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Member only guide to the Australian book industry.
In Hasib Hourani’s rock flight, he writes, ‘the more time I spend with words / the more I realise that they just won’t do.’ As we witness the rise of fascism, genocidal violence, virulent xenophobia, and political censorship, one must wonder if there is any point to writing work. Pressing up against the limits of language, one might expect Hourani’s poem to end here. But the poem continues. What can we make of this gesture?
Join literary critic and Liminal founding editor Leah Jing McIntosh at the 2025 Colin Simpson Memorial Keynote, as she traces this gesture, thinking alongside the work of some of Australia’s best writers in her keynote address, The Limits of Language.
This year, there will be a poetry reading from Nam Le and we will be presenting the 2025 ASA Medal to an accomplished Australian author or illustrator who has made an outstanding contribution to Australian culture and the literary community as both a creator and an advocate.
Venue: Queen Victoria Women’s Centre (Birnbeal and Wayi Djerring rooms), 210 Lonsdale Street, Melbourne VIC 3000
Drinks and light refreshments will be served from 6:00 pm, with formal proceedings commencing at 7:00 pm.
Seats are limited. Use the ‘book now’ button to RSVP. RSVPs are essential by Friday 24 October 2025.
This annual keynote address commemorates the journalist and author Colin Simpson, a founding member of the ASA, the driving force behind the introduction of Public Lending Right in 1975, and an accomplished travel writer and television host. In keeping with its namesake, this event is both thought-provoking and stimulating.
An illustrious range of industry luminaries have delivered this address, including James Bradley, Shankari Chandran, Toni Jordan, the Minister for the Arts, the Hon Tony Burke MP, Nyadol Nyuon, Tony Birch, Benjamin Law, Jacqueline Harvey, Frank Moorhouse, Stan Grant, Shaun Tan, Melissa Lucashenko, and more.
