The Wheeler Centre

The old novel … had defined boundaries within which information was traded for the reader’s loyalty to a common and national agenda. The new novel places the boundaries themselves under question. — Brian Castro, ‘Heterotopias’ (1994) Marking 30 years since Brian Castro considered the ‘new novel’, three of Australia’s most talented contemporary novelists discuss the future of the form. Is there such a thing as a ‘Great Australian Novel’, or have twentieth-century paradigms expired? What, exactly, does greatness have to do with fiction? How does the novel relate to the nation? Dr Lynda Ng, lecturer in Australian Literature at the University of Melbourne, will host Jessica Au, Brian Castro and André Dao as they consider the novel, the nation, and the boundaries that shape them.