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Mark Rubbo

Mark Rubbo is chairman of Readings.

He is a past president of the Australian Booksellers Association and was founding chair of the Melbourne Writers Festival. In 2006 he was awarded a Medal of the Order of Australia.

Featured Review

The Afterlife of Harry Playford
by Steven Carroll

Reviewed by
Mark Rubbo, Feb 2026

We first encountered Detective Sergeant Stephen Minter as a minor character in Steven Carroll’s Goodnight, Vivienne, Goodnight. In that novel, Minter was introduced as the antithesis of a DS in the 1940s – intelligent, well read, and empathetic, he…

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More Recent Reviews
Cover image for The Predicament

The Predicament
by William Boyd

Reviewed by
Mark Rubbo, Aug 2025

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Cover image for Roy Grounds: Experiments in Minimum Living

Roy Grounds: Experiments in Minimum Living
by Tony Lee

Reviewed by
Mark Rubbo, Jul 2025

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Cover image for Eden

Eden
by Mark Brandi

Reviewed by
Mark Rubbo, Jun 2025

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Cover image for The Immigrants

The Immigrants
by Moreno Giovannoni

Reviewed by
Mark Rubbo, Jun 2025

Read Review
Cover image for The Name of the Sister

The Name of the Sister
by Gail Jones

Reviewed by
Mark Rubbo, May 2025

Read Review
Cover image for The Buried Life

The Buried Life
by Andrea Goldsmith

Reviewed by
Mark Rubbo, Feb 2025

Read Review
Cover image for The Eagle of the Ninth

The Eagle of the Ninth
by Rosemary Sutcliff

Reviewed by
Mark Rubbo, Sep 2024

Read Review
Cover image for Race Mathews

Race Mathews
by Iola Mathews

Reviewed by
Mark Rubbo, Sep 2024

Read Review
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Recent blog posts by Mark Rubbo

Australian fiction
10 Nov 2025

A beginner’s guide to Helen Garner

Readings Chairman Mark Rubbo on where to start reading the wonderful books of Helen Garner.

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Australian fiction
6 Nov 2025

Mark Rubbo and Andrew Pippos on The Transformations

Readings chairman Mark Rubbo and Andrew Pippos discuss Pippos's brilliant second novel, The Transformations.

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News
11 Sep 2025

Mark Rubbo on A Day in Carlton

Readings Chairman Mark Rubbo on the second year of A Day in Carlton.

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Australian fiction
15 Oct 2024

A Day in Carlton: Mark Rubbo’s pick

Mark Rubbo, Readings Chairman, shares his top pick from the event program of the upcoming A Day in Carlton Festival. Explore the program now, and join us for 24 hours celebrating books, culture and community! Earlier this year I was…
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Nonfiction
11 Oct 2024

Nonfiction bargains from Melbourne University Press

Melbourne University Press is arguably one of Australia’s finest publishers of nonfiction. As they will soon be moving to a new warehouse they are reducing their stock in readiness. Luckily for you, and us, this means we are able to…
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Books
1 Oct 2024

Mark’s Say

The start of a new month means that there's a new issue of Readings Monthly available online and in our shops. Below you can read the Mark Rubbo's column from the latest issue – and keep an eye on the…
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News
5 Jun 2024

The end of an era

Mark Rubbo chats with Desiree Boardman, Readings Hawthorn’s beloved manager of almost three decades, ahead of her much-deserved retirement. Desi chuckles when I catch up with her in the lead up to her last weeks as manager of Readings Hawthorn…
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Books
21 Nov 2023

Mark’s Say, November 2023

As I write this, I’m about to head off to Bali for the 20th Ubud Writers & Readers Festival. It’s a testament to its founders, Melbourne-born Janet DeNeefe and her Indonesian husband Ketut Suardana, that it has become a sought-after…
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