Ballarat National Theatre: God of Carnage | A BMI Community Partner
15/07/2026
No Comments
19 June – 22 June | As events are confirmed they will be listed HERE.
The Reading Room (2pm in the Library for a start @ 10.30am – 12noon)
This volunteer run reading and discussion group meets monthly. It is anticipated that members will read the selected book prior to attendance.
If you would like to be a part of this group (free to BMI members) please complete the Expression of Interest. We welcome your feedback through this form as we progress this great new initiative.
Expression of Interest to participate >
For more information go to
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
Rosemary’s Book of the Week | Every Time She Wakes by Petronella McGovern
13/07/2026
No Comments
Every Time She Wakes Petronella McGovern Don’t miss Petronella who will be in conversation with Paula Gleeson talking about Petronella’s new book at BMI on 20 July at 6pm An unputdownable thriller from the bestselling author of Six Minutes and The Last Trace. Every Time She Wakes is a taut, time-bending thriller about family, identity and defying fate.
Rosemary’s Book of the Week | Seen Again by Benita Bensch
06/07/2026
No Comments
Seen Again: Light On Matrescence Benita Bensch Don’t miss Benita who will be in conversation with Dellaram Vreeland talking about Benita’s new book at BMI on 15 July at 6pm Matrescence is a biological, psychological, emotional, social and spiritual transformation that can leave mothers without the language or support to make sense of who they are. Many
A Message from the Chair | BMI Board of Directors | July 2026
24/06/2026
No Comments
Membership Contriubtions I imagine many of you have received requests for financial assistance from many organisations, as the month of June draws to a close thus representing the End of the Financial Year for most businesses and indeed Not for Profits. For the BMI, we are already 2 months into our financial year and not
