The 2024 Fryer Lecture in Australian Literature is a tribute to internationally acclaimed novelist, poet, short story writer, playwright, and librettist David Malouf AO.
In this year’s lecture, Imaginary Lives: in appreciation of David Malouf AO, novelist Nicholas Jose pays tribute to his friend David Malouf’s unique contribution to Australian letters through his beautiful and evocative works. A conversation between David and Nicholas will follow the lecture.
David Malouf AO
UQ alumnus David Malouf AO is an internationally acclaimed novelist, poet, short story writer, playwright, and librettist. The author of iconic titles such as Johnno, 12 Edmonstone St, Fly Away Peter, and Remembering Babylon, his awards include the Commonwealth Writers Prize, the IMPAC Dublin Literary Award, the Miles Franklin Award, and the Order of Australia.
On being presented a Doctor of Letters honoris causa by the University in 1991 the citation read, “Queensland, and Brisbane in particular, have never been atcelebrated more lyrically than by one of this University's graduates, David Malouf AO. Harland's Half Acre of 1984 and The Great World of 1990 provide extensive treatment of Malouf's central ideas: the interrelationship between spatial and poetic experience; the processes of imagining oneself and others; and the creation of perceptions of Australia's culture.”
Nicholas Jose
Nicholas Jose is best known for his fiction and cultural essays. His first short story collection, The Possession of Amber, was published by University of Queensland Press in 1980. He has since written two further collections of short fiction, eight novels, including Paper Nautilus (Penguin, 1987), The Red Thread (Hardie Grant, 2000), Original Face (Giramondo, 2005), The Idealist (2023) and his acclaimed memoir, Black Sheep: Journey to Borroloola (Allen & Unwin, 2002). He was general editor of the Macquarie PEN Anthology of Australian Literature (2009) and has written widely on contemporary Australian and Asian art and literature. He was Visiting Chair of Australian Studies at Harvard University, 2009-10 and is Professor Emeritus of English and Creative Writing at the University of Adelaide.
Event details
Date: Friday 11 October 2024
Time: 5:30pm for 6–7pm
Venue: The Long Room, Customs House, 399 Queen Street, Brisbane QLD 4000
RSVP: Wednesday 2 October 2024
Refreshments will be served before and after the lecture.
Fryer Lecture in Australian Literature
The annual Fryer Lecture is the premier event in the Friends of the Library program. The Lecture celebrates Australian literature and the important role of the Fryer Library in collecting and preserving our literary heritage. Included in its holdings are the manuscripts of prominent Australian writers such as David Malouf, Peter Carey, Thea Astley, Frank Moorhouse, Olga Masters, and Oodgeroo Noonuccal. Its collections also include plans, drawings and records of key Queensland-based architects, the University of Queensland Press Archive, rare books, and other unique material documenting Australian cultural history.
These collections are a valuable resource for teaching and research at The University of Queensland, and attract scholars from across Australia and internationally.