Clare Wright and Alexis Wright

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 participation – have taken a pointed and particular prominence in mainstream culture, underpinning sustained social and political movements. One of many takeaways from those movements has been a widespread emphasis on how women might experience, and process, the world we all share.

Toni Jordan and Emily Bitto

Now in its sixth year, the Stella Prize was founded to do just that – and to elevate the writing of Australian women with an annual, $50,000 literary prize. Spanning both fiction and non-fiction, the prize also runs year-round programmes encouraging recognition of Australian women’s writing. Its shortlist is a deserving fixture on any discerning reader’s calendar.

Sally Warhaft and Derryn Hinch — Photo: Jon Tjhia

Derryn Hinch is among the Australian media’s most controversial and unpredictable characters. He’s the former editor of the Sun and the former New York bureau chief for Fairfax. He’s been sacked from high-rating shows on Channel Seven and 3AW and he’s received on-air death threats from gangsters. He’s written 14 books, been jailed twice, married five times, toured with The Rocky Horror Picture Show and undergone liver transplant surgery.

As a veteran broadcaster, journalist and activist, Derryn Hinch has been dubbed ‘the human headline’ – as often the subject, as the reporter, of news. Over the years, he’s embraced the moniker, using his notoriety to crusade for causes he cares about, especially criminal justice reform.

Now a Victorian Senator with his own political party, Hinch continues to work towards tougher penalties for convicted criminals. His new book, Hinch Vs Canberra, describes his late-in-life foray into federal politics. With Sally Warhaft, Hinch talks about crime, contempt, the media and the world of Canberra politics.

For the 2018 Wheeler Centre Gala Night of Storytelling, we invited our speakers to probe a blazing, hot topic: the power of the written word and the loaded tenets of speech.  

When do words inspire and when do they incite? When is speech free, and when is it hateful? Fighting words, funny words, insulting words and incendiary words – for better or for worse, language moves us and it matters.

In a speech not for the faint-hearted, playwright Patricia Cornelius makes a case for coarse language – 'a wild thing, ugly, maddening, hilarious, inarticulate, rude, profane' – and against 'cleaning up' the voices of young actors in the theatre.

(Obviously, this episode includes liberal use of strong language. You've been warned!)

Patricia Cornelius at the Wheeler Centre Gala 2018 — Photo: Jon Tjhia