A Day in Carlton, 24 hours packed full of literary goodness, is only a month away! The program is a celebration of stories and varied interests, and is jam-packed with all your favourite authors.
You can explore the full program here, or in the October Readings Monthly, but below we've highlighted some of the events we know you won't want to miss!
📆 Friday 14 November
TOAST! Dinner-Party Confessions
6pm at Church of All Nations
We invite you to a night of tales from restaurant tables with Kate Reid, Gerald Diffey and Besha Rodell.
Writing about food always leads to the same conclusion: the people around the table are as important as the food served. Our dinner-party guests will be breaking bread with Christine Gordon, Readings’ own cookbook reviewer.
Tickets:
Full-priced $25
Under 30s $20
Please book here.
Big Verse: The Readings Poetry Gala
8pm at Church of All Nations
Pull up a pew and plonk down for a night of Big Verse, hosted by Tim Loveday.
With an all-star line-up of poets including Evelyn Araluen, Andy Jackson, Toby Fitch and Ender Başkan, along with poetry and music collaboration Panda Wong and Hannah Wu of Lotus Threads, Big Verse promises to transport you through the rambunctious and politically charged world of contemporary Australian poetry.
Tickets are $10 per person.
Please book here.
📆 Saturday 15 November
LaMama Salon
11am – 3pm at LaMama Theatre
La Mama Salon is a series of intimate conversations at La Mama theatre. Seating only 30 people, it’s a space designed for confessions and creations.
Tickets are $20 per person. Very limited spots.
11am – When We Talk Friendship
An intimate conversation about The Buried Life with Andrea Goldsmith and Michael Williams.
Please book here.
12pm – When We Talk Migration
An intimate conversation about The Immigrants with Moreno Giovannoni and Arnold Zable.
Please book here.
1pm – When We Talk Impact
An intimate conversation about twenty years of Dead Europe with Christos Tsiolkas and Declan Fry.
Please book here.
2pm – When We Talk Bullshit
An intimate conversation about The Confidence Woman with Sophie Quick and Bec Kavanagh.
Please book here.
3pm – When We Talk Winning
An intimate conversation between the (yet to be announced) winner of The Readings Prize for New Australian Fiction 2025 and Joe Rubbo.
Please book here.
Democracy: What, When and How
12pm at Church of All Nations
Presented in partnership with The Wheeler Centre
Join Sally Warhaft, with Australian economist Richard Denniss and editor and author Esther Anatolitis, for a special edition of The Fifth Estate as part of Readings’ A Day in Carlton. They will explore how political imagination, civic courage and principled leadership can help us reimagine Australia’s democratic future.
Tickets:
Full-priced $30
Under 30s $20
Please book here.
Hungry for more political discussions?
Check out these other events happening at A Day in Carlton:
Politics: A lifetime of Chatter with Barry Jones and James Button
The USA: Has it Ruined Democracy Forever? with Don Watson and Dr Emma Shortis
When the Personal Becomes the Story
2pm at Church of All Nations
We are delighted to have Trent Dalton and Sofie Laguna joining Toni Jordan to discuss the impact of including personal experiences in their works of fiction. How does doing so affect the story they want to give their readers? How does the personal get in the way? When is it lying and when is it simply telling stories?
Tickets:
Full-priced $30
Under 30s $20
Please book here.
Can't get enough of Trent Dalton?
Also catch him in conversation with Michael Williams on Thursday 13 November. Find out more here.
Art Apreciation
2pm at Carlton Courthouse
Join us to hear Erik Jensen in conversation with Quentin Sprague about What Artists See.
Quentin Sprague is an award-winning author and art critic. His latest collection of essays, What Artists See, offers glimpses into the lives of Australia’s best contemporary artists, exploring the impetus for creativity and the role of art in making meaning of this place and time.
Erik Jensen is an award-winning journalist, biographer, screenwriter and poet.
Tickets:
Full-priced $20
Under 30s $15
Please book here.
Uncompromising: The Power of Language
3pm at Cinema Nova
Join us to hear Giramondo publisher Ivor Indyk in conversation with three incredible writers about the way language moves in time.
Grace Yee is a poet, writer and researcher. Her latest work, Joss: A History, is the highly anticipated follow-up to her triple award-winning poetry collection, Chinese Fish.
Jessica Au is an editor, bookseller, and award-winning author. Her latest novel, Cold Enough for Snow, won numerous awards, including The Readings Prize for New Australian Fiction in 2022.
Lisa Gorton is a poet, essayist and fiction writer. She is the award-winning author of The Life of Houses, four poetry collections and the children's novel, Cloudland.
Tickets:
Full-priced $20
Under 30s $15
Please book here.
Fire Moves Faster: What a City Can Overcome
5pm at Carlton Courthouse
We are thrilled to welcome the performance of Fire Moves Faster, which blends the words of renowned poet Maxine Beneba Clarke with original music by contemporary musician Amaya Laucirica. Together, they explore the trauma, joy, confusion, sorrow, solidarity, despair and hope of the last few years of human existence.
Featuring a suite of poems from Beneba Clarke’s critically acclaimed poetry collection, How Decent Folk Behave, this arresting union of poetry and song invites its audience to take part in a collective experience – a unique opportunity for theatregoers, contemporary music listeners and poetry lovers alike.
Tickets:
Full-priced $40
Under 30s $30
Please book here.
Discover the full A Day in Carlton program here!
