Literary La Trobe

In 2024 acclaimed Australian writer and La Trobe University Adjunct Research Fellow Christos Tsiolkas was one of the judges of the Melbourne Prize for Literature Writers Prize. This prize is awarded to an essay demonstrating outstanding originality, literary merit, and creative freshness. The prize was won by Dr Carrie Tiffany, lecturer in English and Creative Writing at La Trobe University, with...

Award-winning science journalist and former Vice-Chancellor’s Fellow at La Trobe University, Elizabeth Finkel, discusses her latest book, Prove It: A Scientific Guide for the Post-Truth Era, with science educator and La Trobe’s own Douglas Bair. They delve into the role and function of the scientific method in a post-truth era, exploring how evidence-based theories underpin our legal, academic,...

Dr Alexis Harley and Dr Tom Ford like to yabber – that’s a Wurundjeri Woi-Wurrung word – and they are both fascinated by the etymologies and lives of the words we use. From Rose Hill’s claim on the Rosella, to the Darug word corrobboree, to the Dumb and Dumber confusion between Austria and Australia, we discover the bizarre and fascinating stories of five words that shaped our country.

Author and creative writing lecturer Catherine Padmore engages in conversation with two La Trobe postgraduate researchers and writers: Tara Calaby, whose debut novel was part of her PhD project and published to acclaim two years ago; and Louise Falconer, who recently submitted her PhD and passed with flying colours, and is on the board of Writers Victoria, supporting emerging writers. All three...

The Sandhurst Mechanics' Institute opened in 1854 and for more than fifty years held the largest book collection in Bendigo. In this lively conversation, Claire Knowles and Alexis Harley explore what the Mechanics’ Institute reveals about the history of reading and writing in the Goldfields. From handwritten marginalia to the suspiciously pristine pages of a 150-year-old book of verse, and from...

Cold-blooded killers, grief-stricken widows, famous artists, independent women with sharp minds and large fortunes, and a cap doffed to Jane Austen’s 250th birthday. In this event hear from Dr Kelly Gardiner and Sharmini Kumar, authors of Miss Caroline Bingley, Private Detective, along with the author of Diving, Falling, Dr Kylie Mirmomahadi, as we celebrate the publication of these outstanding...

The Closing Gala of the Bendigo Writers Festival was a celebration of Australia’s leading writers and thinkers. In this event you’ll hear from celebrated author Kate Grenvlle in conversation with me, Clare Wright, and 2024 Stella Prize Winner Alexis Wright in conversation with Yves Rees.Recorded on 18th August, 2024.

What happens to our national story when three unconventional historians listen to people, country and the archives in new and challenging ways? In this event three writers and historians Dr Mark Dapin, Professor Anna Clark and Dr Shannyn Palmer explore approaching Australian history with an impartial new light with host Professor Stuart Kells.Recorded on 18th August, 2024.

Some of our most acclaimed novelists got their start writing for stage and screen, but each medium presents different thrills and challenges. In this session Finegan Kruckemeyer, Jane Harrison and Jordan Prosser discuss what happens when acclaimed playwrights become novelists with host Carrie Tiffany.Recorded on 18th August, 2024.

Can you understand the heart of a nation – and its narrative – through the public and personal relationships which have forged a path to both conflict and compassion? Shannyn Palmer, Thomas Mayo and Tania Rossi Look at the relationships at the heart of the social, cultural and political communication that we need to generate change in Australia with host Clare Wright.Recorded on 18th August, 2024.