The Wheeler Centre

Unapologetic, sometimes controversial, and always unflinchingly honest, Roxane Gay has built a remarkable career using her powerful voice to articulate the nuances of our most pervasive issues. Body image, civil rights, feminism, popular culture, social etiquette – you name it, Gay has written about it.

The esteemed writer, professor and cultural commentator was joined by host Jan Fran at Melbourne Town Hall for one night only as they discussed her most strongly held views on the culture and politics of the past decade, celebrated in her latest book, Opinions: A Decade of Arguments, Criticism, and Minding Other People’s Business.

In this conversation, Gay reflects on the fundamental importance of holding complicated views in our complicated times.  

This event was recorded on Tuesday 27 August 2024 at Melbourne Town Hall.

Roxane Gay was presented in Melbourne by The Wheeler Centre and Now or Never. She was presented in Sydney by the Festival of Dangerous Ideas. The official bookseller was Hill of Content.

Featured music is ‘Diffuser’ by Shiruky.

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

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National treasure Noni Hazlehurst details her life on stage and screen and takes us behind-the-scenes of a brilliant career. 

Noni Hazlehurst’s versatility as a performer knows no bounds. A household name and a beloved actor, she's graced Australian screens and theatre stages for over forty years. From Playschool and Better Homes and Gardens, to Monkey Grip and her acclaimed theatrical career – Hazlehurst has earned her place as an Australian icon. 

At this Melbourne-exclusive event, Hazlehurst joins host Elizabeth McCarthy to discuss her long-awaited memoir, Dropping the Mask, which celebrates a life and career that are both ordinary and extraordinary – and all class. 

This event was recorded on Thursday 10 October 2024 at The Capitol as part of The Wheeler Centre’s Spring Fling series.

It was presented in partnership with RMIT Culture. The official bookseller was Readings.

Featured music is ‘Different Days’ by Chill Cole.

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

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Critics Eda Gunaydin, Michael Sun and Cher Tan examine the present state and potential futures of literary criticism. 

Literary criticism seems to be in an endless state of decline. In so-called Australia, a particular flavour of cultural cringe is yoked to cultural hegemony: a critic might find themselves locked within the ivory tower, or self-censoring for fear of offence, or deliberately pursuing contrarianism for clicks. How, then, do critics move beyond this deadlock? Who decides what is 'good' criticism? What, exactly, is the function of criticism at the present time? This panel discussion sees three critics examine the possibilities of literary criticism, as well as the roles and responsibilities of the critic. Together they pick apart these issues and attempt to propose a future for reviews that takes into account not only writers and editors, but readers and culture as a whole. 

This conversation was recorded on 3 August 2024 as part of the inaugural Liminal Festival, presented in partnership with The Wheeler Centre. Bringing together some of the continent’s most talented writers, the Liminal Festival contemplates the language of our shared histories and future.

The Liminal Festival was supported by the Victorian Government through Creative Victoria. The official bookseller was Amplify Bookstore.

Featured music is ‘Diffuser’ by Shiruky.

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

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Content warning: This recording includes occasional course language.

Evelyn Araluen, Hasib Hourani and Mykaela Saunders discuss the careful craft of shaping a language unsettled.

Trace the contours of language, seek out its limits and push. Histories are cut up, struck through, misplaced, misremembered. Join Evelyn Araluen, Hasib Hourani and Mykaela Saunders as they discuss the careful craft of ripping the empire’s language to shreds. In their work, these brilliant writers shift form in myriad ways; they render nonlinear temporalities and introduce new vocabularies; they wield opacities and yet share the dearest of intimacies. Thinking through poetry and prose, language and craft, these three writers share the shape of a language unsettled.

This conversation was recorded on 3 August 2024 as part of the inaugural Liminal Festival, presented in partnership with The Wheeler Centre. Bringing together some of the continent’s most talented writers, the Liminal Festival contemplates the language of our shared histories and future.

The Liminal Festival was supported by the Victorian Government through Creative Victoria. The official bookseller was Amplify Bookstore.

Featured music is ‘A Seat at the Table’ by Auxjack.

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

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What is the future of the great Australian novel? Novelists Jessica Au, Brian Castro and André Dao contemplate the novel, the nation and its literature with Lynda Ng. 

Marking 30 years since Brian Castro considered the ‘new novel’, three of Australia’s most talented contemporary novelists discuss the future of the form. Is there such a thing as a ‘Great Australian Novel’, or have twentieth-century paradigms expired? What, exactly, does greatness have to do with fiction? How does the novel relate to the nation? Dr Lynda Ng, lecturer in Australian Literature at the University of Melbourne, is joined by Jessica Au, Brian Castro and André Dao as they consider the novel, the nation, and the boundaries that shape them.  

This conversation was recorded on 3 August 2024 as part of the inaugural Liminal Festival, presented in partnership with The Wheeler Centre. Bringing together some of the continent’s most talented writers, the Liminal Festival contemplates the language of our shared histories and future.

The Liminal Festival was supported by the Victorian Government through Creative Victoria. The official bookseller was Amplify Bookstore.

Featured music is ‘Kick Back’ by james.lfo.

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

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

International bestselling author Rebecca F. Kuang discusses her groundbreaking novel Yellowface and the future of storytelling at this exclusive Melbourne event.  

Investigating diversity, racism and cultural appropriation with the thrilling pace of a Twitter meltdown, Rebecca F. Kuang’s 2023 novel Yellowface captivated readers across literary and BookTok communities alike. In her only Melbourne event, Kuang discusses her successful career, plagiarism, privilege, and the state of the publishing industry with host Beverley Wang. 

A New York Times and Sunday Times bestselling author, Kuang’s previous works include the Poppy War trilogy and the dark academia novel Babel: An Arcane History, both of which garnered rave reviews. Yellowface is her fifth novel. 

Hear from a literary trailblazer about why she won’t write in the same genre twice and the overdue conversations she’s ignited in the publishing world.

This event was recorded on 12 March 2024 at Melbourne City Conference Centre.

The official bookseller was Amplify Bookstore.

Featured music is ‘frosty’ by dozeoff.

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

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A runaway favourite of book clubs the world over, Bonnie Garmus’s debut novel Lessons in Chemistry transports readers to early 1960s California. Elizabeth Zott – single mother and brilliant chemist – unexpectedly finds herself hosting a television cooking show, and changes hearts and minds in the process. Inspired by Garmus’s mother’s generation of overlooked and under-acknowledged women, Lessons in Chemistry examines the gender pay gap, misogyny in the workplace and women’s rights.

At her only Melbourne event on her first Australian tour, Garmus sits down with host Astrid Edwards to discuss her breakthrough novel. Together, they explore her funny and feisty heroine, the surprising fan phenomenon of Six-Thirty the dog, and how the novel’s historical setting sheds light on the truths of today. 

This event was presented in partnership with RMIT Culture.

It was recorded on May 21st 2024 at Melbourne Town Hall.

The official bookseller was Readings.

Featured music is ‘Traveling Again’ by Sarah the Illstrumentalist.

Disclaimer: If you're listening on Apple Podcasts, the transcript was automatically generated by Apple's AI and is not affiliated with The Wheeler Centre. AI transcripts may contain errors.

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

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On the 5 November this year, the American people will go to the polls to make a choice, the impact of which will be felt around the globe. 

Will Republican nominee and now convicted criminal, former President Donald Trump, topple Democratic Presidential nominee Kamala Harris?? How did America reach this point, and how will either candidate’s victory impact Australia’s relationship with the US and the global political landscape? 

Don Watson, celebrated Australian writer and former political advisor to Paul Keating, unpacks these questions and more at a special Fifth Estate event with host Sally Warhaft, live at The Wheeler Centre. 

This event was recoded on Thursday 5 September 2024 at The Wheeler Centre.

Don Watson's Quarterly Essay is available from The Paperback Bookshop here.

Featured music is 'Different Days' by Chill Cole.

The Wheeler Centre acknowledges the Wurundjeri Woi-Wurrung people of the Kulin Nation as the Traditional Custodians of the land on which the Centre stands. We acknowledge and pay our respects to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and their Elders past and present, as the custodians of the world's oldest continuous living culture.

Disclaimer: If you're listening on Apple Podcasts, the transcript was automatically generated by Apple's AI and is not affiliated with The Wheeler Centre. AI transcripts may contain errors.

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

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Award-winning journalist Heather Ewart hits the Back Roads to Kyneton to journey through her great Australian road trips.  

Over a career spanning four decades, Heather Ewart has been senior political reporter and a foreign correspondent posted to London, Washington and Brussels. Raised on a farm in country Victoria, her adventures have come full circle to see her hosting ABC TV’s popular program Back Roads. In Ewart’s new book, Back Roads: The Great Aussie Road Trip, the much-loved journalist shares hot tips from her travels around Australia. From ideas on where to go and when to go, what to pack and what to see – she covers it all.  

Ewart joined Barrie Cassidy at Kyneton Town Hall to discuss the joyous moments of her road trips and share practical tips for discovering lesser-known parts of this beautiful country.  

The event was presented in partnership with Macedon Ranges Shire Council.

It was recorded on Monday 26th August 2024 at Kyneton Town Hall.

The official bookseller was Aesop’s Attic.

Featured music is ‘I See You Out There’ by Tellsonic.

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

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Our annual panel of pop culture experts Brodie Lancaster, Alison Willmore, Hannah Diviney and Jared Richards gather for a dissection of the zeitgeist.

Baby Reindeer, The Bear and hot rodent men: lt has been a ferocious (and sometimes feral) year for pop culture, and it seems that we’re not slowing down any time soon.

On the occasion of the 2024 Melbourne International Film Festival, host Brodie Lancaster is joined by Vulture and New York magazine film critic Alison Willmore, disability advocate and star of the new Australian film Audrey Hannah Diviney, and ABC Entertainment Reporter Jared Richards to discuss the most influential and popular film, TV, podcasts and books of the past 12 months. Expect hot takes served with a dash of frenzy and a healthy dose of reality-check.

The event was presented in partnership with The Wheeler Centre and Melbourne International Film Festival as part of MIFF Talks, a program presented by the University of Melbourne.

It was recorded on Saturday 17th August at The Wheeler Centre.

Featured music is 'The Golden Hour' by Sarah, the Illstrumentalist.

The Wheeler Centre acknowledges the Wurundjeri Woi-Wurrung people of the Kulin Nation as the Traditional Custodians of the land on which the Centre stands. We acknowledge and pay our respects to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and their Elders past and present, as the custodians of the world's oldest continuous living culture.

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

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.