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, and launched our Twitter account. Our director Chrissy Sharp was joined by Tony and Maureen Wheeler, for whom the centre is named.
The Wheelers founded and ran Lonely Planet, one of Australia’s most successful publishing houses, for over 30 years until last year, when they sold a majority interest to BBC-Worldwide.
They remain closely involved with the company and are now supporting Melbourne’s new centre for books writing and ideas through their Planet Wheeler Foundation.