In conversation with Abigail Ulman, Ceridwen Dovey talks about our human connections and failings, ideas of guilt and shame, the role of art in coming to terms with the past – and who has a right to bear witness. 

Dovey is the author of the award-winning 2014 short story collection Only the Animals, and the novel Blood Kin. Lately…

In this talk, we hear from freshly-announced 2018 Stella Prize winner Alexis Wright in conversation with past winners Emily Bitto and Clare Wright, and host Toni Jordan. They talk about the impact the award has had on their writing, their careers and Australian literary culture.

In recent months, the stories of women – and with them, impediments to women’s media…

He’s sparred with General Pinochet and Princess Diana. He’s stepped out with Nigella Lawson and, of course, Kathy Lette. He’s defended Salman Rushdie and worked alongside Amal Clooney. Geoffrey Robertson is a figure of uncommon energy, glamour and intellect.

Alongside his distinguished career as a human rights lawyer in London, Robertson has, for more than 30 years, enjoyed a parallel…

Fran Lebowitz doesn’t suffer fools, banalities or bad furniture. 

For decades, the iconic New Yorker has turned her caustic pen (she doesn’t do smartphones or computers) to the subject of America’s cultural, social and political landscape. Through her columns, books and public-speaking appearances, Lebowitz has scrutinised such phenomena as smoking (hugely in favour), men’s shorts (resolutely opposed) and presidential buffoonery…

‘Every line in every poem is the orphaned caption of a lost photograph.’

Teju Cole is an artist whose work embraces ambiguity and enigma. We see this in his fiction (especially his acclaimed 2011 novel, Open City) and in his essays for the New Yorker. We see it in his photography columns for the New York Times and in his…

Climate change is too often discussed in the abstract – in terms of graphs, statistics and future projections.

That's why at this event we heard moving words and performances from Marshall Islands spoken-word artist Kathy Jetñil-Kijiner and activist Ursula Rakova from Papua New Guinea as well as New York Times science writer Jim Robbins and Melbourne-based author and environmentalist Tony…