The Wheeler Centre

Stella Prize executive director Aviva Tuffield and judge Alice Pung are joined by 2016 winner Charlotte Wood and shortlisted author Peggy Frew for a vibrant celebration of the best of Australian women’s writing.

A living legend of narrative non-fiction, Vivian Gornick discusses her intertwined life and work with host Jordy Silverstein.

Ahead of the Melbourne Theatre Company revival of his acclaimed 1995 play Skylight, acclaimed British playwright David Hare spoke with Julian Burnside about politics, public institutions, art and the writing life.

Writer/broadcaster Jess McGuire examines her own preoccupation with the artist variously known as Cheryl Tweedy, Cheryl Cole and Cheryl Fernandez-Versini. After shooting to fame in 2002 as a member of the reality-TV-assembled English pop group Girls Aloud, Cheryl has also become famous as a violent nightclub thug, spurned footballer’s wife, defiant solo artist, reality-TV judge, malaria survivor – and most recently, as a One Direction member-snatcher.

In conversation with Emily Howie, Human Rights Watch executive director Kenneth Roth discusses human rights in an increasingly anxious, interconnected world.

What power does poetry have to nourish, inspire and soothe us in the 21st century … and what does ‘prayer’ mean exactly, anyway? Join us for a discussion of the spiritual potential of verse. Hosted by Leah Kaminsky, with David Tacey, Kevin Brophy and Cate Kennedy.

Is cleanliness close to rock godliness? It is in the case of Tim Rogers. It turns out this icon of Australian indie music is a demon with the Scotch-Brite. The You Am I frontman opens up about his compulsion to scrub, mop and dust; an obsession he has dealt with quietly and doggedly under trying circumstances.

Testing the limits of the form, the poem can be reportage, critique or even violent protest. In a conversation embracing various forms (from classical Arabic to contemporary spoken word), innumerable poetic heroes (from Darwish to C.D. Wright) and various political and personal struggles, four poets will offer their personal perspectives on activism in verse. Can poetry do things, politically, that prose can’t? Join us for a different kind of conversation about poetry – gloves off, hands dirty.

Central to a functioning democracy is the notion of an informed public. What happens when we don’t know what the government is doing in our name? Coinciding with a report by Liberty Victoria's Young Liberty for Law Reform into government transparency and border protection policy, our panel will explore the legal and cultural barriers to whistleblowing. Hosted by Anita Barraud, with Jacob Varghese, Roderick St. George and Suelette Dreyfus.

In a podcast from our Question Time series, our panel devotes an hour of pure audience Q&A to exploring the current state of renewable power. Hosted by Madeleine Morris, with economist and author Ross Garnaut; inventor and Centre for Sustainable Materials Research and Technology director Veena Sahajwalla; and policy analyst and senior GetUp! campaigner Miriam Lyons.