Event #76

The Art of the Essay

Sat 10 Oct 2026

Elaine Castillo + Andrew O'Hagan + Melissa Lucashenko + Cameron Hurst + Carody Culver

Parkside Marquee

Regular Program

#Performances

Sat 10 Oct 2026 - 3:30pm

Parkside Marquee

Book Now

#About the event

Duration: 60 minutes

The Art of the Essay

Elaine Castillo (Moderation), Andrew O’Hagan (On Friendship), Melissa Lucashenko (Not Quite White in the Head), Cameron Hurst (EXCLUSIVE! Dispatches from The Paris End).
Chair: Carody Culver
3:30–4:30pm, Saturday 10 October, Parkside Marquee

Every few years, somebody on the internet will declare that the essay is dead ... which is usually a sign that it’s thriving. Indeed, the essay may have as many lives as it has styles, and its endurance is testament to its creative dynamism and versatility. Join four luminaries of this endlessly malleable literary genre as they discuss the value and valence of the essay and their own storied approaches to the art of short-form non-fiction.

#Artists

Elaine Castillo

Named one of “30 of the Planet’s Most Exciting Young People” by the Financial Times, Elaine Castillo’s novel Moderation was longlisted for the 2026 Women’s Prize in Fiction and named one of the Top Ten Books of 2025 by The Atlantic, Slate, and a Best Book of 2025 by The New Yorker, TIME, and more.

Andrew O'Hagan

Andrew O’Hagan has three times been nominated for the Booker Prize and is a winner of the E.M. Forster Prize. His novel Mayflies was adapted by the BBC and his latest, Caledonian Road, a state-of-the-nation epic, was a Sunday Times bestseller. He is Editor at Large of the London Review of Books.

Melissa Lucashenko

Melissa Lucashenko is a multi-award-winning novelist from the Bundjalung nation. Too Much Lip won the 2019 Miles Franklin Literary Award and Edenglassie was released to critical acclaim in 2023. She is a Walkley Award winner, and her latest book is the essay collection Not Quite White in the Head.

Cameron Hurst

Cameron Hurst is a writer and art historian who lives in Naarm/Melbourne.

Carody Culver

Carody Culver is the editor of Griffith Review. She's also a writer and a literary interviewer. Her work has appeared in Australian Book Review, Meanjin, Sydney Review of Books, Kill Your Darlings, Books+Publishing and more, and she's been a contributing editor for Peppermint magazine. Her chapbook, The Morgue I Think the Deader It Gets, was published by Cordite in 2022. You can find her on Substack at acriticalcondition.substack.com.