who enjoyed Bob Dylan’s Chronicles: Volume One can look forward to the publication of volumes two and three, NME reports. In the k…
Sherlock Holmes is set to get a sequel written by screenwriter and author of the popular Alex Rider teen spy books Anthony Horowitz, according to a Guardian article.The new Holmes book will be set…
Wheeler Centre director Chrissy Sharp To support the flood-affected communities, the Wheeler Centre is pleased to announce that all profits from our Gala Night of…
Unpublished Manuscript Fellow Andrew Nette Andrew Nette is the first of our Unpublished Manuscript Fellows. He begins his time at the Wheeler Centre today. He took time…
Click to watch video. Nicolas Dickner has sucessfully published his novels like Nikolski in French, but translation into English gave his books a new life. …
Detail of a cover from The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn Last week the canon of American letters was re-written when Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn had…
David Foster Wallace (image courtesy Steve Rhodes via Wikicommons) For fans of late great American novelist David Foster Wallace 2011 is all about the posthumous release…
Midsumma storytellers Jennifer Cayley and Jan Andrews Melbourne’s premiere arts and cultural event for the GLBTI community Midsumma Festival began on the weekend.For…
Last week, as paid parental leave finally became a reality in Australia, both the Age and Sydney Morning Herald couldn’t resist turning the development into a winners and losers story. Both papers…
Well it’s been a big first year at the Wheeler Centre and we’d like to thank everyone who has helped make it such a fantastic year – our supporters, staff and resident organisations. But also to…
Are e-books stacked against bookstores? The future is small for bookstores – in a good way according to a report from NPR. The report believes that “the big chains are in t…
Author Paul Auster (image David Shankbone via wikicommons) As Paul Auster releases his new novel Sunset Park, Goodreads has published a rare interview with the American…
With the publication of his latest book, Fortune Cookie, Bryce Courtenay cements his reputation as one of Australia’s most popular novelists. It’s surprising then that he came to…
Ruth Park, aged 26 (courtesty of National Library of Australia) One of New Zealand’s greatest writers has died as Ruth Park passed away in Sydney aged 93. She was as much b…
Mario Vargas Llosa, Miami Book Fair International, 1985 courtesy Miami Dade College via wikicommons I learned to read at the age of five, in Brother Justiniano’s class at t…
Mark Zuckerberg on the Time cover A shocked and spotty Mark Zuckerberg graces the cover of the latest Time magazine as 2010’s Person of the Year. Facebook f…
Travel Writer Rowan McKinnon While I don’t disagree with some of what Andrew Mueller says in his Lunchbox Soapbox – about newspaper travel sections being beholden to…
Head of Programming Michael Williams In 2010 the Wheeler Centre was employed by law firm, Minter Ellison, to present a series of literary lunchtime lectures as part of its…
Author and critic James Bradley We’re at a weird juncture. Just as the latest round of Wikileaks dumps has drawn a line under the old political and media paradigm, the…
Writer, critic and comedian, Ben Pobjie Comedians are, as we all know, tortured. The only trait that better defines the comedian than being tortured is the habit of…
In 2010 the Wheeler Centre went on the road to four regional centres to celebrate Victoria’s 175th birthday. Project officer Sarah Reynolds wrote this account of the road trips, hook turns and the…
With all the talk of wikileaks, it’s easy to forget that there are other online resources that can be crowdsourced. Over at biblioklept they’ve looked at the index for Harper’s Magazine and…
Image by Alan Light (wikicommons) Oprah’s Book Club has given its seal of approval to the struggling British author Charles Dickens. Oprah has selected two little-known…
Freya Blackwood, illustration from Amy and Louis, text by Libby Gleeson, Scholastic Press, 2006, watercolour on paper, courtesy of the artist Look! The art of Australian…
VWC Program Manager Mary Napier With Victorian Writers' Centre launching their 2011 programme next week, we thought it would be the perfect time to talk to program manager …
UK cover for The Shape of Her Earlier we reported that Christos Tsiolkas was in the running for the the Literary Review’s Bad Sex Award for the worst piece of raunchy…
Curious George is one of the characters appearing on an app this Christmas Just in time for stocking stuffers, Publisher’s Weekly have surveyed what children’s publishers a…
On the curriculum: graphic novelist Shaun Tan The University of Melbourne has announced that in 2011 it will offer an undergraduate subject on comics called Graphic…
Poster for the 1992 film A new movie version of Buffy the Vampire Slayer is being written without the writer who made the series famous, Joss Whedon.Over at Vulture…
Way back in January pundits were calling 2010 the Year of the e-reader. Over at Read Write Web, they think the year has lived up to that promise with the appearance of the Kindle, Sony e-reader and, …
The winners of the US National Book Awards were announced yesterday with several upsets and controversial decisions.Peter Carey was again pipped at the post for the fiction award by Jaimy Gordon for …
Click to watch video If you’ve spent a weekend fretting over getting your kids from a play date to soccer practice, then you might be ready to try Free…
Today Readings opens a new full store in the locker room area of the State Library. It represents a huge improvement on the small fold-away store that’s been in the foyer for most of 2010. The new…
IMPAC nominee Craig Silvey Several Australian writers are on the IMPAC Dublin Literary Award Longlist including newer names such as MJ Hyland for This Is How, Kalinda…
Social Books on an iPad Reading is no longer a solitary affair and book clubs are moving online. The New York Times technology blog’s review of the Social Reading app…
The US edition of Decision Points Former US President George W Bush can’t seem to stop making gaffes as the Huffington Post has found that “finding lifted passages in…
Click to watch video. Cath Smith from VCOSS takes to the Lunchbox/Soapbox to raise the social issues at play in the Victorian State Election from housing…
Click to watch video. As the state election approaches, Victorians identified public transport as the number one issue that would effect their voting. As a …
Music writer Mark Mordue When I think about poetry, about my need to read it and reflect on it and even express the odd poem here and there as if there were a more pure or …
Writer, curator and Smiths aficionado, Mike Shuttleworth At Moonee Valley racetrack recently, Daryl Braithwaite was whipping the crowd up with his 1991 hit Horses. No…
Novelist Andrea Goldsmith shared her life with the late Dorothy Porter Dorothy Porter was known for her brilliant performance. She studied acting in her teen years and…
Author & illustrator Nicki Greenberg Unlike most stage productions, this book was a one-person affair. I felt like I’d taken on the task of directing the play – and not…
“Melburnians once needed to visit Europe to be embarrassed at the gap between our public transport and the best in the world,” Paul Mees says in his post for the Drum.Mees, a senior lecturer in…
TV scriptwriter Kris Mrksa One of the things that first attracted me to script writing was that there could be no right or wrong. A TV script might be boring, vapid…
Broadcaster Vijay Khurana Nick Hornby loves pop music. This we know. From his record store-owning High Fidelity protagonist Rob, to 31 Songs, his collection of essays…
Meanjin editor Sophie Cunningham Meanjin editor Sophie Cunningham will leave the literary journal at the end of this year and, according to Jason Steger’s report in the…
Ahead of this weekend’s Australian Festival of Travel Writing we talked to festival director Jacqueline Dutton about the event. “The thing that is different is that this is a themed festival,&rdquo…
Click to watch video. British writer Salley Vickers brings her experience as a psychotherapist to the subject of life and death in this exclusive address…
The New Yorker has released a list of literary sandwiches that should be on menus. A serve of Dave Eggers comes with a handy guide to explain your meal Order up the Dave…
Debut Mondays author Lara Fergus I wrote a book about 2 characters. An obsessive cartographer – organised to the point of insanity – and her artist sister, confined to, or …
Director of the Institute for Human Security Dennis Altman This week Parliament finally debated Australia’s involvement in Afghanistan. For most Australians our commitment …
Click to see the full video “As an online journalist, pressing the publish button is just the start,” Sophie Black told us on the Lunchbox/Soapbox as she…
Clare Bowditch on a recent album cover It began last night when singer/songwriter Clare Bowditch watched our latest Feminism Has Failed video. She tweeted about them…
US Edition of Barnes' Nothing to be Frightened of If you’re looking for a writer to discuss mortality, Julian Barnes' Nothing To Be Frightened Of is a great place to…
The Man Booker prize has been awarded to Howard Jacobson for The Finkler Question.Chair of Judges, Andrew Motion praised it as “a marvellous book: very funny, of course, but also very clever, very…
Image by Luca Galuzzi A “change of clothing” is how the Dalai Lama spoke of death in a recent New Yorker profile of the Tibetan religious leader.As a Bhuddist, the Dalai…
Author & illustrator Sally Rippin Have you ever noticed how in many of the best books for children the author removes the parents from the picture as soon as possible…
With today’s announcement of the Nobel Prize for Literature, it’s a good time to meet Peter Doherty Australia’s Nobel Prize for Medicine winner.In his autobiographical essay about receiving the…
Author Toni Jordan The late afternoon sun is soft and it makes the trees outside my window glow iridescent green, but I’m not outside enjoying it. I’m also not making…
This is a declaration that may well prompt throbbing of veins and empurpling of complexions, but here goes: being a travel writer isn’t as easy as it looks. I feel that this is something I should…
Casey Bennetto made the Premier’s Literary Awards shine that little bit brighter with his epic songs for each category and the power ballad for the prize. We thought it was so impressive we created a…
Shareholder activist Stephen Mayne has been to enough blokey AGMs and seen how few women make it into Australia’s boardrooms to see how limited feminism’s progress has been. Mayne sees that the…
The Intelligence Squared debate Feminism Has Failed of last week ago is still raging online. Virginia Hausegger One debater, Virginia Haussegger, has published an edited…
Ben Eltham When was the last time you bought a CD?If you’re like most young Australians, the answer is: a while ago. The advent of digital file sharing technologies has…
Screenwriter and journalist David Simon has been awarded the 2010 MacArthur Genius Fellowship for his work on TV shows The Wire and New Orleans-based Treme.Over the next five years Simon will…
Tonight’s presentation of the Victorian Premier’s Literary Awards will end a month of speculation for those on the shortlist.The most talked about prize is the Vance Palmer Prize for Fiction with…
This week the US celebrates Banned Books Week by looking at what books have been challenged for inclusion in public libraries. The week is organised by the American Libraries Association (ALA) to…
Michael Nolan, co-editor of Kelly’s book If writing about music is like dancing about architecture (as satirist Martin Mull’s regularly misattributed quip goes), then…
Last night’s debate in the Intelligence Squared series asked if Feminism had failed and had a resounding “No”. The debate series polls the audience on the way in and as they leave to see how the…
While Australia’s first female prime minister begins her first post-election parliament, a new book in the US looks at how close (and how far) America was from its first female president.Rebecca…
A Fortunate Life, one of the titles Singo is set to save Australian advertising magnate, John “Singo” Singleton is looking to launch an all-Australian publishing venture…
Soon to be signed-up for Oprah’s Book Club? The New York Times reports that despite a highly publicised spat over The Corrections, TV host Oprah Winfrey has selected…
Mantel winning the Man Booker Last year’s winner of the Man Booker has written a great piece on her difficult relationship with prizes for Intelligent Life.Though Mantel’s …
What is it with world leaders and their need to write children’s books? First there was our Kevin Rudd with Jasper and Abby and the Great Australia Day Kerfuffle and now US President Barack Obama…
Just one of the titles held at the Digital Comics Museum Golden Age comics that have fallen out of copyright are being collected online at the Digital Comics Museum…
The US military is red-faced over a Pentagon campaign to buy up a controversial memoir about operations in Afghanistan, according to Aol News.Retired Lt Colonel Anthony Shaffer wrote the catchily…
Debut Monday author, Kirstel Thornell Tonight’s Debut Monday author Kristel Thornell has written for Readings blog about how she came to write her Australian/Vogel…
Image courtesy of el7bara US pastor Terry Jones has put away his gasoline and scrapped his plan to publicly burn the Koran, BBC News reports.The pastor from Dove World…
Blogger, designer and visual artist, Culture Mulcher has been keeping a scrapbook of his visits to the Wheeler Centre and this week of Critical Failure he’s been particularly busy with sketches…
The Man Booker shortlist was announced last night and includes Peter Carey, but has dropped Christos Tsiolkas.The shortlist also included Emma Donoghue, Damon Galgut, Howard Jacobson, Andrea Levy…
Film maker Gillian Armstrong Last night saw the first session of Critical Failure, the Wheeler Centre’s week-long discussion on the state of Australia’s reviewing culture.T…
Shortlisted for the Unpublished Manuscript Prize, Michelle Aung Thin Victoria’s biggest prize for writing – the Victorian Premier’s Literary Awards – has announced the
In partnership with RMIT, the Australian Poetry Centre is bringing a poet in residence to the Wheeler Centre.The program will mean that poets have the opportunity to write but also be available for …
The last few days of the festival have focussed on the schools programme which has meant writers adopting super-human alter egos. For Michelle Dabrowski and Sean M Whelan (both pictured) they’ve…
Whedon under tsunami, image courtesy Wolf Cocklin The Melbourne Writers Festival kicked off with Friday night’s dual keynotes and the announcement of the Age Book of the…
I often think everyone should ask themselves the basic question that I pose to myself each day: What would I do if I was fleeing for my life and trying to save my family? I know I would do whatever …
He is a widely-published writer, whose work appears regularly in newspapers, journals and online. He is the author of Money Shot: A Journey into Censorship and Porn, Killing: Misadventures in…
The great digital rights siege of 2010 seems to be over as uber-agent Andrew Wylie has brokered a peace with Random House and is “in discussion” with Penguin Books.After breaking ranks with…
It seems like readers haven’t quite forgotten Rudd – Jessica Rudd at least. Fancy Goods reports Jessica Rudd’s book Campaign Ruby was the most mentioned book in the media last week for the second…
Bestselling author Seth Godin dropped a bombshell on publishing when he told Galleycat that he was no longer going to publish books in a traditional way. After publishing a dozen print books, Godin …
So who won the election? While most of us are still scratching our heads over the federal election, political commentator George Megalogenis is sifting through the tea leaves and looking at how…
Author Gideon Haigh Everybody wants to go to heaven, as they say, but nobody wants to die. So it is in the world of book reviewing. Everyone is in favour of frank and…
With two uninspiring leaders most of the excitement in this election has come from the former leaders. Obviously the campaign launches featured ‘passing the torch moments’ – the memorable Howard…
When we put up our video of Bret Easton Ellis, we thought people would be interested but we didn’t expect the deluge of comments responding to the author’s talk.First up was Gary Chau calling BEE…
The opening weekend of the Edinburgh International Book Festival was big. Located in the elegant Charlotte Square Gardens, the bookfest pops up as an elegant tent city, and on Saturday the festival …
Alison Croggon has published five collections of poems, which won the Anne Elder and Dame Mary Gilmore Prizes, and were shortlisted for the Victorian and NSW Premier’s Literary Awards. Her most…
Publisher Kabita Dhara Last week a new imprint appeared on Melbourne’s busy publishing scene, Brass Monkey Books, aiming to build closer ties between Australia and India.Pu…
Time magazine has made Jonathan Franzen their coverboy using the line “Great American Novelist”. It’s a big deal because, as the Los Angeles Times reports, the last living novelist Time had on the c…
Photo Lucian Chaffey Leanne Hall arrives at the State Library engulfed in a coat and scarf, a lavender beanie over her pixie haircut. Her attention to detail when it comes …
This weekend the Freeplay independent games festival kicks off with programmers, gamers and artists converging on the State Library.As well as talks and workshops from local and international games …
Alison Croggon (Image courtesy Jacqueline Mitelman) “As an artist, my relationships are experiential rather than theoretical. I certainly share with scientists and…
Author Max Barry I’ve written more bad fiction than you’ve read. I’m serious. I’ve done a hundred or so drafts of nine or ten manuscripts, and let’s not even start on the s…
Image courtesy of Roman Gomez Almost two out of three Australians identified themselves as Christians at the last census, which seems to create a large…
If you caught our Erotic Fan Fiction video then you’ll know that most of it was too lewd to re-broadcast. We cut out just at the point where Justin Heazlewood was about to talk about the love that …
Cordite editor David The latest issue of Australian online journal Cordite is asking its readers to become re-mixers by offering them the chance to download the…
British writer George Orwell worked as a book reviewer but was always uncomfortable with the job. In this 1946 essay he argues that a book critic must “sell… honour for a glass of inferior sherry&rdquo…
Novelist Anne Rice posted a message on her Facebook page last week saying “I quit being a Christian.”Best known for her Vampire Chronicles series, Rice’s reasons for leaving the church are not so…
As the Booker Prize longlist was announced last week, judge Andrew Motion concluded that “no one was writing much about sex any more” according to the Guardian.Former poet laureate Motion has a…
The Guardian reports that author Åsne Seierstad has been found guilty of defamation and “negligent journalistic practices” for her book The Bookseller of Kabul.An Oslo district court found that…
Meanjin’s blog, Spike sat down with Debut Monday author, Jon Bauer across the digital divide to find out about boxing, street opera and writing notes to self.What’s a typical day spent writing like…
Ayaan Hirsi Ali has been making news for her controversial stance on Islam and feminism since she first wrote Infidel in 2007. As she tours Australia she is sparking more controversy around her new …
There’s plenty of reasons for raising a glass along the Liffey as Dublin joins Edinburgh, Iowa City and Melbourne as a UNESCO City of Literature.Wheeler Centre Director Chrissy Sharp said of the…
Last night’s political debate saw plenty of “fair dinkum”, “moving forward” and “action plans”, but more points scoring than policy.At the Business Spectator, Alan Kohler yawned at the “he said/she…
Putting together a festival is a massive undertaking and new director Steve Grimwade has put together one of the biggest programs in the event’s history. But what events is the festival director…
Six Million Dollar Woman Tina Fey Celebrity books have always been colossal since the 1990s when Jerry Seinfeld’s cult pushed Seinlanguage into the New York Times…
If you’re thinking of making millions with your upcoming e-book, over at eBooknewsr they’ve got a preferred pricetag of US$1.99.In their survey of new authors, eBooknewsr found that many found new…
Writer/illustrator Sally Rippin On his way out, Kevin Rudd selected an interesting shortlist for this year’s Prime Minister’s Prize.Along with fiction (J. M. Coetzee…
I received my first physical copy of In-human as a book and I couldn’t imagine the excitement it would bring. It’s been such a long and hard slog to get it published that there was…
Got your copy of the Melbourne Writers Festival Program yet?The hottest ticket is bound to be Joss Whedon’s keynote address as he talks about everything from Buffy the Vampire Slayer to his latest p…
Last week twenty-one year old Johannes Jacob launched “Birthmark”, his first issue as editor of Voiceworks.He’s no stranger to the publication having served on the magazine’s editorial committee…
Over the weekend we hosted two literary speed dating events on Friday and Saturday night. Both nights were busy with flirts and folios flying. Where else would you be able to hear a newly met…
Gay Rights activist and today’s Lunchbox/Soapboxer, Rodney Croome has taken aim at our new Prime Minister Julia Gillard on her views on same-sex marriage in his post for ABC Unleashed.At issue is…
His short fiction has appeared in Sleepers, Heatwave and On The Edge, and his features were once a regular part of Sunday Life magazine, tackling such diverse topics as Jimmy Barnes and fridge…
The early results are in on our booked-out literary speed dating and we’re offering a sneak peek of what speed daters are bringing.Unsurprisingly, Tim Winton fared well with 8 people bringing along o…
‘What distinguishes Mills & Boon from our competitors,’ boomed the senior editor, peering at me in a disconcertingly cross-eyed way over the starched linen tablecloth, ‘is that they are purveyors o…
Canadian Paul Chafe has been awarded the Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest for Romance writing offering some good lessons in how NOT to write, CBC reports.The Bulwer-Lytton was created by San Jose…
The Huffington Post asked this week if Twitter sells books and got several emphatic yeses.Michael Taeckens, Publicity Director of Algonquin Books, offers three simple rules for interacting on…
Our Literary Speed Dating event has now totally sold out for both men and women.If you’re one of the lucky ones who’ve already booked then you can expect a night of passionate discussion on your…
Star literary agent Andrew Wylie has said that he’s prepared to take the licensing rights for his client’s e-books outside of print publishing and thinks the days of chain bookstores are numbered.Wyl…
Reviews have started coming in for Bret Easton Ellis’s Imperial Bedrooms, a follow-up to Less Than Zero.At the Guardian Alison Kelly was in awe of the book’s violent spectacle, seeing it as…
Gideon Haigh has released another salvo in his campaign against Australia’s critical culture on Killings (the blog of journal Kill Your Darlings).In part Haigh’s response to Rosemary Neill’s piece i…
As Australia welcomes its first femme PM, spare a thought for publishers and authors who wrote about the former PM Kevin Rudd.Rise of the Ruddbot seemed like a snappy title for the release of…
Though Julia Gillard removes the knife from former PM Kevin Rudd as she takes power, there have been many backers whispering in her ear. ABC Unleashed highlights Rudd’s failure to build a factional p…
Peter Temple has picked up Australia’s most celebrated prize, the Miles Franklin, for his crime book, Truth.It’s the first time a genre novel has won the literary gong and Text Publishing claims
Tonight the Miles Franklin Prize will be announced in Sydney though the Sydney Morning Herald reports the award will move to Melbourne next year.The award’s home has been Sydney’s Mitchell Library…
The Australian’s Review magazine examined Australia’s arts criticism in an age when it is challenged by bloggers and the struggle to make the web profitable.Since 2006 more than 60 full-time…
Based on his Quarterly Essay, David Marr discusses Prime Minister Kevin Rudd’s personality and politics including “Rudd’s passion for martyrs”, how he has “been underestimated at every stage of his c…
Forthcoming Wheeler Centre guest, Ayaan Hirsi Ali has been criticised by Ms. Magazine for failing to see women’s efforts to reform Islam.The article cites “her refusal to recognise the subjective…
According to the Intelligence Squared debate last night, Australia has not escaped its racist past, which was held in partnership with the Wheeler Centre.An Age article highlighted, Hanifa Dean’s…
Author Monica Dux thinks there’s too much pressure on mothers according to her opinion piece in the Age.As a mother herself, Dux jokes that she’d been told that getting stressed while you’re…
Professor Bob Birrell believes that our tertiary education system is lowering standards to accommodate more international students including re-writing the curriculum and assessment, according to a
Photo by Evan Butson My first encounter with Less Than Zero was through MTV, which makes perfect sense.I was nine years old. Every Saturday night Richard Wilkins…
People don’t much like fear, suffering and death, whether their own or that of others. Spectator columnist Allan Massie has typified this discomfort, arguing that personal experiences of suffering …
Photo by Ashley Gilbertson Australian literary stoushes are generally more hyped than happening. Or perhaps they’re playground fights between two kids who don’t really…
American novelist Barbara Kingsolver has won the Orange Prize for The Lacuna.The novel follows the dreamy Harrison William Shepherd as his destiny intertwines with celebrated Mexican residents Diego …
Last night, Professor Tim Flannery launched the Deakins with his inspiring keynote address, Innovating in a Changing Climate. Flannery’s lecture concluded with his call for questions: “It’s over to y…
We’ve just released last-minute tickets for the Deakins lecture, Future Energy Solutions: Powering a Sustainable Tomorrow.This session looks at how our ever-rising energy demands will be met in the f…
Author John Birmingham enjoys book tours with the exception of buffets and their bad health implications, according to his latest post on his deliciously named Gothic Cheeseburger blog.“Book tours…
Esquire magazine has released an excerpt from Imperial Bedrooms from cult author Bret Easton Ellis.The taster opens with a wry nod to Less Than Zero, beginning “They had made a movie about us. The…
We’ve just released a limited amount of new seats for the Deakin Lecture series keynote address this Sunday with Tim Flannery.Flannery has long been at the vanguard of Australia’s environmental…
One of the great hopes of carbon storage is biochar, because it could be used to generate electricity and fertilise soil. ABC’s Bush Telegraph looked at the substance they’re calling “the other…
The media buzzed with news that Deakins Series curator Tim Flannery has switched his position on Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and on carbon capturing.The Australian reported from Flannery’s speech…
Not everyone agrees on climate change. Quadrant Online’s Doomed Planet questions global warming publishing Andrew Gilkson’s argument that there is a “widening gulf between scientific observations…
Local readers might be all too familiar with our curator from the wealth of books Tim Flannery has written – most notably his seminal and influential climate change work The Weather Makers. Based o…
Photo by Jorge De Aruojo Next Wave Festival is known for risky and sometimes strange art, but Bennett Miller’s Dachshund UN has given it the label adorable around the…
Based on the New Yorker review of Peter Carey’s latest novel, they clearly adore the Australian writer who has chosen Manhattan as his home.The review hails Parrot & Olivier in America as “a…
Both Tim Flannery and Nick Rowley come to the Deakin Lectures as veterans of last year’s Copenhagen Climate Change Summit. After the disappointing outcome of that conference we asked both…
Tony Abbott has done a lot to impress Malcolm Turnbull with his new-found praise for Coalition policy on climate change.Back in December 2009 Turnbull’s blog entry scolded “Mr Abbott apparently…
In a career spanning over thirty years, he has written for the Sydney Morning Herald, the Age and the Monthly, been editor of the National Times, a reporter for Four Corners and presenter of…
You can find her at www.monicadux.com.au and on Twitter as @monicadux.
With Cristos Tsiolkas hailed by The Times as a “literary rock star” and The Slap storming Britain this month, it’s easy to forget a generation of Australian authors who first broke into Blighty.One s…
As Britain meets its new power-sharing leaders, climate change policy is caught in the middle, according to The Independent.Pre-election slogans from the Conservative party to “vote blue, go green&rdquo…
One of the cornerstones of the ‘games can never be art’ argument is that games are defined as competitive pursuits built around rules and goals, and from that definition, nobody has ever produced…
Ahead of his release of Imperial Bedrooms, Bret Easton Ellis gave an interview to Vice magazine in his characteristic rock-star style.When pushed on why he wrote a sequel to Less Than Zero, Easton…
Writer and crossword maker David Astle dropped into the Wheeler Centre to re-mix words and minds with his unique take on language.
This year’s Sydney Writers' Festival features Songs for Stories, an event to support the Indigenous Literacy Project (ILP). It’s an echo of a Melbourne Writers' Festival event, Songwriters, which…
If you’re watching ABC’s Q&A on TV then you missed half the show. Last night’s debate on internet censorship was best viewed with a laptop as Twitter raged with comments about everything from the…
A foreign edition of a book often gives it a new face for the international market, argues a Guardian article. Harry Potter was re-imagined with a mouse-shaped hat by an Italian publisher while…
Her doctoral fieldwork was conducted in eastern Cape York Peninsula during the 1990s, and her experience of the statutory land claim and native title system in this region was informed by a decade…
The Emerging Writer’s Festival (EWF) kicks off next Friday with the First Word, but for non-Melbournians the festival launches its online program tomorrow.The online program will be launched at…
Jonathan Walker is a new kind of novelist. His new book Five Wounds is what he calls an illuminated novel reminding readers of monastic tomes while being very current.Recent books like Incredibly…
The Beauty Myth Revisited: How Images of Beauty Are Still Used Against WomenOn the eve of the 20th anniversary of The Beauty Myth, Naomi Wolf revisits the work that The New York Times called one of t…
Last night the Wheeler Centre confirmed that Bret Easton Ellis will be appearing in Melbourne in August. The author of American Psycho will discuss his hotly anticipated Imperial Bedrooms, a sequel t…
The Age newspaper has sacked long-time columnist Catherine Deveny for her comments on Twitter during the Logies. Watching the red carpet arrival, Deveny tweeted that she hoped Rove McManus' wife…
China has announced that it will step up its online monitoring to prevent “overseas hostile forces from infiltrating through the internet”, according to a Reuters report. Wang Chen, head of the…
Subscribers to Australian Book Review would have opened the magazine to find that the Calibre Prize was awarded to two outstanding essays.Dr David Hansen’s “Seeing Truganini” looks into the European …
Swedish novelist Stieg Larsson led a life as fascinating as his fiction, according an extract from The Man Who Left Too Soon by Barry Forshaw published in The Times.The book reveals Larsson had all …
This weekend the sleepy town of Clunes once again becomes Booktown. The annual event brings more than 60 booksellers from across Australia along with Miles Franklin shortlister Sonya Hartnett and…
This morning commuters in Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane were met with a pamphlet campaign for Stop Bluebird which seemed to be yet another environmental protest. In fact it was the start of the…
Peter Carey talks to The New York Times about life in Australia and New York and writing. Peter Carey will be a guest of the Wheeler Centre in late May.
The longlist for the 2010 BBC Samuel Johnson Prize has been announced. Among the nominees is maths book Alex's Adventures In Numberland by Alex Bellos for its attempt to "demystify" maths. …
The Miles Franklin Literary Award shortlist has been announced. Among those nominated is Sonya Hartnett for her book Butterfly. Sonya will be speaking with 3RRR's Donna Morabito next week at the…
Peter Singer was born in Melbourne, Australia, in 1946 and educated at the University of Melbourne and the University of Oxford. He has taught at the University of Oxford, La Trobe University and…
In support of the Wheeler Centre's Drawing Out, Drawing In: Spotlight on Graphic Novels event this weekend, Bernard Calleo blogs for Readings on Dylan Horrocks's graphic novel, Hicksville.Also…
Libraries are places where books talk to each other. But are their seductive whisperings in danger of being drowned out by the roar of phone-using, iPod wearing, internet surfing hordes?This is an…
The Spotlight on Graphic Novels event begins this Friday and runs for three days. The keynote address with Shaun Tan on Friday is booked out, however seats may be available at the door immediately…
For the first time, the Melbourne International Jazz Festival in association with The Wheeler Centre, presents Conversations, a series of panel discussion forums featuring leading musicians…
The Guardian reports on the Pultzer prize for fiction going to Paul Hardings debut novel, Tinkers. The novel was published by small independent not-for-profit Bellevue Literary Press. …
The New York Times writer, Michiko Kakutani, critizises Yarn Martel's new novel Beatrice and Virgil calling it "... a botched and at times cringe-making fable" and "... a far cry" from his 2001…
George Dunford blogs on how "..literary journals have come a long way in how they see comics".George will one of our chairs in the upcoming weekend event Drawing Out, Drawing In : A Spotlight on…
Readers are spoilt for choice: bookshops are overflowing with the great, the good (and the rest), and it could not be harder to choose what to read next.Every fortnight, let DEBUT MONDAYS be your…
Colm Toibin, Peter Carey and Elizabeth Gilbert - bookings now open.
Few would disagree that in recent years the idea of the Anzac has become an important, even dominant force within Australian history. But with Anzac Day just around the corner, what does it all…
The New York Times reports that Tom Clancy's new book due out in December, Dead or Alive, will feature well known characters from previous books. Clancy is known for such best-sellers as The Hunt…
The 2010 NSW Premier's Literary Awards shortlists have been announced. The UTS Glenda Adams Award for New Writing shortlist includes Kathy Charles for her first book Hollywood…
Phil At this special Melbourne International Comedy Festival Lunchbox/Soapbox, Canadian comedian Phil Nichol will attempt to explore…
Interestingly, the Wheeler Centre has already heard three of its visiting writers express very different opinions on Philip Roth.Roth, who has predicted that reading novels will have become a…
Two Australian have made the short list for the Lost Man Booker Prize.The Sydney Morning Herald says Patrick White, nominated for The Vivisector and Shirley Hazzard's The Bay of Noon fell through…
Sherman Alexie was named the winner of the PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction for his novel War Dances. War Dances: Sherman Alexie Th…
British writer David Almond is "stunned" to have won Children's literary award, the Guardian reports. [missing asset]
Poet Ted Hughes is to be recognised with a permanent memorial in Poets' Corner in Westminster Abbey, the Independent reports. Ted Hughes…
Ian McEwan’s latest novel Solar, published today, is a look at climate change through the eyes of a fairly unappealing, middle-aged scientist. Solar: Ian McEwan The…
Thomas Keneally's novel The People's Train, Peter Carey's Parrot And Olivier In America and Alex Miller's Lovesong have all been long-listed for this year's Miles Franklin award. …
Penguin has today announced the addition of 75 new titles to their iconic orange-and-white-covered popular classic roster, available from July 20 this year.The release celebrates 75 years of the…
Mikhail Gorbachev writes in the New York Times that modern Russia must strive to regain the freedoms lost in 25 ears of "shock therapy". USSR…
Presented by The Wheeler Centre with the Australian Poetry Centre, Ezra Bix, aka Professor Petri P Podsapoppin PhD, hosts the Fed Square Book Market this Saturday. …
The Australian Literary Review surveys our politicians about their favourite books, with some interesting results. War and Peace: Leo Tolstoy
The very last tickets for Malcolm Fraser have now been released. Book here to see Fraser in conversation with co-writer Margaret Simons and George Megalogenis tonight. …
The New York Times reviews Lionel Shriver's latest novel, So Much for That, which takes a swipe at US health care and insurance policy, and the impact it can have on middle class families. …
Following Peter Singer's Lunchbox/Soapbox appearance yesterday, we invite Meat & Livestock Australia to respond, as well as asking you to join the debate. …
Footage of the first six of our Gala Night writers is now online, via video or podcast: A Gala Night of Storytelling: the writers Watch the video here:David MaloufCate…
To mark the New York Guggenheim’s 50th anniversary, the museum invited almost 200 artists, architects, and designers to reimagine the building's central rotunda for the exhibition Contemplating the…
The Australian Literary Review reports on the hoax that has France's best loved public philosopher, Bernard-Henri Levy, blushing. When Levy attacked Immanuel Kant in his latest book, On War in…
The New York Review of Books on Ben Mezrich's The Accidental Billionaires: The Founding of Facebook, A Tale of Sex, Money, Genius, and Betrayal and Stealing MySpace: The Battle to Control the Most…
Cloudstreet by Tim Winton has been voted the winner of the Australian Book Review's Favourite Australian Novels poll. Cloudstreet: Tim Winton (Penguin) …
The Observer publishes an extract from Patti Smith's new memoir, Just Kids. Patti Smith's Just Kids: Harper Collins
The Age reports that famously reclusive author, J D Salinger, has died at his home in New Hampshire. J D Salinger's Catcher in the Rye: Penguin
Yen Press, part of Hachette Book Group, has announced plans to release a graphic novel version of Stephanie Meyer's hugely popular Twilight series.The Wheeler Centre will have a spotlight on graphic…
His stories have appeared in several ‘Best of …’ and anthologies, both within Australia and internationally. His previous books are Shadowboxing (Scribe 2006) and Father’s Day (Hunter 2009). Tony t…
The Times Literary Supplement examines Morris Dickstein's new book Dancing in the Dark, which looks at the cultural impact of the Great Depression during the 1930s. …
Peter Singer, our first Lunchbox/Soapbox presenter, reviews Jonathan Safran Foer's Eating Animals in The Monthly.
The Times Literary Supplement reviews Andrew Linzey's new book Why Animal Suffering Matters, which looks at the ethics of how humans use and treat animals.The …
Paul Barker's new book,The Freedoms of Suburbia, sings the praises of that most unfashionable of locales.And the Architects' Journal agrees. Freedoms of…
Colm Tóibín wins the Costa prize (formerly the Whitbread) for his novel Brooklyn.
December normally invites all kinds of 'year in review' type lists, and this year we have the added excitement of the end of a decade to contend with.This being the case, we have decide to start…
Jane Austen would have celebrated her 234th birthday today and while her novels might have thrived over the last 200 years, she died relatively young, in 1817.But, it seems, Austen lives on, or at…
The Sartorialist has been snapping locals in Sydney and Melbourne over the past week... we like Melbourne Man, even if he does seem to have forgotten his socks. …
Professor Tim Flannery at the Copenhagen Climate Conference
The State Library of Victoria gives us its favourite 10 Victorian books, either by Victorians or set in Victoria, or both, for summer 2009-10. State Library…
The New York Review of Books on Google's plan to digitalise millions of books, presages the Wheeler Centre's debate on the same subject. Reading in a Time of…
Last night John Safran, one of the twelve storytellers who will be a part of our Gala Night inaugural event, was crucified on television. John Safran's Race…
It has been widely reported in the British press that the UK government is considering the sell-off of BBC Worldwide, the BBC's commercial arm and majority shareholder in Lonely Planet Publications.T…
Richard Wright wins the Turner Prize as the Tate Britain announces this year's result.The shortlist, published in April, also included Enrico David, Roger Hiorns and Lucy Skaer. …
Greenpeace advertisments will greet world leaders as they arrive in Copenhagen for the Climate Change Conference this week, but Barack Obama, Gordon Brown and others may not be thrilled but what…
Reading's best art and design books of 2009 Art Deco Complete: The Definitive Guide (in Wheeler Centre green!) ****
Huge amounts have, predictably, been written about US Republican Sarah Palin's memoir Going Rouge, since its release last month. The Huffington Post is already…
There's been Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, now there's Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters.But not everyone can see the value in what the LA Times calls the "halloweenification of Jane…
Residents of Somerset, in England, can now borrow books from what must be one of the world's smallest lending libraires.
Today Victorian Arts Minister Lynne Kosky officially announced our new name, the Wheeler Centre for Books, Writing and Ideas.We also announced our first public events, which will happen in February, …
Everything from Freakonomics to Atonement has made it onto the The Onion's AV Club best books of the 00s list.
Times Literary Supplement: Eelworks, Seamus Heaney
