Reading Australian Literature is a series in which acclaimed Australian writers reflect on books they value. In a thoughtful and engaging public lecture, each writer will discuss a favourite Australian literary text. What has led them to these books? What do they find remarkable about them? Have these literary encounters left an imprint on the speakers’ own writing?

Join us on 12 September to hear Sophie Cunningham reflect on Cold Light by Frank Moorhouse.

“As both an editor and a writer I’ve always been inspired by Frank Moorhouse’s fiction, both stylistically and thematically, be it the linked short stories of Forty-seventeen, or the expansive scope of the 'Edith' trilogy. When I first read Cold Light, the third novel in that trilogy, I was thrilled by Moorhouse’s capacity to celebrate both political idealism and pragmatism as well as to inhabit ambiguous identities (sexual and otherwise). Moorhouse’s dexterity and commitment to detail cast an erotic glow upon a derided decade, the fifties, and a derided city, Canberra. The literary achievement of the entire trilogy, and Cold Light in particular, is nothing short of extraordinary. “

ABOUT THE SPEAKER:
Sophie Cunningham is a former editor and publisher; she is also the author of four books. She is currently writing her third novel, This Devastating Fever, which is based on Leonard Woolf’s life, as well as a book of linked essays called Diary From The End Times. Sophie is an Adjunct Professor at RMIT University’s Non/fiction Lab.

A Sydney Ideas series presented with the School of Literature, Art, and Media at the University of Sydney. Hosted by Professor Emerita Margaret Harris.

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