Sophie Cunningham is one of Australian literature’s most influential figures. She is the author of seven books, a former editor of Meanjin, co-founder of the Stella Prize, and is currently an adjunct professor at RMIT University’s non/fiction Lab.

Her novel This Devastating Fever, her first work of fiction in fourteen years, was the Melbourne City Reads pick for September 2022. Weaving together the life of Leonard Woolf, the turn of the millennium and environmental collapse, Cunningham examines questions about colonial history, the return of fascism, living through disaster and what it means to cultivate a full, loving and creative life.

Join Cunningham and host Emily Bitto for an intimate conversation as they discuss this exhilarating new novel.

This event was recorded on Tuesday 22 September 2022 at the Wheeler Centre.

The Melbourne City Reads series is generously supported by George and Rosa Morstyn.

The bookseller for this event was The Paperback Bookshop.

Featured music is Golden Hour by Sarah, the Illstrumentalist.