The Reading Room (2pm in the Library for a start @ 10.30am – 12noon)
JUNE SESSION
Here are forty texts to read at some stage in your life- forty texts that can enrich you in all manner of ways. Some are recent, like Harry Potter; some ancient, like Homer and Lao Tzu. There are memoirs (Nelson Mandela), poetry (Les Murray) and many of the world’s great novels, from George Eliot’s Middlemarch to Toni Morrison’s Beloved. Our guide, in entertaining short essays about personal encounters with each of these works, is Michael McGirr- schoolteacher and former priest, reviewer of hundreds of novels and lifelong lover of literature.
His humour and insight shine through in stories that connect the texts he has selected with each other, and connect us to them. Never prescriptive, and often very funny, this book is an invitation to reflect on-and share with others-the extraordinary gift of reading. ‘It is a gift that is taking me a lifetime to unwrap,? McGirr writes. ‘The excitement has never worn off.?
About the Author
Michael McGirr is the bestselling author of Snooze- The Lost Art of Sleep, Things You Get for Free and Bypass. He has reviewed almost one thousand books for various newspapers; his short fiction has appeared in Australian and overseas publications; and he has been a publisher of Eureka Street and fiction editor at Meanjin.
Review a title
Why not review a book for the benefit of our members. We will publish these reviews in our social media and website from time to time.
This event is a BMI Community Art Project – Ballarat’s Oldest Cultural Institution
When lemons give you life Anna Johnston Don’t miss Anna at the BMI on Thursday 30 April at 6.30pm Redemption is a dish best served warm… Retired Michelin-star chef Griff Barlow has lost his appetite for life. Widowed, grieving and living in an aged care facility where beige slop passes for food, Griff is done
ANZAC Day Feel the Spirits The Arch of Victory Avenue of Honour Committee invites you to its 2026 ANZAC Day Service at the Arch of Victory At this year’s service we are remembering the NZ in ANZAC as 36Ballarat district soldiers and one nurse had close connections with New Zealand and 17 of them lost
A message from the President Support the Ballaarat Mechanics’ Institute in 2026 Dear Ballaarat Mechanics’ Institute supporter, In the early days of the gold rush, Ballarat was a place of extraordinary ambition. Among the diggers and merchants who built the town was a group of citizens who believed that knowledge mattered just as much as
The Drowning Fiona Lowe Don’t miss Fiona at the BMI on Tuesday 21 April at 6pm A body on the beach. An inheritance. A family pulled apart. CC Cilento’s best memories are of spending every summer holiday running wild in and out of the Friend family beach house with her cousins, James, Ollie, Felix and
BMI’s Twilight Talks Return by Evie Lamb, Ballarat Times The Twilight Talks series is back at the the Ballaarat Mechanics’ Institute this month with more tales from Henry Lawson’s 1887 exploration of local Eureka Rebellion sites. Taking place on Wednesday 15 April, the first talk will feature guest presenter Hedley Thomson who last year provided a
Peg Rankin: A Journey of Faith and Resilience Peter Rankin SDB with Gerardine Christou Don’t miss Gerardine at the BMI on Tuesday 14 April at 6pm This is the story of Peg, an ordinary woman who was ‘made of extraordinary stuff’ Margaret (Peg) Rankin is remembered by all who knew and loved her as a
Minerva's Secrets Night Tours
Fri 24 Apr – Tue 19 May
& Fri 12 Jun
Tour 1 at 7pm – Tour 2 at 9pm.
Linen & Lace Exhbition
Includes Devonshire Tea | $20
Sat & Sun 22, 23 Oct
10am-4pm
Remembrance Day:
A Surgeon Commander & A Leading Cook - Recent War Memoribilia
Wed 29 Oct & 5 Nov, 5.30pm.
Coming soon…
Rozzi Bazzani. Stella Day Out: Katia Ariel & Samah Sabawi, Rachael Johns
Coming soon…
Dianne Dempsey, Chrissie Bellbrae, Paula Gleeson, Rozzi Bazzani.
Coming in November…
Stella Day Out, Ballarat, Rachael Johns & Margaret Hickey
Australian Heritage Festival
Minerva's Secrets
25 April – Tour 1 at 7.30pm – fully booked
Tour 2 at 9.30pm – still tickets.
Spring Season, History Talks:
Ballarat's Henry Lawson - The Dragon's Den - Gold! Gold! Gold!
Wed 3, 17 & 24 September, 5.30pm.
Bubbly on arrival & Featuring quality items from our Vintage Shop | $60
The Ballaarat Mechanics' Institute 2026 Calendar
Featuring illustrations from our Heritage Book Collection $40
Your gift will be tax-deductible this financial year if you make it before June 30.
Like many organisations the BMI faces significant funding challenges.
2 course dinner & lots
of dancing
