Join us for an evening celebrating one of Australia’s most acclaimed writers Alexis Wright with the launch of the final publication in the Writers on Writers Series: On Alexis Wright by literary critic Geordie Williamson.

Williamson will be joined by award-winning author Tony Birch to discuss this eloquent essay which reflects with deep insight on Wright’s powerful work and influence on Australian literature.

‘Wright deploys a particular set of approaches to the novel - the kind of sprawling, fabulist, experimental forms we associate with Latin American magical realism and European modernism - not only for formal effect but as an expression of the alternative ontological grounds of Indigenous existence. Alexis Wright doesn't just want to alter Australia's political valency. She aims to overthrow our way of being in the world.’

-Geordie Williamson, On Alexis Wright

Registration is free but capacity is limited so book now to avoid disappointment.

We invite you to stick around after the talk and peruse the books on offer by Readings. Both Geordie Williamson and Tony Birch will be available for signing.

The Writers on Writers series is published by Black Inc. in association with the University of Melbourne and State Library Victoria. On Alexis Wright and the Writers on Writers series is available online and where all good books are sold.

Presenter bios

Geordie Williamson has been chief literary critic of The Australian since 2008. He is publisher of the Picador imprint at Pan Macmillan, a former editor of Island Magazine and Best Australian Essays, and author of The Burning Library, a collection of essays on neglected figures from Australian literature. He lives in Hobart.

Professor Tony Birch is the Boisbouvier Chair in Australian Literature at the University of Melbourne. He is the author of four novels, five short fiction collections, and two poetry books. In 2022 his book, Dark As Last Night was awarded the Christina Stead Literary Prize and the Steele Rudd Literary Award. The book was also shortlisted for the 2022 Prime Minister’s Literary Award for fiction. His most recent novel is Women and Children.

Enquiries

Please send your enquiries to arts-engage@unimelb.edu.au

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