Winter Reading: Book Clubs of Melbourne
Maybe it’s an excuse to catch up with old friends, or socialise with new ones. Perhaps you need an accountability strategy when it comes to actually finishing an entire novel in a reasonable amount of time. Or, perchance, you’re even genuinely looking for a group of like-minded people to thoroughly ruminate over the latest tome you’ve devoured. Whatever the case – book clubs are on the rise and as one of the world’s seven UNESCO Cities of Literature, Melbourne is positively brimming with them. Today, C&G looks at a few little nooks you might find some such bibliophilic inspiration.
An excellent place to begin is, of course, your local bookstore or library. Bayside local, The Grumpy Swimmer (recently featured in C&G’s article, A Bayside Story: Ormond Road, Elwood), conducts a monthly book club as well as storytelling and poetry nights. Pop in and see Clifford and his ever-knowledgeable crew for more! Bayside Library Service conducts Book Clubs at Beaumaris, Brighton, Hampton and Sandringham branches – and whilst numbers are at capacity at the moment, it is certainly worth getting in touch for waitlist openings. Bayside Library Service also provides a Book Pack Program, whereby private groups can purchase book sets from a list of over 100 titles. Book packs also comes with background notes and discussion questions.
Another excellent resource for finding local and niche book clubs is Meetup. With groups like The Melbourne Girly Book Club, Blah Blah Book Club: for Bayside/Patterson Lakes Women 40+, St Kilda & the City, Tram Page Turners Melbourne Book Club and more – you’re likely to find something that suits!
Beyond book clubs, Melbourne also plays host to an incredible amount of literary events. The Wheeler Centre in Melbourne’s CBD is considered the epicentre for literary workshop and discussion - we recommend subscribing to the Centre’s weekly newsletter to keep up to date with news and events. A few writers slated to appear in The Wheeler Centre’s current program are Irvine Welsh, May 24th, (Trainspotting, Filth), John Marsden, 27th June (Tomorrow, When the War Began, The Ellie Chronicles) and Hannah Kent, 26th July (Burial Rites).