Reading “What’s new on the City of Literature calendar” and discovered the forthcoming Bendigo Writers Festival in mid-August. I’ve always loved this regional city, about 150 kilometres northwest of Melbourne. This year they have a series “Cities of Literature Book Club”, with authors and writers talking about their reading of books from seven UNESCO Cities of Literature around the world – Dunedin, Dublin, Quebec City, Lviv, Barcelona, Angouleme, and Edinburgh. Will definitely try to check out these books.
Funny, I tried something similar back in 2023, and received book recommendations from Heidelberg, Exeter, Seattle, Quebec City, Dunedin, Ljubijana, and Dublin. Certainly a very eye-opening reading experience, and, as book lovers themselves, people from these cities are very friendly and keen to help promote great books from their own cities/countries.
Two other interesting items on Melbourne’s City of Literature calendar: The Future Loves You: How and Why We Should Abolish Death by neuroscientist Ariel Zeleznikow-Johnson (2024, see image above), and Mood Machine: The Rise of Spotify and the Costs of the Perfect Playlist by music journalist and cultural critic Liz Pelly (2025, see image below). Time to make recommendations to my local library.
(Day 57 #WarmWinterRead #WWR25 via @librarieschangelives)
Voices under the Sun 陽光下的聲音 