Victorian/Ballarat Seniors Festival
08/07/2025
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1 October – 31 October 2025 | As BMI associated 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
07/07/2025
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Irma Gold. Shift In the year of the 70th anniversary of the Freedom Charter – which outlined the principles of democracy and freedom in South Africa – comes a novel set in the township where it was signed. Shift asks us to examine both the world around us…and ourselves. Arlie is a moderately successful thirty-something photographer who
Newsletter – July 2025
30/06/2025
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A Message from the Chair… | Rosemary’s New Releases and Recommendations | Author Talks – Exhibition – Film – Live Comedy – Live Music | Festivals
Rosemary’s Book of the Week
30/06/2025
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Broke Road Matthew Spencer. From the bestselling author of Black River. This July sees the release of Broke Road. Perfect for fans of Jane Caro and Chris Hammer, this gripping mystery unravels a string of unexplained murders set against the haunting backdrop of the Hunter Valley. Broke Road was inspired by a conversation Matthew Spencer had with a
A Message from the Chair | BMI Board of Directors | July 2025
26/06/2025
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Important Dates Hi Folks I have a confession to make- I’m writing this note from a plane heading from Budapest to Nice and it is definitely warmer here. I tell you this not to boast but because as you can expect my husband and I are enjoying many cultural and heritage sites and buildings. Amongst
Rosemary’s Book of the Week
23/06/2025
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The Secret Year of Zara Holt Kimberley Freeman. Melbourne 1927 The summer flowers smell like Christmas the night Zara Dickins meets Harry Holt. It’s party season and the university crowd are celebrating end-of-year exams. Zara loves dancing with the boys and flirting with them, but it’s a game to her. Nothing serious. Until Harry. He plans
