"In our highly polarised culture, the idea of sitting on the fence is despised by all sides, abjured equally by intellectuals, politicians, journalists and activists. We are urged at all times – and for every occasion – to take a position. Yet is there a utility, both practical and ethical, in taking a breath, a pause, and refusing to land definitively on a stance?

For me, that question has a further urgency in that I am of an age, where I reflect on previously staunch beliefs that have proven to be erroneous – or even malignant. Doesn’t that awareness now necessitate doubt and consideration? Or is sitting on the fence always a cop out? I want to examine this question of temperance honestly, rigorously, as it also has specific consequence for artists and writers.

We create characters and stories that often explore the most contentious and troubling aspects of being human. No matter how abject our protagonists, don’t we owe them empathy if we are to elude clichéd characters and pedestrian storytelling? And what of the desire to write about the beautiful and the exquisite? Is that too fence-sitting, an indulgence in a world that is burning?

The fence can be a border. And of course, a border can sequester and isolate. A fence, however, can also be a place of communion, a place of speaking to one another across fixed notions of being and boundary. If sitting on the fence is deeply suspect – and deeply resented – what of the notion of ‘speaking across the fence’? Isn’t there a common yearning for this intimacy with a neighbour? Is speaking across fences something that we writers can offer?"

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Entry to this event is free but bookings are essential.

Light refreshments will be served after the lecture.

Watch online

The presentation will also be available online. Please make a booking and we will send you a direct link to the livestream event via email. Or you can join anytime through the Library's YouTube channel.

About the Ray Mathew Lecture

The Ray Mathew Lecture is generously supported by the Ray Mathew and Eva Kollsman Trust.

Read about previous Ray Mathew Lectures

About Christos Tsiolkas

Christos Tsiolkas is the author of eight novels – Loaded, The Jesus Man, Dead Europe, The Slap, Barracuda, Damascus, 7 ½, The In-Between - and the short story collection, Merciless Gods. Many of his works have been adapted for the stage and for the screen and have been published in multiple languages. 

He is also a playwright, screen writer, essayist, radio host and currently a film critic for The Saturday Paper. 

Christos is an ambassador for the Melbourne theatre group, Outer Urban Projects, and a patron of Writers Victoria. In 2025, he was appointed to the council of Writers Australia for Creative Australia.