October Books & Ideas with The Wheeler Centre: Melanie Cheng

Cheng’s winning work, Australia Day, is a collection of short stories presenting a rich and detailed mosaic of contemporary Australian life. Exploring themes of home and human connection, the novel poses subtle questions about faultlines in Australian society. Cheng – who was born in Adelaide, grew up in Hong Kong and now lives in Melbourne – writes with sensitivity, humour and bite. Her achievement as an author is remarkable on a number of levels, not least because she balances writing with her career as a doctor.

In conversation at Montalto, this rising star of the Australian literary world will discuss inspiration, identity and the short-story form.