Past events | National Library of Australia (NLA)

Past events

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Book cover pictured next to trees in autumn colour

Book cover, The Man who Planted Canberra: Charles Weston and His Three Million Trees, and image (detail) courtesy Adrian Kelson Photography

Book launch: The Man Who Planted Canberra
12 Sep 2025 | 10:30am - 11:30am

We held a special book launch event for Robert Macklin's definitive biography of Charles Weston.

Offsite
Books and authors
Book launch
Past event
Booked out
Christos Tsiolkas wearing a blue shirt standing in front of the ocean by a rock pool

Image credit: Zoe Ali

2025 Ray Mathew Lecture: Christos Tsiolkas
11 Sep 2025 | 6:00pm - 8:00pm

Award-winning author Christos Tsiolkas delivered the 2025 Ray Mathew Lecture, exploring the idea of 'Fence-sitting', and its place in the modern world.

Online
Theatre
Books and authors
Past event
Talks and ideas
Flagship lecture
Booked out
Assistance animals icon Assistance animals icon
Assistance animals welcome
Assistive learning icon Assistive learning icon
Hearing induction loop
Wheelchair icon Wheelchair icon
Wheelchair accessible
Book cover for A House Divided, headshot of Clare Hallifax and the 1975 exhibition branding
Teacher Professional Development with Clare Hallifax
10 Sep 2025 | 4:00pm - 5:30pm

Clare Hallifax presented a teacher professional development workshop along with educators and curators from the Library.

Theatre
Author talk
Education/learning
Past event
Workshops and seminars
Workshop
Speakers at the Great Debate 2025
The Great Debate 2025: That Australian history unites us
09 Sep 2025 | 4:00pm - 7:00pm

We held for the Great Debate and the Great Student Debate during Social Sciences Week 2025.

Theatre
Past event
Talks and ideas
Assistance animals icon Assistance animals icon
Assistance animals welcome
Assistive learning icon Assistive learning icon
Hearing induction loop
Wheelchair icon Wheelchair icon
Wheelchair accessible
Professor Helen Ennis

Professor Helen Ennis

Winter Tales presents Professor Helen Ennis
31 Aug 2025 | 2:00pm - 4:00pm

Professor Helen Ennis discussed her extensive writing on the work of Australian women photographers.

Conference Room
Talks and ideas
An adult and child reading a book with a dog sitting between them.
Story Dogs on Sunday - August 2025
31 Aug 2025 | 2:00pm - 3:00pm

We had a paw-sitive reading experience with the Story Dogs program.

Kids and families
Foyer
Books and authors
Storytime
For kids and families
Cover of the What a Ripper book and a photo of Tim Ross
What a Ripper! with Tim Ross and special guest Mary Featherston
30 Aug 2025 | 3:00pm - 4:15pm

To celebrate his latest book What a Ripper! 60 everyday objects that shaped Australia, Tim Ross was joined on stage by one of the designers featured in the book, Mary Featherston.

Foyer
Theatre
Book launch
Talks and ideas
Letter from Jane Austen to her sister Cassandra, 11 June 1799

Letter from Jane Austen to her sister Cassandra, 11 June 1799, nla.obj-229629481

Jane Austen and her legacy – 250 glorious years
20 Aug 2025 | 6:00pm - 7:00pm

Susannah Fullerton OAM, President of the Jane Austen Society of Australia delivered a public lecture marking the 250th Anniversary of Jane Austen’s birth.

Online
Theatre
Past event
Talks and ideas
Assistance animals icon Assistance animals icon
Assistance animals welcome
Assistive learning icon Assistive learning icon
Hearing induction loop
Wheelchair icon Wheelchair icon
Wheelchair accessible
Portrait of Judith Wright

Terry Milligan, Portrait of Judith Wright, c. 1998, nla.gov.au/nla.cat-vn1891350

The environmental vision of Judith Wright with Prof John Morrissey
14 Aug 2025 | 5:30pm - 6:30pm

We joined Prof John Morrissey for a discussion about his recent Fellowship research focused on the environmental writing of renowned Australian poet and author Judith Wright.

Online
Theatre
Past event
Talks and ideas
Fellowship talk
Coloured image featuring headshots of two women smiling at the camera. In the middle of the image is a collection of four sketches of Australian animals.

Stephanie Owen Reeder and Ingrid Bartkowiak

Science Week Online Learning Peculiar Parents Author Talk
13 Aug 2025 | 10:00am - 10:30am

We learnt about the features, habitat and behaviours of some truly peculiar Australian animals in this interactive online learning session.

Online
Books and authors
Author talk
Education/learning
For kids and families
Past event
Katherine Parr’s handwriting and signature in a copy of A Sermon of Saint Chrysostom

Katherine Parr’s handwriting and signature in a copy of A Sermon of Saint Chrysostom (1542). Image by permission of Sudeley Castle, Winchcombe.

Gorgeous books and royal annotations
07 Aug 2025 | 6:00pm - 7:00pm

We stepped into the private libraries of one of history’s most infamous royal couples and discovered how ink, margins, and manuscript flourishes reveal more than meets the eye.

Online
Theatre
Past event
Talks and ideas
Assistance animals icon Assistance animals icon
Assistance animals welcome
Assistive learning icon Assistive learning icon
Hearing induction loop
Wheelchair icon Wheelchair icon
Wheelchair accessible
An man sits in an empty grandstand

Image courtesy Anne Algar

Deadly Dialogues: Bringing Them Home Oration with Kutcha Edwards
06 Aug 2025 | 6:00pm - 7:00pm

Kutcha Edwards delivered the inaugural Bringing Them Home Oration.

Theatre
First Australians
Deadly dialogues
Past event
Talks and ideas

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