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Pitch a Classic Today

When

Event Status

Imagine William Golding’s Lord of the Flies as an interactive choose-your-own adventure reboot. What will you and your marauding mob do next? 1) Choose some wacky new totems 2) Murder the most vulnerable among you 3) Set the whole island on fire.

At this lively event in April, we’re inviting a panel of writers and comedians, including Niki Aken, Laura Davis, Damon Young and Sami Shah to pitch classic works of literature to a 21st-century marketplace. A warning to purists: this might involve massive, modernising adjustments to plot, character, setting and form. Panellists will read their own literary upgrades, unveil cover art and social media marketing strategies and make the case for their retrofitted classics in today’s hyper-competitive environment.

Fan-fic fiends and all bookish types welcome. Prepare for a night of literary upgrade, embellishment and abomination. Hosted by Jennifer Wong.

Featuring

Jennifer Wong

Jennifer Wong is a comedian and writer from Sydney. With her love of language and wordplay, she’s written for Good News Week, presented Bookish on ABC iview, and performed at comedy and arts festivals in Sydney, Melbourne, Perth, and Edinburgh. Jennifer is a regular guest o... Read more

Laura Davis

Laura Davis is a stand-up comedian and television host known for her peculiar style – riding the line between charming and challenging. Recently winning awards for Best Comedy at Melbourne Fringe and Best Independent Show at Melbourne International Comedy Festival, Laura has been earning praise a... Read more

Sami Shah

Sami Shah is a multi-award winning comedian, writer, and journalist. Sami is a lecturer in journalism at the University of Melbourne’s Centre for Advancing Journalism, and is the Ambassador-at-Large for PEN Melbourne. ... Read more

Damon Young

Damon Young is a prize-winning philosopher and writer. He is the author of ten books in English and translation, including The Art of Reading, How to Think About Exercise, Philosophy in the Garden and Distraction. Young is also the author of several popular children’s books, including My Bro... Read more

Niki Aken

Niki Aken is a multi-award winning screenwriter, script editor and researcher. Since her television debut in 2012 on Underbelly: Badness (for which she wrote the series finale – despite it being her first gig writing television – and won a Best Original Screenplay AWGIE), Niki has become one of ... Read more

Location

The Wheeler Centre

176 Little Lonsdale Street Melbourne Victoria 3000

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The Wheeler Centre acknowledges the Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung people of the Kulin Nation as the Traditional Owners 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.