Literature and writing | National Library of Australia (NLA)

Literature and writing

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A split image featuring Anne Summers on the left and the cover of her book 'Witness: People. Politics. Culture. Feminism. 1975-2025' on the right. The book cover uses a vibrant, with pink and lime green design and has an image of a woman.

Anne Summers AO

Author talk: Witness by Anne Summers AO

Canberra Writers Festival and author Anne Summers AO present a special in conversation event focused on her new book, Witness.

Event
A split image of author Emily St John Mandel on the left, wearing a brown shirt with arms crossed, and the cover of her book 'Exit Party' on the right. The book cover shows a stylized, colorful reflection of a cityscape.

Emily St. John Mandel

Author talk: Exit Party by Emily St John Mandel

Canberra Writers Festival and author Emily St. John Mandel present a special In Conversation event focused on her new book, Exit Party.

Event
A promotional graphic featuring three black-and-white portraits of women alongside the text 'She Shapes History at the National Library of Australia' on a pink background.
Well-behaved women rarely make history.

This digital module will introduce you to stories from Australian history that centre women who behaved badly, or were seen that way.

A smiling woman with short blonde hair and black-rimmed glasses, wearing a black and white checkered top. She has a nose ring and is outdoors with a blurred background of flowering trees.

Dr Meg Brayshaw

Rethinking realism: Dymphna Cusack and Kylie Tennant

Dr Meg Brayshaw presents her recent Fellowship research into the work of two prominent Australian women writers, Dymphna Cusack and Kylie Tennant.

Event
Book cover for 'Power in Numbers: Australian Women in Economics' by Catie Bradbear and Melissa Bray, featuring portraits of the authors and a rising arrow graphic.
Book signing: Power In Numbers: Australian Women in Economics 

Catie Bradbear and Melissa Bray came to the Bookshop to sign copies of their latest book Power in Numbers: Australian Women in Economics. 

Event
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

We 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

We joined 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

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