The Wheeler Centre

Richard Ford is a true literary luminary. The author of eight novels and four short story collections, Ford’s illustrious career spans nearly five decades and numerous accolades, including the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction for Independence Day.

At this special Melbourne event hosted by journalist Jonathan Green, Ford discusses his exceptional career and examines his most famous protagonist: the enigmatic Frank Bascombe, who has been hailed as one of the most unforgettable characters in American literature.

This event was recorded on Tuesday 27 February 2024 at The Wheeler Centre.

The official bookseller was Mary Martin Bookshop.

Featured music is 'Different Days' by Chill Cole.

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

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Author Jane Smiley has been hailed as one of the Great American Novelists of the 20th century. Her remarkable career spans more than 30 books, including the Pulitzer Prize-winning masterpiece A Thousand Acres and The Last Hundred Years trilogy.

At this exclusive in-conversation event with host David Francis, Smiley looks back on her incredible life and career and gives audience members an exciting preview of her upcoming novel, Lucky: a novel about music, womanhood and finding yourself.

This event was recorded on Wednesday 28 February 2024 at The Wheeler Centre.

The offical bookseller was The Paperback Bookshop.

Featured music is 'Traveling Again' by Sarah, the Illstrumentalist.

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

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Taylor Swift’s concerts have shifted the economic climate of entire cities; she has prompted US Senate hearings about major ticketing reforms and industry-defining conversations about copyright and ownership; and her public and private life have driven tabloid fodder for decades (Kimye drama, anyone?). The pop icon’s genre-bending career and reputation have made waves across the globe, and her cultural influence will be felt for generations.

Earlier this week at The Wheeler Centre, Rolling Stone journalist Brittany Spanos and host Brodie Lancaster delved into the mythology and influence of Taylor Swift. At this exclusive Melbourne event, Spanos analysed Swift’s meteoric ascent to become one of the most celebrated and prolific musical artists of all time, and her ongoing impact on fandom, popular culture and the music industry.

Brittany Spanos’s visit to Melbourne was part of the University of Melbourne’s Swiftposium conference. This was her only public event.

This event was recorded on Tuesday 13 February 2024 at The Wheeler Centre.

Featured music is ‘Love Story’ by Taylor Swift.

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

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Kurdish-Iranian journalist Behrouz Boochani was imprisoned on Manus Island for over six years, and during that time he became acutely aware that oppression takes root when people look away. He was determined to use his sharpest weapon – his words – to survive, and to expose Australia’s inhumane treatment of asylum seekers.

Now, in 2023, not only is Boochani free, he’s also a multi-award-winning author, documentary maker, humanitarian and scholar. His words, and those of other writers and activists, have changed lives, his own included. And they’ve helped keep us accountable.

A scholar of Middle Eastern and Islamic studies, Kylie Moore-Gilbert also spent years unjustly imprisoned in unimaginable conditions. Invited on a study tour of Iran in 2018, Moore-Gilbert was falsely accused of espionage and imprisoned for more than 800 days, including seven months in solitary confinement – before her ultimate release through an Australian-brokered prisoner exchange.

Boochani and Moore-Gilbert come together for this special event, presented by PEN Melbourne and the Wheeler Centre to mark the Day of the Imprisoned Writer. With host Karen Percy, these remarkable survivors share their powerful stories, and reflect on the role of writing to shine a light in the darkest places.

This event was presented in partnership with PEN Melbourne.

It was recorded on Tuesday 14 November 2023 at The Wheeler Centre.

The official bookseller was the Sun Bookshop.

Featured music is ‘Living in a Fantasy’ by Pulsed.

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

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Before he found runaway success with his debut novel, Boy Swallows Universe, and follow-up All Our Shimmering Skies, Trent Dalton spent decades as a journalist investigating the real-life social inequities that underpin his third novel, Lola in the Mirror: poverty, violence, homelessness – and the power of hope.

The result is a moving, darkly funny story about life and death that is by turns heart-breaking and eye-opening. In conversation with musician and writer Clare Bowditch at Melbourne Town Hall, Dalton discusses Lola in the Mirror and the passion for social justice that inspired him to write it.

This event was recorded on Thursday 12 October 2023 at Melbourne Town Hall as part of the Wheeler Centre’s Spring Fling series.

Spring Fling was proudly supported by the Victorian Government through Creative Victoria and the Melbourne City Revitalisation Fund.

Special thanks to event partner and official bookseller Readings and accommodation partner The Sofitel.

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.

For the Wheeler Centre’s 2023 end-of-year showcase, a host of the brightest names in Australian stand-up comedy – including Janty Blair, Scout Boxall, Nat Harris, Zoë Coombs Marr, Vidya Rajan, Dane Simpson and Alex Ward – came together to gaze into the Wheeler Centre’s crystal ball and answer some burning questions about what lies ahead.

What will 2024 bring for pop culture, fashion and politics? Our stellar line-up of comics shared playful, insightful and at times deranged predictions.

Forget the ambiguous notifications from Co-Star – the comedy crystal ball will tell you everything you need to know about 2024 (no guarantees).

The following recording is an excerpt from the event featuring our fabulous host for the evening, Karen From Finance and comedian and 3RRR Breakfaster, Nat Harris.

It was recorded on Tuesday 5 December 2023 at The Wheeler Centre.

Featured music is ‘Br1ghter’ (Instrumental Version) by Tape Machines.

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

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

When acclaimed songwriter and performer Jen Cloher (Ngāti Kahu, Ngāpuhi) started to learn about their Māori heritage their whole outlook on life changed. In the new podcast series, Everybody’s Trying To Find Their Way Home, Cloher speaks with icons like Dr. Lou Bennett about Sovereign Language Rematriation and Emma Donovan about the lasting legacy of Aunty Ruby Hunter.

At the heart of the podcast is a gentle provocation to us all. What does it feel like when we make the journey towards our own ancestral languages and traditions? How does that journey help to make our occupation on these lands more conscious and embodied? What joy can be found in knowing the stories of strength that come through our own bloodlines?

For Spring Fling, Cloher took to the stage with a panel of Māori and First Nations songwriters including Uncle Kutcha Edwards, Allara and Breanne Peters. Together they recorded a special live episode of Everybody’s Trying To Find Their Way Home, complete with an array of joyful musical performances.

This event was presented in partnership with RMIT Culture.

It was recorded on Saturday 14 October 2023 at The Capitol.

Featured music: ‘Mother Tongue’ performed by Kutcha Edwards, Allara, Jen Cloher and Breanne Peters and ‘He Toka-Tū-Moana ’ performed by Jen Cloher and Breanne Peters.

Podcast Producer: Simon Winkler. Sound Recordist: Simon Maisch. Sound Post-Production: Simon Cotter. Production Assistant: Joshua Suhaven.

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

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Acclaimed actor, activist and 2023 Sydney Peace Prize-winner Nazanin Boniadi shares her dream of a 'a free, prosperous and secular democratic Iran'.

Iranian-born actress Nazanin Boniadi has had an impressive onscreen career, including leading roles in the Lord of the Rings: The Rings of  Power and Homeland.

But it’s her major role as a human rights advocate that has led to her most recent recognition. Over more than two decades, Boniadi has worked tirelessly to elevate the voices and struggles of Iranian citizens and activists, fighting for the country’s democracy and freedom – particularly for women and children. She has advocated at the highest levels, including at the UN Security Council, the US Senate Human Rights Caucus, and in the British Parliament.

Boniadi was selected as the recipient of the 2023 Sydney Peace Prize for ‘lending a powerful voice to support Iranian women and girls and their #WomanLifeFreedom movement, and for using a high-profile platform to promote freedom and justice in Iran’.

At an unmissable event at The Capitol in Melbourne, Boniadi delivered a stirring keynote lecture on democracy and women’s rights, followed by a Q&A hosted by Mahsa Hajjari.

This event was recorded on Tuesday 31 October 2023.

It was presented by the Sydney Peace Foundation and RMIT Culture. Supported by the Wheeler Centre, Amnesty International, Future Women and the Victorian Women’s Trust.

Featured music is ‘Fuzzy Feeling’ by Timothy Infinite.

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

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Leigh Sales is one of Australia’s most beloved journalists. A veteran anchor of the ABC’s flagship current affairs program 7.30, the new presenter of Australian Story, co-host of hugely popular podcast Chat 10 Looks 3 with Annabel Crabb, and a bestselling author, Sales has been recognised with three Walkley Awards over the course of a career that has seen her interview countless political leaders, innovators and artists.

In her new book, Storytellers: Questions, Answers and the Craft of Journalism, Sales turns her talents on her remarkable peers – including Waleed Aly, Richard Fidler, Niki Savva and Stan Grant – revealing candid insights into the craft of journalism and the power of storytelling.

Over an intimate dinner at award-winning winery Montalto, Sales was joined by her close friend Lisa Millar, co-host of ABC News Breakfast, as they shared insights from their careers in the media and offer a peek behind the curtain of this vital but often misunderstood profession.

This event was recorded on Friday 6 October 2023 AT Montalto as part of Spring Fling.

Presented in partnership with Montalto.

The bookseller for this event was Antipodes Bookshop and Gallery.

Featured music is ‘Mirror’ by Simon Winkler.

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

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The author of The Great Believers and a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize, Rebecca Makkai is back with an explosive new work. Described by the New York Times as ‘spellbinding’,
I Have Some Questions for You is part campus novel, part true-crime podcast investigation, all told through the lens of the #MeToo era.

Join Makkai and host Rachael Brown as they reckon with the past and interrogate just how deep our obsession with true crime runs.

This event was presented in partnership with RMIT Culture.

It was recorded on Saturday 14 October 2023 at The Capitol as part of Spring Fling.

Spring Fling was proudly supported by the Victorian Government through Creative Victoria and the Melbourne City Revitalisation Fund. Special thanks to official bookseller Readings and accommodation partner The Sofitel.

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

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.