Literature and writing | National Library of Australia (NLA)

Literature and writing

Showing 1 - 12 of 116 results
A group of people sitting in a forest, listening to a speech

Future Library forest, Nordmarka, Norway

2026 Future Library Handover Ceremony - Livestream

We joined the Future Library project, Tommy Orange and Amitav Ghosh online as they delivered the 2026 Handover Ceremony.

Event
A portrait of Catherine Devrye on the left, and a book cover on the right which shows a desert scene with a person in the background. The title reads 'BEYOND TIMBUKTU: Journeys of Hope and Humanity'.

Catherine DeVrye

Author talk: Beyond Timbuktu with Catherine DeVrye

Join bestselling Australian author Catherine DeVrye for a special presentation focused on her new book Beyond Timbuktu: Journeys of Hope and Humanity.

Event
A promotional graphic featuring a collage of three diverse women, each in a different portrait style, alongside the text 'She Shapes History at the National Library of Australia.' The women are presented in black and white or muted tones, suggesting a focus on historical or influential figures. The overall design is modern and impactful, with the text prominently displayed on a pale pink background.
Why didn’t anyone tell me Australian history was interesting?

In this opening talk, Sita Sargeant was joined by Santilla Chingaipe, Jacinta Mackay, and Harini Rangarajan: three women who between them show what becomes possible when you go looking for the version of Australia that never made it into the textbooks.

Learning activity for adults
A watercolour painting showing a view of bushland through a gap in a rock wall

Watercolour painting by Eirene Mort

How a photograph inspired a biography

Sylvia Martin has spent decades writing about women who lived in the early part of the 20th century. Find out how a photograph sparked the inspiration for the subject of her latest biography Double Act.

Book
News article
Rebecca Bateman, holding the NLA Publication, Wangka Wakanutja, in the National Library of Australia

Rebecca Bateman, and NLA Publication, Wangka Wakanutja.

Learn with the Curators of Wangka Wakaṉutja

Discover the decades-long, remarkable efforts of the Papunya community to record language and culture and keep it alive.

Learning activity for adults
Video
A man in a blue shirt leaning over a desk with papers and books

Dr Matthew Lamb, 2026 National Library of Australia Fellow

A ramble through the mind of an adolescent

Learn about National Library of Australia Fellow Dr Matthew Lamb’s research into the life and juvenilia of legendary Australian writer Frank Moorhouse.

Blog
A book cover with illustrations of two women in Victorian era dress with blue and purple accents with a dotted background
Author talk: Marie & Marie

Join poet Adrienne Eberhard and novelist Catherine de Saint Phalle for a special In Conversation event about their serendipitous collaboration on the French translation of Marie & Marie.

Event
Black background, with the white text 'My Life in 100 Objects', white line art of various objects surrounds the text as a boarder to the left and Nerra Mahajan to the right
Workshop: Writing the book only you can write - Session 2

In this workshop, Writing the Book Only You Can Write, participants were introduced to a unique and accessible approach to writing their personal story. 

Event
Black background, with the white text 'My Life in 100 Objects', white line art of various objects surrounds the text as a boarder to the left and Nerra Mahajan to the right
Workshop: Writing the book only you can write

In this workshop, Writing the Book Only You Can Write, participants were introduced to a unique and accessible approach to writing their personal story. 

Event
Shelves of books in the National Library's repository are pictured alongside speaker Susannah Fullerton
10 novels that changed the world

Which novels have had a universal impact on our world? Author and leading literary authority Susannah Fullerton delivered this engaging lecture presented by the Friends of the Library.

Event
Shelves of books on display in a Library
12 years in: Writing for the Future Library (2014-2114)

We learnt about the Future Library (2014-2114) project—a hundred-year literary artwork and one of the most internationally acclaimed long-term cultural projects of our time. Curator and producer Anne Beate Hovind appeared in conversation with Kathryn Favelle.

Event
A man  with glasses wearing a black button-down shirt in the National Library of Australia's Special Collections Reading Room

Dr Matthew Lamb

The 'archival imagination' of Frank Moorhouse

Dr Matthew Lamb presented his recent Fellowship research on Frank Moorhouse’s ‘archival imagination’, exploring how his methods shaped his work and identity. 

Event

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