Curate Category: Literary

With the brilliant book under threat, it’s time to raise the stakes – by reading in a way that brings us more joy and satisfaction! We get more from books when we think deeply about the questions they unleash. Join Elaine Castillo and Beejay Silcox as they invite us to approach our books with a critic’s eye. It’s time for a more exciting relationship between us and our bookshelves.

PROGRAM UPDATE: This event has been rescheduled to Saturday 17 October at 3.15pm

Internationally acclaimed Scottish writer Andrew O’Hagan has a reputation for his searing insights into contemporary Britain. He joins Malcolm Knox for a conversation about his mighty work Caledonian Road. Together they’ll join the dots between one man, his city of London and the inherited privilege of empire, all tumbling down.

Join Mirandi Riwoe and Qin Qin for the Canberra launch of A Short History of Longans and to share a love of beautifully written family sagas. This story is inspired by Mirandi’s great-great-great grandmother, Maria, who arrived in Australia on the Mayo Orphan Scheme during the Irish Famine, and a Chinese bushranger based in the Queanbeyan area. Queue stunning prose bearing tales of intrigue and heartache down generations.

If a fusion of windswept coastline, the primordial ocean and erotic transformation sound appealing, then this conversation with Kris Kneen and Beejay Silcox is for you. Rite of Spring is one of the most exciting books of 2026. On the surface, we have the story of a couple attempting to repair their relationship by becoming caretakers of a lighthouse. Down in the deep, we have nothing less than revelatory eroticism, ocean magic and a ground-breaking illumination of gender transition.

Join internationally acclaimed authors Steve Toltz and Elaine Castillo for a conversation with The Monthly’s Michael Williams about how setting out to explore loneliness led to the creation of two satirical, darkly funny and moving novels about human connection. In a world increasingly dominated by virtual reality and AI, our humanness is also held up to the light. Don’t miss these two master novelists in full flight.

Literature brings insight to political madness, human monstrosity and what it takes to defy tyranny. Malcolm Knox is in conversation with Jessica Alice, and they’ll take us to the world of the Soviet Union. In this thrilling sequel to The First Friend, we meet heroes of the next generation and follow one young woman’s plot to outsmart the dictators. Learn how to survive autocrats, dodge gangsters and become a razor-sharp hero laughing in the face of horror – there’s no more enjoyable way to do it!

When did you last write to a dear friend? Join internationally acclaimed authors Andrew O’Hagan and Debra Adelaide for an unmissable conversation with Beejay Silcox on why friendships matter and the beauty unearthed when we reflect on them. Andrew’s relationships with writers including Colm Tóibín and Edna O’Brien brought both challenge and liberation. Debra’s lifelong friendship with Gabrielle Carey nurtured creativity through ups and downs. Together they will illuminate the very nature of friendship as only writers can.