The Wheeler Centre

Michael Williams and Mem Fox, in conversation at the Wheeler Centre

Mem Fox is a legend of Australian children's literature. More than 35 years after her first book, Possum Magic, was published, it is still printed in hardback, with its iconic original illustrations by Julie Vivas.

In the intervening years, Fox has somehow managed an academic career as a literacy expert, while writing 40 more books. She’s charmed generations of readers with stories of Australian children and animals, including Ten Little Fingers and Ten Little Toes, Baby Bedtime, Wombat Divine and Where is the Green Sheep?

Through her books, Fox has also helped young readers grapple with difficult topics – perhaps most famously with Wilfrid Gordon McDonald Partridge. Her new book, too, broaches a difficult topic with great wisdom and sensitivity. The Tiny Star is about life and death, and it's told in an unmistakably tender and lyrical voice – the singular voice of Mem Fox – with illustrations by the award-winning Freya Blackwood.

At this very special event hosted by Michael Williams, Fox discusses her stories and her career. She shares, too, why encouraging us all to read aloud has been such an important part of her work.

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In this conversation, we bring together two master interlocutors – Paul Holdengräber and our own Sally Warhaft – for a meaningful dialogue about ... meaningful dialogue. Paul Holdengräber was the former curator of conversations at the New York Public Library and has interviewed hundreds of artists, scientists and luminaries, from Salman Rushdie to Jay Z. Sally Warhaft is the Wheeler Centre's in-house news anchor and the host of the popular Fifth Estate conversation series and podcast, interrogating names from the late Malcolm Fraser to Masha Gessen and Ronan Farrow. Join them as they talk career highlights, horror stories and the art and purpose of public conversation today.

Paul Holdengräber and Sally Warhaft — Photo: Sophie Quick

What makes a great interview? What can public conversation do, and why does it matter? And how does a skilled interviewer handle the various nightmare breeds of interview subject, from The Robot to The Waffler; The Sermoniser to The Sphinx?

In this conversation, we bring together two master interlocutors – Paul Holdengräber and our own Sally Warhaft – for a meaningful dialogue about ... meaningful dialogue. Paul Holdengräber was the former curator of conversations at the New York Public Library, and is the founding executive director of the Onassis Foundation LA, a centre for dialogue in Los Angeles which is an outpost of the Onassis headquarters in Athens. Throughout his distinguished career, he's interviewed hundreds of artists, scientists and luminaries, from Salman Rushdie to Jay Z. Sally Warhaft is the Wheeler Centre's in-house news anchor and the host of the popular Fifth Estate conversation series and podcast. She's interrogated big names in Australian politics and high-profile international guests, from the late Malcolm Fraser to Masha Gessen and Ronan Farrow.

How do you get, and keep, your subject on side? And what’s the role of discussion in today’s increasingly partisan political climate? Join Warhaft and Holdengräber as they talk career highlights, horror stories and the art and purpose of public conversation today.

Support the Wheeler Centre: https://www.wheelercentre.com/support-us/donate

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

For October’s Double Booked Club, we’ll hear from two acclaimed Australian authors, whose new works of fiction take readers to distant corners of the globe … and back again. Anna Krien and Favel Parrett speak with Jaclyn Crupi about their new novels.

In this Double Booked Club, we hear from two acclaimed Australian authors – Favel Parrett and Anna Krien – whose new works of fiction take readers to distant corners of the globe … and back again. These two brilliant writers join Jaclyn Crupi for a fascinating lunchtime conversation.

For October’s Double Booked Club, we heard from two acclaimed Australian authors, whose new works of fiction take readers to distant corners of the globe … and back again.

Act of Grace is the first novel from celebrated journalist Anna Krien. It’s a series of interconnected narratives, featuring an Australian soldier returned from Baghdad and a young musician fleeing Saddam Hussein. It’s a highly anticipated and original book, about inheritance and trauma.

Jaclyn Crupi, Favel Parrett and Anna Krien

There Was Still Love is the thrilling new novel from Favel Parrett; one that also arrives with a high degree of anticipation. Favel is the Miles Franklin-shortlisted author of Past the Shallows and When the Night Comes. Her new book traverses Prague and Melbourne during the tumultuous 20th Century. It’s a profound and moving story about family and loyalty.

Meet two brilliant Australian writers for a fascinating conversation, hosted by Jaclyn Crupi.

#doublebookedclub

Favel Parrett and Anna Krien at the Wheeler Centre

In this Double Booked Club, we hear from two acclaimed Australian authors, whose new works of fiction take readers to distant corners of the globe … and back again.

Act of Grace is the first novel from celebrated journalist Anna Krien. It’s a series of interconnected narratives, featuring an Australian soldier returned from Baghdad and a young musician fleeing Saddam Hussein. It’s a highly anticipated and original book, about inheritance and trauma.

There Was Still Love is the thrilling new novel from Favel Parrett; one that also arrives with a high degree of anticipation. Favel is the Miles Franklin-shortlisted author of Past the Shallows and When the Night Comes. Her new book traverses Prague and Melbourne during the tumultuous 20th Century. It’s a profound and moving story about family and loyalty.

Here, these two brilliant Australian writers join Jaclyn Crupi for a fascinating lunchtime conversation.

Support the Wheeler Centre: https://www.wheelercentre.com/support-us/donate

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this panel conversation, Adolfo Aranjuez, Eliza Hull and Erin Kyan discuss how artists with disability across the globe are engaging with the new digital order, and making entertaining and innovative work. Does the changing market offer new possibilities for access and creative expression? And how can we bring forward a future where people with disability have meaningful and lasting careers in the media arts?

Adolfo Aranjuez, Eliza Hull and Erin Kyan at the Wheeler Centre

‘Whatever it is that you do, think about how you can make what you do more accessible. Because I guarantee you there’s ways.’ – Erin Kyan

It’s no secret that the digital media industry has been the site of rapid and surprising change in recent decades. The market for screen content of all kinds – as well as screen-adjacent storytelling like podcasts – is hungry for fresh stories and new, authentic voices. And as platforms multiply and consolidate, the boundaries between mass market and niche have softened.

What does this mean for marginalised voices – especially writers, creative professionals and performers with disability – who’ve traditionally been underrepresented in the media mainstream? And – how about marginalised audiences?

In this panel conversation, Adolfo Aranjuez, Eliza Hull and Erin Kyan discuss how artists with disability across the globe are engaging with the new digital order, and making entertaining and innovative work. Does the changing market offer new possibilities for access and creative expression? And how can we bring forward a future where people with disability have meaningful and lasting careers in the media arts?

Support the Wheeler Centre: https://www.wheelercentre.com/support-us/donate

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Journalist Roza Germian lived through war for most of her childhood. In 1991, when Germian was 10, she was one of more than one million Kurds who fled Saddam Hussein's Iraq following the Iraqi retaliation to the Kurdish uprising. Hosted by Sami Shah, the remarkable Germian shares her story and discusses her life and work.

Sami Shah and Roza Germian at the Wheeler Centre

‘As a Kurd, I was stateless until I became an Australian, and Australia is the only official home I have, because Kurdistan does not exist on a map.’

Journalist Roza Germian lived through war for most of her childhood. In 1991, when Germian was 10, she was one of more than one million Kurds who fled Saddam Hussein's Iraq following the Iraqi retaliation to the Kurdish uprising. With her family, she later found temporary refuge in Turkey, and then moved permanently to Brisbane at age 15, when her family gained humanitarian visas.

As a teenager, Germian learned English and then went on to gain two university degrees. She now works as the executive producer on SBS Radio's Kurdish programme, where her earliest experiences of terror, persecution and prejudice continue to inform her journalistic work.

At SBS, Germian has continued to highlight stories that concern the Kurdish community here and abroad, from the ISIS conflict to Kurds held in Australia's immigration detention system. Hosted by Sami Shah, the remarkable Germian shares her story and discusses her life and work.

Support the Wheeler Centre: https://www.wheelercentre.com/support-us/donate

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.