Melbourne Masterclass: 10 Great Books 2022

Book list and program schedule for 2022

Our book list for 2022 spans countries, cultures and millennia. You'll broaden your perspective as you encounter diverse voices on the issues that define our past and will shape our future – including gender, race, class and community.

See below for book, presenter and live Q&A details:

1. February: Samuel Beckett, Waiting for Godot, 1949

   One of the world’s best-known and most frequently staged works of modern drama, this play’s reputation testifies to its enduring relevance and mystery. A timeless classic that directs an unblinking gaze at the post-war moment of its creation.

   Presented by Associate Professor Paul Rae, Associate Professor in Theatre Studies and Head of the School of Culture and Communication.

   Read the full abstract and presenter biography

   Live Zoom Q&A:  6.30pm-7.15pm Tuesday 22 February

2. March: Alexis Wright, Carpentaria, 2006

   From the stunting impact of small-town racism to the destructive manipulations of a multinational mining operation, this acclaimed novel denounces neo-colonial powers in modern Australia and how they marginalise and stifle the Indigenous world out of agency.

   Presented by Associate Professor Jeanine Leane, Associate Professor in Creative Writing and Wiradjuri writer, poet and academic from south-west New South Wales.

   Read the full abstract and presenter biography

   Live Zoom Q&A:  6.30pm-7.15pm Tuesday 29 March

3. April: Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice, 1813

   This parable of style and aesthetic refinement is an icon of the literary canon and a contemporary pop-culture classic. While described by Austen herself as 'rather too light & bright & sparkling', its observations and moments of irony, satire and shade define it as a pivotal work of social realism.

   Presented by Professor Clara Tuite, Professor of English.

   Read the full abstract and presenter biography

   Live Zoom Q&A:  6.30pm-7.15pm Tuesday 26 April

4. May: J. M. Coetzee, Disgrace, 1999

   With its provoking and sometimes disturbing vision of a father and daughter's life in post-apartheid South Africa, this Booker Prize-winning novel is deeply embedded in time and place. But in our age of #MeToo and Black Lives Matter, its depictions of sex, race and power continue to resonate.

   Presented by Professor Deirdre Coleman, Robert Wallace Chair of English and Redmond Barry Distinguished Professor.

   Read the full abstract and presenter biography

   Live Zoom Q&A:  6.30pm-7.15pm Tuesday 31 May

5. June: William Shakespeare, Much Ado About Nothing, 1598

   If love prevails here, it's in the least likely of ways. In a world governed by superficiality, we find a story of self-deception and mistaken identity – and a ray of hope in a couple whose projected distaste for each other masks genuine affection.

   Presented by Associate Professor David McInnis, Associate Professor in English and Theatre Studies.

   Read the full abstract and presenter biography

   Live Zoom Q&A:  6.30pm-7.15pm Tuesday 28 June

6. July: Mikhail Bulgakov, The Master and Margarita, 1966

   Part biting satire on life in the land of the Soviets, part meditation on the meaning of life, part religious philosophy and part fantasy story, this novel is hard to classify but a masterpiece of literature.

   Presented by Professor Mark Edele, The Hansen Chair in History and Deputy Dean of the Faculty of Arts.

   Read the full abstract and presenter biography

   Live Zoom Q&A:  6.30pm-7.15pm Tuesday 26 July

7. August: Simone de Beauvoir, Memoirs of a Dutiful Daughter, 1958

   This autobiography is a source of fascination for readers eager to understand one of the greatest writers of her generation – and offers us a detailed portrait of society and class, work and play, music, literature and philosophy in Paris in the early 20th century.

   Presented by Professor Jacqueline Dutton, Professor of French Studies.

   Read the full abstract and presenter biography

   Live Zoom Q&A:  6.30pm-7.15pm Tuesday 30 August

8. September: Euripides, The Trojan Women, 415 BCE

   The fall of Troy was a well-known myth among the ancient Greeks, but here the story is told through the perspective of the women victimised by Greek heroes. Does this make this drama an exhortation against war, or a warning about the consequences of failure?

   Presented by Associate Professor James "K.O." Chong-Gossard, Associate Professor of Classics.

   Read the full abstract and presenter biography

   Live Zoom Q&A:  6.30pm-7.15pm Tuesday 27 September

9. October: Alice Walker, The Color Purple, 1982

   As this powerful feminist story unfolds, the lives and experiences of Black women living in the American South are depicted through intimately written letters. Each page reveals the power of female relationships – and the complicated dynamics of race, sexuality, and violence.

   Presented by Dr Kalissa Alexeyeff, Senior Lecturer in Gender Studies.

   Read the full abstract and presenter biography

   Live Zoom Q&A:  6.30pm-7.15pm Tuesday 25 October

10. November: George Johnston, My Brother Jack, 1964

    A pointed attack on middle-class suburbia, an exploration of Australian masculinity and femininity, a radical take on the ANZAC legend – this haunting novel is an Australian classic that raises important questions about how we define success and failure.

    Presented by Professor Sally Young, Professor of Political Science.

    Read the full abstract and presenter biography

    Live Zoom Q&A:  6.30pm-7.15pm Tuesday 29 November