2026 Ray Mathew Lecture: Winnie Dunn

Name: 2026 Ray Mathew Lecture: Winnie Dunn
Start: 2026-10-01T18:00:00+1000
End: 2026-10-01T20:00:00+1000
Location: National Library of Australia

Award-winning Tongan-Australian writer Winnie Dunn delivers the 2026 Ray Mathew Lecture, examining the topic of representation in literature.

Does representation still matter? This is the question Winnie Dunn, author of the multi-award winning novel, Dirt Poor Islanders, will be contending with at the 2026 Ray Mathew Lecture.

Beginning with Western Sydney as both her home and a microcosm of multicultural Australia, Winnie aims to examine the original promise of representation in literature, who made it and why, and whether it has delivered on its offers of recognition, reflection and social rapport. Through her work at Sweatshop Literacy Movement, recent literary case studies and reflections on the publishing industry, Winnie attempts to extend the nation's definition of representation as one of cultural authority, accreditation and sustained opportunity. Overall, Winnie will argue that representation in literature must move past visibility and adopt a critical lens on who is published, why they are selected and how their stories are utilised. At the heart of her keynote is a larger question: What is Australian literature now and what will make it matter?

Attend in person

Entry to this event is free but bookings are essential.

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.

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About Winnie Dunn

Winnie Dunn is a Tongan-Australian writer from Mount Druitt. She is the general manager of Sweatshop Literacy Movement and the editor of several acclaimed anthologies, including Brownface (Cordite, 2018), Sweatshop Women (Sweatshop, 2019), Straight-Up Islander (SBS, 2020) and Another Australia (Affirm Press, 2022). Winnie’s debut novel, Dirt Poor Islanders (Hachette, 2024) won the 2025 Sydney Morning Herald Best Young Novelists Award and the 2025 Creative Australia Kathleen Mitchell Award. Dirt Poor Islanders was also shortlisted for two NSW Premier’s Literary Awards and shortlisted for the prestigious Miles Franklin Literary Award.