BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 PRODID:-//Ballaarat Mechanics' Institute - ECPv6.16.5.1//NONSGML v1.0//EN CALSCALE:GREGORIAN METHOD:PUBLISH X-WR-CALNAME:Ballaarat Mechanics' Institute X-ORIGINAL-URL:https://ballaratmi.org.au X-WR-CALDESC:Events for Ballaarat Mechanics' Institute REFRESH-INTERVAL;VALUE=DURATION:PT1H X-Robots-Tag:noindex X-PUBLISHED-TTL:PT1H BEGIN:VTIMEZONE TZID:Australia/Melbourne BEGIN:STANDARD TZOFFSETFROM:+1100 TZOFFSETTO:+1000 TZNAME:AEST DTSTART:20250405T160000 END:STANDARD BEGIN:DAYLIGHT TZOFFSETFROM:+1000 TZOFFSETTO:+1100 TZNAME:AEDT DTSTART:20251004T160000 END:DAYLIGHT BEGIN:STANDARD TZOFFSETFROM:+1100 TZOFFSETTO:+1000 TZNAME:AEST DTSTART:20260404T160000 END:STANDARD BEGIN:DAYLIGHT TZOFFSETFROM:+1000 TZOFFSETTO:+1100 TZNAME:AEDT DTSTART:20261003T160000 END:DAYLIGHT BEGIN:STANDARD TZOFFSETFROM:+1100 TZOFFSETTO:+1000 TZNAME:AEST DTSTART:20270403T160000 END:STANDARD BEGIN:DAYLIGHT TZOFFSETFROM:+1000 TZOFFSETTO:+1100 TZNAME:AEDT DTSTART:20271002T160000 END:DAYLIGHT END:VTIMEZONE BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=Australia/Melbourne:20260710T110000 DTEND;TZID=Australia/Melbourne:20260710T125000 DTSTAMP:20260701T005628Z CREATED:20250930T001641Z LAST-MODIFIED:20260701T005628Z UID:67766-1783681200-1783687800@ballaratmi.org.au SUMMARY:21 HEARTS: Vivian Bullwinkel and the Nurses of the Vyner Brooke\, a THEATRE 180 production DESCRIPTION:In Conversation with Megan Brown & Lucy Sussex \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n February 25\n\n \n\n @ \n\n\n6:00 pm\n\n \n\n\n\n \n - \n\n8:00 pm\n\n\n\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n$10 \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Humffray Room \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Get Tickets\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Outrageous Fortunes \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Megan Brown & Lucy Sussex \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Megan & Lucy will be hosted in conversation by Dr. Meg Tasker \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n The Adventures of Mary Fortune\, Crime-writer\, and Her Criminal Son \n \n \n \n \n \n \n 'Engrossingly illuminating and ultimately deeply moving' - John Connolly \n \n \n \n \n \n \n 'Mary Fortune's bold fictions electrified colonial Australia. But her own story\, pieced together by two tenacious literary detectives\, was best of all.' —Gideon Haigh \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n The gripping story of Australia’s first female crime writer and her career-criminal son. When Mary Fortune arrived in Melbourne with her infant son in 1855\, she was determined to reinvent herself. The Victorian goldfields were just the place. After a time selling sly grog and a bigamous marriage to a policeman\, Mary became a pioneering journalist and author. The Detective’s Album was the first book of detective stories to be published in Australia and the first by a woman to be published anywhere in the world. Her work appeared in magazines and newspapers for over forty years – but none of her readers knew who she was. She wrote using pseudonyms\, often adopting the voice of a male narrator to write about ‘unladylike’ subjects. When Mary died in 1911\, her identity was nearly lost. In Outrageous Fortunes\, Megan Brown and Lucy Sussex retrieve Fortune’s astonishing career and discover an equally absorbing story in her illegitimate son\, George. While Mary was writing crime\, George was committing it\, with convictions for theft and bank robbery. In their intertwined stories\, crime fiction meets true crime\, and Melbourne’s literary bohemia consorts with the criminal underworld. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n About the authors \n \n \n \n \n \n Megan Brown completed her PhD at the University of Wollongong\, examining the work of Mary Fortune. She has contributed chapters to The Routledge Companion to Australian Literature and The Unsocial Sociability of Women’s Life Writing. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Megan Brown\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Lucy Sussex’s books include Blockbuster! Fergus Hume and The Mystery of a Hansom Cab\, which won the 2015 Victorian Community History Award\, Women Writers and Detectives in the Nineteenth Century and Saltwater in the Ink: Voices from the Australian Seas. She has a PhD from the University of Wales and is an honorary fellow at La Trobe University. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Lucy Sussex\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Host \n \n \n \n \n \n Meg Tasker: Dr Meg Tasker taught British and Australian literature and cultural studies for many years\, her most notable publication being the first and only critical biography of Anglo-Australian writer\, Francis Adams (Struggle and Storm\, Melb UP 2001). She has published quite a few articles and conference papers on Adams and other 19th century writers\, including a handful co-written with Lucy Sussex as part of an ARC funded project on Australian writers in London. Formerly general editor of the Australasian Journal of Victorian Studies (AJVS)\, and President of the Australasian Victorian Studies Association (AVSA)\, she left her position as Associate Professor at Federation University Australia (formerly the University of Ballarat) in 2018\, and is now\, like Lucy and Megan\, happy to be a Victorianist-at-large. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Dr Meg Tasker\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Enquiries:  Any event specific enquires should be direct to library@ballaratmi.org.au \n \n \n \n \n \n $10 per person plus booking fee & gst includes light refreshment. All proceeds go to the Ballaarat Mechanics’ Institute to support the staging of our author events. Book on-line or contact Rosemary at the Libary via email library@ballaratmi.org.au or phone (03) 5331 3042 \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Get Tickets\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Collins Booksellers\, Ballart on Lydiard will be handling book sales for the event. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Why Not become a member\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n This event takes place on Wadawurrung Country. Ballaarat Mechanics’ Institute acknowledges the Wadawurrung People of the Kulin Nation as the first inhabitants and Traditional Custodians of the lands where we work\, learn and create. Always Was\, Always Will Be\, Aboriginal Land. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n More author talks \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n BMI news \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Library closure Saturday 4 July\n The Library will be closed on Saturday 4 July  and... \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n NAIDOC Week\n NAIDOC 2026 National NAIDOC Week celebrations are held across Australia... \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Rosemary’s Book of the Week | The Secrets of Provence by Daisy Wood.\n The Secrets of Provence Daisy Wood Provence\,1940 Thrown out of... \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n A Message from the Chair | BMI Board of Directors | July 2026\n Membership Contriubtions I imagine many of you have received requests... \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Load More\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n BMI Events URL:https://ballaratmi.org.au/event/21-hearts/ LOCATION:BMI – Minerva Space\, 117-119 Sturt Street\, Ballarat Central\, VIC\, 3350 CATEGORIES:Theatre Production ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/webp:https://ballaratmi.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/sq-promo-21-hearts.webp END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=Australia/Melbourne:20260710T190000 DTEND;TZID=Australia/Melbourne:20260710T205000 DTSTAMP:20260701T005821Z CREATED:20251001T031523Z LAST-MODIFIED:20260701T005821Z UID:67817-1783710000-1783716600@ballaratmi.org.au SUMMARY:21 HEARTS: Vivian Bullwinkel and the Nurses of the Vyner Brooke\, a THEATRE 180 production DESCRIPTION:In Conversation with Megan Brown & Lucy Sussex \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n February 25\n\n \n\n @ \n\n\n6:00 pm\n\n \n\n\n\n \n - \n\n8:00 pm\n\n\n\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n$10 \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Humffray Room \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Get Tickets\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Outrageous Fortunes \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Megan Brown & Lucy Sussex \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Megan & Lucy will be hosted in conversation by Dr. Meg Tasker \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n The Adventures of Mary Fortune\, Crime-writer\, and Her Criminal Son \n \n \n \n \n \n \n 'Engrossingly illuminating and ultimately deeply moving' - John Connolly \n \n \n \n \n \n \n 'Mary Fortune's bold fictions electrified colonial Australia. But her own story\, pieced together by two tenacious literary detectives\, was best of all.' —Gideon Haigh \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n The gripping story of Australia’s first female crime writer and her career-criminal son. When Mary Fortune arrived in Melbourne with her infant son in 1855\, she was determined to reinvent herself. The Victorian goldfields were just the place. After a time selling sly grog and a bigamous marriage to a policeman\, Mary became a pioneering journalist and author. The Detective’s Album was the first book of detective stories to be published in Australia and the first by a woman to be published anywhere in the world. Her work appeared in magazines and newspapers for over forty years – but none of her readers knew who she was. She wrote using pseudonyms\, often adopting the voice of a male narrator to write about ‘unladylike’ subjects. When Mary died in 1911\, her identity was nearly lost. In Outrageous Fortunes\, Megan Brown and Lucy Sussex retrieve Fortune’s astonishing career and discover an equally absorbing story in her illegitimate son\, George. While Mary was writing crime\, George was committing it\, with convictions for theft and bank robbery. In their intertwined stories\, crime fiction meets true crime\, and Melbourne’s literary bohemia consorts with the criminal underworld. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n About the authors \n \n \n \n \n \n Megan Brown completed her PhD at the University of Wollongong\, examining the work of Mary Fortune. She has contributed chapters to The Routledge Companion to Australian Literature and The Unsocial Sociability of Women’s Life Writing. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Megan Brown\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Lucy Sussex’s books include Blockbuster! Fergus Hume and The Mystery of a Hansom Cab\, which won the 2015 Victorian Community History Award\, Women Writers and Detectives in the Nineteenth Century and Saltwater in the Ink: Voices from the Australian Seas. She has a PhD from the University of Wales and is an honorary fellow at La Trobe University. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Lucy Sussex\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Host \n \n \n \n \n \n Meg Tasker: Dr Meg Tasker taught British and Australian literature and cultural studies for many years\, her most notable publication being the first and only critical biography of Anglo-Australian writer\, Francis Adams (Struggle and Storm\, Melb UP 2001). She has published quite a few articles and conference papers on Adams and other 19th century writers\, including a handful co-written with Lucy Sussex as part of an ARC funded project on Australian writers in London. Formerly general editor of the Australasian Journal of Victorian Studies (AJVS)\, and President of the Australasian Victorian Studies Association (AVSA)\, she left her position as Associate Professor at Federation University Australia (formerly the University of Ballarat) in 2018\, and is now\, like Lucy and Megan\, happy to be a Victorianist-at-large. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Dr Meg Tasker\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Enquiries:  Any event specific enquires should be direct to library@ballaratmi.org.au \n \n \n \n \n \n $10 per person plus booking fee & gst includes light refreshment. All proceeds go to the Ballaarat Mechanics’ Institute to support the staging of our author events. Book on-line or contact Rosemary at the Libary via email library@ballaratmi.org.au or phone (03) 5331 3042 \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Get Tickets\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Collins Booksellers\, Ballart on Lydiard will be handling book sales for the event. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Why Not become a member\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n This event takes place on Wadawurrung Country. Ballaarat Mechanics’ Institute acknowledges the Wadawurrung People of the Kulin Nation as the first inhabitants and Traditional Custodians of the lands where we work\, learn and create. Always Was\, Always Will Be\, Aboriginal Land. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n More author talks \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n BMI news \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Library closure Saturday 4 July\n The Library will be closed on Saturday 4 July  and... \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n NAIDOC Week\n NAIDOC 2026 National NAIDOC Week celebrations are held across Australia... \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Rosemary’s Book of the Week | The Secrets of Provence by Daisy Wood.\n The Secrets of Provence Daisy Wood Provence\,1940 Thrown out of... \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n A Message from the Chair | BMI Board of Directors | July 2026\n Membership Contriubtions I imagine many of you have received requests... \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Load More\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n BMI Events URL:https://ballaratmi.org.au/event/21-hearts-2/ LOCATION:BMI – Minerva Space\, 117-119 Sturt Street\, Ballarat Central\, VIC\, 3350 CATEGORIES:Theatre Production ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/webp:https://ballaratmi.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/sq-promo-21-hearts.webp END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=Australia/Melbourne:20260711T110000 DTEND;TZID=Australia/Melbourne:20260711T125000 DTSTAMP:20260701T005953Z CREATED:20260212T045959Z LAST-MODIFIED:20260701T005953Z UID:70689-1783767600-1783774200@ballaratmi.org.au SUMMARY:21 HEARTS: Vivian Bullwinkel and the Nurses of the Vyner Brooke\, a THEATRE 180 production DESCRIPTION:In Conversation with Megan Brown & Lucy Sussex \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n February 25\n\n \n\n @ \n\n\n6:00 pm\n\n \n\n\n\n \n - \n\n8:00 pm\n\n\n\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n$10 \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Humffray Room \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Get Tickets\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Outrageous Fortunes \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Megan Brown & Lucy Sussex \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Megan & Lucy will be hosted in conversation by Dr. Meg Tasker \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n The Adventures of Mary Fortune\, Crime-writer\, and Her Criminal Son \n \n \n \n \n \n \n 'Engrossingly illuminating and ultimately deeply moving' - John Connolly \n \n \n \n \n \n \n 'Mary Fortune's bold fictions electrified colonial Australia. But her own story\, pieced together by two tenacious literary detectives\, was best of all.' —Gideon Haigh \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n The gripping story of Australia’s first female crime writer and her career-criminal son. When Mary Fortune arrived in Melbourne with her infant son in 1855\, she was determined to reinvent herself. The Victorian goldfields were just the place. After a time selling sly grog and a bigamous marriage to a policeman\, Mary became a pioneering journalist and author. The Detective’s Album was the first book of detective stories to be published in Australia and the first by a woman to be published anywhere in the world. Her work appeared in magazines and newspapers for over forty years – but none of her readers knew who she was. She wrote using pseudonyms\, often adopting the voice of a male narrator to write about ‘unladylike’ subjects. When Mary died in 1911\, her identity was nearly lost. In Outrageous Fortunes\, Megan Brown and Lucy Sussex retrieve Fortune’s astonishing career and discover an equally absorbing story in her illegitimate son\, George. While Mary was writing crime\, George was committing it\, with convictions for theft and bank robbery. In their intertwined stories\, crime fiction meets true crime\, and Melbourne’s literary bohemia consorts with the criminal underworld. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n About the authors \n \n \n \n \n \n Megan Brown completed her PhD at the University of Wollongong\, examining the work of Mary Fortune. She has contributed chapters to The Routledge Companion to Australian Literature and The Unsocial Sociability of Women’s Life Writing. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Megan Brown\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Lucy Sussex’s books include Blockbuster! Fergus Hume and The Mystery of a Hansom Cab\, which won the 2015 Victorian Community History Award\, Women Writers and Detectives in the Nineteenth Century and Saltwater in the Ink: Voices from the Australian Seas. She has a PhD from the University of Wales and is an honorary fellow at La Trobe University. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Lucy Sussex\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Host \n \n \n \n \n \n Meg Tasker: Dr Meg Tasker taught British and Australian literature and cultural studies for many years\, her most notable publication being the first and only critical biography of Anglo-Australian writer\, Francis Adams (Struggle and Storm\, Melb UP 2001). She has published quite a few articles and conference papers on Adams and other 19th century writers\, including a handful co-written with Lucy Sussex as part of an ARC funded project on Australian writers in London. Formerly general editor of the Australasian Journal of Victorian Studies (AJVS)\, and President of the Australasian Victorian Studies Association (AVSA)\, she left her position as Associate Professor at Federation University Australia (formerly the University of Ballarat) in 2018\, and is now\, like Lucy and Megan\, happy to be a Victorianist-at-large. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Dr Meg Tasker\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Enquiries:  Any event specific enquires should be direct to library@ballaratmi.org.au \n \n \n \n \n \n $10 per person plus booking fee & gst includes light refreshment. All proceeds go to the Ballaarat Mechanics’ Institute to support the staging of our author events. Book on-line or contact Rosemary at the Libary via email library@ballaratmi.org.au or phone (03) 5331 3042 \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Get Tickets\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Collins Booksellers\, Ballart on Lydiard will be handling book sales for the event. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Why Not become a member\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n This event takes place on Wadawurrung Country. Ballaarat Mechanics’ Institute acknowledges the Wadawurrung People of the Kulin Nation as the first inhabitants and Traditional Custodians of the lands where we work\, learn and create. Always Was\, Always Will Be\, Aboriginal Land. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n More author talks \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n BMI news \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Library closure Saturday 4 July\n The Library will be closed on Saturday 4 July  and... \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n NAIDOC Week\n NAIDOC 2026 National NAIDOC Week celebrations are held across Australia... \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Rosemary’s Book of the Week | The Secrets of Provence by Daisy Wood.\n The Secrets of Provence Daisy Wood Provence\,1940 Thrown out of... \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n A Message from the Chair | BMI Board of Directors | July 2026\n Membership Contriubtions I imagine many of you have received requests... \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Load More\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n BMI Events URL:https://ballaratmi.org.au/event/21-hearts-vivian-bulllwinkel-and-the-nurses-of-the-vyner-brooke-a-theatre-180-production-saturday/ LOCATION:BMI – Minerva Space\, 117-119 Sturt Street\, Ballarat Central\, VIC\, 3350 CATEGORIES:Theatre Production ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/webp:https://ballaratmi.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/sq-promo-21-hearts.webp END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=Australia/Melbourne:20260711T190000 DTEND;TZID=Australia/Melbourne:20260711T205000 DTSTAMP:20260430T050650Z CREATED:20260430T044744Z LAST-MODIFIED:20260430T050650Z UID:72672-1783796400-1783803000@ballaratmi.org.au SUMMARY:21 HEARTS: Vivian Bullwinkel and the Nurses of the Vyner Brooke\, a THEATRE 180 production DESCRIPTION:In Conversation with Megan Brown & Lucy Sussex \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n February 25\n\n \n\n @ \n\n\n6:00 pm\n\n \n\n\n\n \n - \n\n8:00 pm\n\n\n\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n$10 \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Humffray Room \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Get Tickets\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Outrageous Fortunes \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Megan Brown & Lucy Sussex \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Megan & Lucy will be hosted in conversation by Dr. Meg Tasker \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n The Adventures of Mary Fortune\, Crime-writer\, and Her Criminal Son \n \n \n \n \n \n \n 'Engrossingly illuminating and ultimately deeply moving' - John Connolly \n \n \n \n \n \n \n 'Mary Fortune's bold fictions electrified colonial Australia. But her own story\, pieced together by two tenacious literary detectives\, was best of all.' —Gideon Haigh \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n The gripping story of Australia’s first female crime writer and her career-criminal son. When Mary Fortune arrived in Melbourne with her infant son in 1855\, she was determined to reinvent herself. The Victorian goldfields were just the place. After a time selling sly grog and a bigamous marriage to a policeman\, Mary became a pioneering journalist and author. The Detective’s Album was the first book of detective stories to be published in Australia and the first by a woman to be published anywhere in the world. Her work appeared in magazines and newspapers for over forty years – but none of her readers knew who she was. She wrote using pseudonyms\, often adopting the voice of a male narrator to write about ‘unladylike’ subjects. When Mary died in 1911\, her identity was nearly lost. In Outrageous Fortunes\, Megan Brown and Lucy Sussex retrieve Fortune’s astonishing career and discover an equally absorbing story in her illegitimate son\, George. While Mary was writing crime\, George was committing it\, with convictions for theft and bank robbery. In their intertwined stories\, crime fiction meets true crime\, and Melbourne’s literary bohemia consorts with the criminal underworld. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n About the authors \n \n \n \n \n \n Megan Brown completed her PhD at the University of Wollongong\, examining the work of Mary Fortune. She has contributed chapters to The Routledge Companion to Australian Literature and The Unsocial Sociability of Women’s Life Writing. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Megan Brown\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Lucy Sussex’s books include Blockbuster! Fergus Hume and The Mystery of a Hansom Cab\, which won the 2015 Victorian Community History Award\, Women Writers and Detectives in the Nineteenth Century and Saltwater in the Ink: Voices from the Australian Seas. She has a PhD from the University of Wales and is an honorary fellow at La Trobe University. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Lucy Sussex\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Host \n \n \n \n \n \n Meg Tasker: Dr Meg Tasker taught British and Australian literature and cultural studies for many years\, her most notable publication being the first and only critical biography of Anglo-Australian writer\, Francis Adams (Struggle and Storm\, Melb UP 2001). She has published quite a few articles and conference papers on Adams and other 19th century writers\, including a handful co-written with Lucy Sussex as part of an ARC funded project on Australian writers in London. Formerly general editor of the Australasian Journal of Victorian Studies (AJVS)\, and President of the Australasian Victorian Studies Association (AVSA)\, she left her position as Associate Professor at Federation University Australia (formerly the University of Ballarat) in 2018\, and is now\, like Lucy and Megan\, happy to be a Victorianist-at-large. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Dr Meg Tasker\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Enquiries:  Any event specific enquires should be direct to library@ballaratmi.org.au \n \n \n \n \n \n $10 per person plus booking fee & gst includes light refreshment. All proceeds go to the Ballaarat Mechanics’ Institute to support the staging of our author events. Book on-line or contact Rosemary at the Libary via email library@ballaratmi.org.au or phone (03) 5331 3042 \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Get Tickets\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Collins Booksellers\, Ballart on Lydiard will be handling book sales for the event. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Why Not become a member\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n This event takes place on Wadawurrung Country. Ballaarat Mechanics’ Institute acknowledges the Wadawurrung People of the Kulin Nation as the first inhabitants and Traditional Custodians of the lands where we work\, learn and create. Always Was\, Always Will Be\, Aboriginal Land. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n More author talks \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n BMI news \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Library closure Saturday 4 July\n The Library will be closed on Saturday 4 July  and... \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n NAIDOC Week\n NAIDOC 2026 National NAIDOC Week celebrations are held across Australia... \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Rosemary’s Book of the Week | The Secrets of Provence by Daisy Wood.\n The Secrets of Provence Daisy Wood Provence\,1940 Thrown out of... \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n A Message from the Chair | BMI Board of Directors | July 2026\n Membership Contriubtions I imagine many of you have received requests... \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Load More\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n BMI Events URL:https://ballaratmi.org.au/event/21-hearts-vivian-bullwinkel-and-the-nurses-of-the-vyner-brooke-a-theatre-180-production/ LOCATION:BMI – Minerva Space\, 117-119 Sturt Street\, Ballarat Central\, VIC\, 3350 CATEGORIES:Theatre Production ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/webp:https://ballaratmi.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/sq-promo-21-hearts.webp END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=Australia/Melbourne:20260714T193000 DTEND;TZID=Australia/Melbourne:20260714T213000 DTSTAMP:20260504T055234Z CREATED:20260427T070837Z LAST-MODIFIED:20260504T055234Z UID:72579-1784057400-1784064600@ballaratmi.org.au SUMMARY:Grigoryan Brothers - A Boy Called Sailboat DESCRIPTION:In Conversation with Megan Brown & Lucy Sussex \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n February 25\n\n \n\n @ \n\n\n6:00 pm\n\n \n\n\n\n \n - \n\n8:00 pm\n\n\n\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n$10 \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Humffray Room \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Get Tickets\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Outrageous Fortunes \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Megan Brown & Lucy Sussex \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Megan & Lucy will be hosted in conversation by Dr. Meg Tasker \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n The Adventures of Mary Fortune\, Crime-writer\, and Her Criminal Son \n \n \n \n \n \n \n 'Engrossingly illuminating and ultimately deeply moving' - John Connolly \n \n \n \n \n \n \n 'Mary Fortune's bold fictions electrified colonial Australia. But her own story\, pieced together by two tenacious literary detectives\, was best of all.' —Gideon Haigh \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n The gripping story of Australia’s first female crime writer and her career-criminal son. When Mary Fortune arrived in Melbourne with her infant son in 1855\, she was determined to reinvent herself. The Victorian goldfields were just the place. After a time selling sly grog and a bigamous marriage to a policeman\, Mary became a pioneering journalist and author. The Detective’s Album was the first book of detective stories to be published in Australia and the first by a woman to be published anywhere in the world. Her work appeared in magazines and newspapers for over forty years – but none of her readers knew who she was. She wrote using pseudonyms\, often adopting the voice of a male narrator to write about ‘unladylike’ subjects. When Mary died in 1911\, her identity was nearly lost. In Outrageous Fortunes\, Megan Brown and Lucy Sussex retrieve Fortune’s astonishing career and discover an equally absorbing story in her illegitimate son\, George. While Mary was writing crime\, George was committing it\, with convictions for theft and bank robbery. In their intertwined stories\, crime fiction meets true crime\, and Melbourne’s literary bohemia consorts with the criminal underworld. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n About the authors \n \n \n \n \n \n Megan Brown completed her PhD at the University of Wollongong\, examining the work of Mary Fortune. She has contributed chapters to The Routledge Companion to Australian Literature and The Unsocial Sociability of Women’s Life Writing. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Megan Brown\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Lucy Sussex’s books include Blockbuster! Fergus Hume and The Mystery of a Hansom Cab\, which won the 2015 Victorian Community History Award\, Women Writers and Detectives in the Nineteenth Century and Saltwater in the Ink: Voices from the Australian Seas. She has a PhD from the University of Wales and is an honorary fellow at La Trobe University. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Lucy Sussex\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Host \n \n \n \n \n \n Meg Tasker: Dr Meg Tasker taught British and Australian literature and cultural studies for many years\, her most notable publication being the first and only critical biography of Anglo-Australian writer\, Francis Adams (Struggle and Storm\, Melb UP 2001). She has published quite a few articles and conference papers on Adams and other 19th century writers\, including a handful co-written with Lucy Sussex as part of an ARC funded project on Australian writers in London. Formerly general editor of the Australasian Journal of Victorian Studies (AJVS)\, and President of the Australasian Victorian Studies Association (AVSA)\, she left her position as Associate Professor at Federation University Australia (formerly the University of Ballarat) in 2018\, and is now\, like Lucy and Megan\, happy to be a Victorianist-at-large. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Dr Meg Tasker\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Enquiries:  Any event specific enquires should be direct to library@ballaratmi.org.au \n \n \n \n \n \n $10 per person plus booking fee & gst includes light refreshment. All proceeds go to the Ballaarat Mechanics’ Institute to support the staging of our author events. Book on-line or contact Rosemary at the Libary via email library@ballaratmi.org.au or phone (03) 5331 3042 \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Get Tickets\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Collins Booksellers\, Ballart on Lydiard will be handling book sales for the event. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Why Not become a member\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n This event takes place on Wadawurrung Country. Ballaarat Mechanics’ Institute acknowledges the Wadawurrung People of the Kulin Nation as the first inhabitants and Traditional Custodians of the lands where we work\, learn and create. Always Was\, Always Will Be\, Aboriginal Land. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n More author talks \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n BMI news \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Library closure Saturday 4 July\n The Library will be closed on Saturday 4 July  and... \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n NAIDOC Week\n NAIDOC 2026 National NAIDOC Week celebrations are held across Australia... \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Rosemary’s Book of the Week | The Secrets of Provence by Daisy Wood.\n The Secrets of Provence Daisy Wood Provence\,1940 Thrown out of... \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n A Message from the Chair | BMI Board of Directors | July 2026\n Membership Contriubtions I imagine many of you have received requests... \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Load More\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n BMI Events URL:https://ballaratmi.org.au/event/grigoryan-brothers-a-boy-called-sailboat/ LOCATION:BMI – Minerva Space\, 117-119 Sturt Street\, Ballarat Central\, VIC\, 3350 CATEGORIES:Film,Live Music ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://ballaratmi.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/sq-promo-a-boy-called-steamboat-v4.png.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=Australia/Melbourne:20260715T180000 DTEND;TZID=Australia/Melbourne:20260715T193000 DTSTAMP:20260511T072228Z CREATED:20260313T024204Z LAST-MODIFIED:20260511T072228Z UID:71265-1784138400-1784143800@ballaratmi.org.au SUMMARY:In Conversation with Benita Bensch DESCRIPTION:In Conversation with Megan Brown & Lucy Sussex \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n February 25\n\n \n\n @ \n\n\n6:00 pm\n\n \n\n\n\n \n - \n\n8:00 pm\n\n\n\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n$10 \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Humffray Room \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Get Tickets\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Outrageous Fortunes \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Megan Brown & Lucy Sussex \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Megan & Lucy will be hosted in conversation by Dr. Meg Tasker \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n The Adventures of Mary Fortune\, Crime-writer\, and Her Criminal Son \n \n \n \n \n \n \n 'Engrossingly illuminating and ultimately deeply moving' - John Connolly \n \n \n \n \n \n \n 'Mary Fortune's bold fictions electrified colonial Australia. But her own story\, pieced together by two tenacious literary detectives\, was best of all.' —Gideon Haigh \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n The gripping story of Australia’s first female crime writer and her career-criminal son. When Mary Fortune arrived in Melbourne with her infant son in 1855\, she was determined to reinvent herself. The Victorian goldfields were just the place. After a time selling sly grog and a bigamous marriage to a policeman\, Mary became a pioneering journalist and author. The Detective’s Album was the first book of detective stories to be published in Australia and the first by a woman to be published anywhere in the world. Her work appeared in magazines and newspapers for over forty years – but none of her readers knew who she was. She wrote using pseudonyms\, often adopting the voice of a male narrator to write about ‘unladylike’ subjects. When Mary died in 1911\, her identity was nearly lost. In Outrageous Fortunes\, Megan Brown and Lucy Sussex retrieve Fortune’s astonishing career and discover an equally absorbing story in her illegitimate son\, George. While Mary was writing crime\, George was committing it\, with convictions for theft and bank robbery. In their intertwined stories\, crime fiction meets true crime\, and Melbourne’s literary bohemia consorts with the criminal underworld. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n About the authors \n \n \n \n \n \n Megan Brown completed her PhD at the University of Wollongong\, examining the work of Mary Fortune. She has contributed chapters to The Routledge Companion to Australian Literature and The Unsocial Sociability of Women’s Life Writing. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Megan Brown\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Lucy Sussex’s books include Blockbuster! Fergus Hume and The Mystery of a Hansom Cab\, which won the 2015 Victorian Community History Award\, Women Writers and Detectives in the Nineteenth Century and Saltwater in the Ink: Voices from the Australian Seas. She has a PhD from the University of Wales and is an honorary fellow at La Trobe University. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Lucy Sussex\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Host \n \n \n \n \n \n Meg Tasker: Dr Meg Tasker taught British and Australian literature and cultural studies for many years\, her most notable publication being the first and only critical biography of Anglo-Australian writer\, Francis Adams (Struggle and Storm\, Melb UP 2001). She has published quite a few articles and conference papers on Adams and other 19th century writers\, including a handful co-written with Lucy Sussex as part of an ARC funded project on Australian writers in London. Formerly general editor of the Australasian Journal of Victorian Studies (AJVS)\, and President of the Australasian Victorian Studies Association (AVSA)\, she left her position as Associate Professor at Federation University Australia (formerly the University of Ballarat) in 2018\, and is now\, like Lucy and Megan\, happy to be a Victorianist-at-large. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Dr Meg Tasker\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Enquiries:  Any event specific enquires should be direct to library@ballaratmi.org.au \n \n \n \n \n \n $10 per person plus booking fee & gst includes light refreshment. All proceeds go to the Ballaarat Mechanics’ Institute to support the staging of our author events. Book on-line or contact Rosemary at the Libary via email library@ballaratmi.org.au or phone (03) 5331 3042 \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Get Tickets\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Collins Booksellers\, Ballart on Lydiard will be handling book sales for the event. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Why Not become a member\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n This event takes place on Wadawurrung Country. Ballaarat Mechanics’ Institute acknowledges the Wadawurrung People of the Kulin Nation as the first inhabitants and Traditional Custodians of the lands where we work\, learn and create. Always Was\, Always Will Be\, Aboriginal Land. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n More author talks \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n BMI news \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Library closure Saturday 4 July\n The Library will be closed on Saturday 4 July  and... \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n NAIDOC Week\n NAIDOC 2026 National NAIDOC Week celebrations are held across Australia... \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Rosemary’s Book of the Week | The Secrets of Provence by Daisy Wood.\n The Secrets of Provence Daisy Wood Provence\,1940 Thrown out of... \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n A Message from the Chair | BMI Board of Directors | July 2026\n Membership Contriubtions I imagine many of you have received requests... \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Load More\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n BMI Events URL:https://ballaratmi.org.au/event/benita-bensch/ LOCATION:BMI – Humffray Room\, 117-119 Sturt Street\, Ballarat Central\, VIC\, 3350\, Australia CATEGORIES:Author Talk,Library ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://ballaratmi.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/sp-promo-talks-benita-bensch-FINAL.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=Australia/Melbourne:20260715T190000 DTEND;TZID=Australia/Melbourne:20260715T200000 DTSTAMP:20260509T055023Z CREATED:20260509T054421Z LAST-MODIFIED:20260509T055023Z UID:72886-1784142000-1784145600@ballaratmi.org.au SUMMARY:Kadampa Meditation Series | A Full Heart: Gratitude and Contentment in Daily Life DESCRIPTION:In Conversation with Megan Brown & Lucy Sussex \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n February 25\n\n \n\n @ \n\n\n6:00 pm\n\n \n\n\n\n \n - \n\n8:00 pm\n\n\n\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n$10 \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Humffray Room \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Get Tickets\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Outrageous Fortunes \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Megan Brown & Lucy Sussex \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Megan & Lucy will be hosted in conversation by Dr. Meg Tasker \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n The Adventures of Mary Fortune\, Crime-writer\, and Her Criminal Son \n \n \n \n \n \n \n 'Engrossingly illuminating and ultimately deeply moving' - John Connolly \n \n \n \n \n \n \n 'Mary Fortune's bold fictions electrified colonial Australia. But her own story\, pieced together by two tenacious literary detectives\, was best of all.' —Gideon Haigh \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n The gripping story of Australia’s first female crime writer and her career-criminal son. When Mary Fortune arrived in Melbourne with her infant son in 1855\, she was determined to reinvent herself. The Victorian goldfields were just the place. After a time selling sly grog and a bigamous marriage to a policeman\, Mary became a pioneering journalist and author. The Detective’s Album was the first book of detective stories to be published in Australia and the first by a woman to be published anywhere in the world. Her work appeared in magazines and newspapers for over forty years – but none of her readers knew who she was. She wrote using pseudonyms\, often adopting the voice of a male narrator to write about ‘unladylike’ subjects. When Mary died in 1911\, her identity was nearly lost. In Outrageous Fortunes\, Megan Brown and Lucy Sussex retrieve Fortune’s astonishing career and discover an equally absorbing story in her illegitimate son\, George. While Mary was writing crime\, George was committing it\, with convictions for theft and bank robbery. In their intertwined stories\, crime fiction meets true crime\, and Melbourne’s literary bohemia consorts with the criminal underworld. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n About the authors \n \n \n \n \n \n Megan Brown completed her PhD at the University of Wollongong\, examining the work of Mary Fortune. She has contributed chapters to The Routledge Companion to Australian Literature and The Unsocial Sociability of Women’s Life Writing. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Megan Brown\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Lucy Sussex’s books include Blockbuster! Fergus Hume and The Mystery of a Hansom Cab\, which won the 2015 Victorian Community History Award\, Women Writers and Detectives in the Nineteenth Century and Saltwater in the Ink: Voices from the Australian Seas. She has a PhD from the University of Wales and is an honorary fellow at La Trobe University. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Lucy Sussex\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Host \n \n \n \n \n \n Meg Tasker: Dr Meg Tasker taught British and Australian literature and cultural studies for many years\, her most notable publication being the first and only critical biography of Anglo-Australian writer\, Francis Adams (Struggle and Storm\, Melb UP 2001). She has published quite a few articles and conference papers on Adams and other 19th century writers\, including a handful co-written with Lucy Sussex as part of an ARC funded project on Australian writers in London. Formerly general editor of the Australasian Journal of Victorian Studies (AJVS)\, and President of the Australasian Victorian Studies Association (AVSA)\, she left her position as Associate Professor at Federation University Australia (formerly the University of Ballarat) in 2018\, and is now\, like Lucy and Megan\, happy to be a Victorianist-at-large. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Dr Meg Tasker\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Enquiries:  Any event specific enquires should be direct to library@ballaratmi.org.au \n \n \n \n \n \n $10 per person plus booking fee & gst includes light refreshment. All proceeds go to the Ballaarat Mechanics’ Institute to support the staging of our author events. Book on-line or contact Rosemary at the Libary via email library@ballaratmi.org.au or phone (03) 5331 3042 \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Get Tickets\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Collins Booksellers\, Ballart on Lydiard will be handling book sales for the event. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Why Not become a member\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n This event takes place on Wadawurrung Country. Ballaarat Mechanics’ Institute acknowledges the Wadawurrung People of the Kulin Nation as the first inhabitants and Traditional Custodians of the lands where we work\, learn and create. Always Was\, Always Will Be\, Aboriginal Land. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n More author talks \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n BMI news \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Library closure Saturday 4 July\n The Library will be closed on Saturday 4 July  and... \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n NAIDOC Week\n NAIDOC 2026 National NAIDOC Week celebrations are held across Australia... \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Rosemary’s Book of the Week | The Secrets of Provence by Daisy Wood.\n The Secrets of Provence Daisy Wood Provence\,1940 Thrown out of... \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n A Message from the Chair | BMI Board of Directors | July 2026\n Membership Contriubtions I imagine many of you have received requests... \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Load More\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n BMI Events URL:https://ballaratmi.org.au/event/kadampa-meditation-series-a-full-heart-gratitude-and-contentment-in-daily-life-15-july/ LOCATION:Lending Library\, Sturt Street\, Ballarat Central\, Victoria\, 3350\, Australia CATEGORIES:kadampa ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://ballaratmi.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/5-Gratitude_GP_Class_BMI-Square.jpg ORGANIZER;CN="Kadampa Meditation":MAILTO:info@kadampa.org.au END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=Australia/Melbourne:20260716T193000 DTEND;TZID=Australia/Melbourne:20260716T210000 DTSTAMP:20260625T050227Z CREATED:20260129T044738Z LAST-MODIFIED:20260625T050227Z UID:70423-1784230200-1784235600@ballaratmi.org.au SUMMARY:Ballarat Film Society | Journey Home DESCRIPTION:In Conversation with Megan Brown & Lucy Sussex \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n February 25\n\n \n\n @ \n\n\n6:00 pm\n\n \n\n\n\n \n - \n\n8:00 pm\n\n\n\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n$10 \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Humffray Room \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Get Tickets\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Outrageous Fortunes \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Megan Brown & Lucy Sussex \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Megan & Lucy will be hosted in conversation by Dr. Meg Tasker \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n The Adventures of Mary Fortune\, Crime-writer\, and Her Criminal Son \n \n \n \n \n \n \n 'Engrossingly illuminating and ultimately deeply moving' - John Connolly \n \n \n \n \n \n \n 'Mary Fortune's bold fictions electrified colonial Australia. But her own story\, pieced together by two tenacious literary detectives\, was best of all.' —Gideon Haigh \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n The gripping story of Australia’s first female crime writer and her career-criminal son. When Mary Fortune arrived in Melbourne with her infant son in 1855\, she was determined to reinvent herself. The Victorian goldfields were just the place. After a time selling sly grog and a bigamous marriage to a policeman\, Mary became a pioneering journalist and author. The Detective’s Album was the first book of detective stories to be published in Australia and the first by a woman to be published anywhere in the world. Her work appeared in magazines and newspapers for over forty years – but none of her readers knew who she was. She wrote using pseudonyms\, often adopting the voice of a male narrator to write about ‘unladylike’ subjects. When Mary died in 1911\, her identity was nearly lost. In Outrageous Fortunes\, Megan Brown and Lucy Sussex retrieve Fortune’s astonishing career and discover an equally absorbing story in her illegitimate son\, George. While Mary was writing crime\, George was committing it\, with convictions for theft and bank robbery. In their intertwined stories\, crime fiction meets true crime\, and Melbourne’s literary bohemia consorts with the criminal underworld. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n About the authors \n \n \n \n \n \n Megan Brown completed her PhD at the University of Wollongong\, examining the work of Mary Fortune. She has contributed chapters to The Routledge Companion to Australian Literature and The Unsocial Sociability of Women’s Life Writing. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Megan Brown\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Lucy Sussex’s books include Blockbuster! Fergus Hume and The Mystery of a Hansom Cab\, which won the 2015 Victorian Community History Award\, Women Writers and Detectives in the Nineteenth Century and Saltwater in the Ink: Voices from the Australian Seas. She has a PhD from the University of Wales and is an honorary fellow at La Trobe University. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Lucy Sussex\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Host \n \n \n \n \n \n Meg Tasker: Dr Meg Tasker taught British and Australian literature and cultural studies for many years\, her most notable publication being the first and only critical biography of Anglo-Australian writer\, Francis Adams (Struggle and Storm\, Melb UP 2001). She has published quite a few articles and conference papers on Adams and other 19th century writers\, including a handful co-written with Lucy Sussex as part of an ARC funded project on Australian writers in London. Formerly general editor of the Australasian Journal of Victorian Studies (AJVS)\, and President of the Australasian Victorian Studies Association (AVSA)\, she left her position as Associate Professor at Federation University Australia (formerly the University of Ballarat) in 2018\, and is now\, like Lucy and Megan\, happy to be a Victorianist-at-large. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Dr Meg Tasker\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Enquiries:  Any event specific enquires should be direct to library@ballaratmi.org.au \n \n \n \n \n \n $10 per person plus booking fee & gst includes light refreshment. All proceeds go to the Ballaarat Mechanics’ Institute to support the staging of our author events. Book on-line or contact Rosemary at the Libary via email library@ballaratmi.org.au or phone (03) 5331 3042 \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Get Tickets\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Collins Booksellers\, Ballart on Lydiard will be handling book sales for the event. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Why Not become a member\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n This event takes place on Wadawurrung Country. Ballaarat Mechanics’ Institute acknowledges the Wadawurrung People of the Kulin Nation as the first inhabitants and Traditional Custodians of the lands where we work\, learn and create. Always Was\, Always Will Be\, Aboriginal Land. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n More author talks \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n BMI news \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Library closure Saturday 4 July\n The Library will be closed on Saturday 4 July  and... \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n NAIDOC Week\n NAIDOC 2026 National NAIDOC Week celebrations are held across Australia... \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Rosemary’s Book of the Week | The Secrets of Provence by Daisy Wood.\n The Secrets of Provence Daisy Wood Provence\,1940 Thrown out of... \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n A Message from the Chair | BMI Board of Directors | July 2026\n Membership Contriubtions I imagine many of you have received requests... \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Load More\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n BMI Events URL:https://ballaratmi.org.au/event/ballarat-film-society-journey-home/ LOCATION:BMI – Minerva Space\, 117-119 Sturt Street\, Ballarat Central\, VIC\, 3350 CATEGORIES:Ballarat Film Society,Film ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://ballaratmi.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/journey-home-sq-promo.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=Australia/Melbourne:20260720T180000 DTEND;TZID=Australia/Melbourne:20260720T193000 DTSTAMP:20260507T043115Z CREATED:20260420T042351Z LAST-MODIFIED:20260507T043115Z UID:72345-1784570400-1784575800@ballaratmi.org.au SUMMARY:In Conversation with Petronella McGovern DESCRIPTION:In Conversation with Megan Brown & Lucy Sussex \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n February 25\n\n \n\n @ \n\n\n6:00 pm\n\n \n\n\n\n \n - \n\n8:00 pm\n\n\n\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n$10 \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Humffray Room \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Get Tickets\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Outrageous Fortunes \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Megan Brown & Lucy Sussex \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Megan & Lucy will be hosted in conversation by Dr. Meg Tasker \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n The Adventures of Mary Fortune\, Crime-writer\, and Her Criminal Son \n \n \n \n \n \n \n 'Engrossingly illuminating and ultimately deeply moving' - John Connolly \n \n \n \n \n \n \n 'Mary Fortune's bold fictions electrified colonial Australia. But her own story\, pieced together by two tenacious literary detectives\, was best of all.' —Gideon Haigh \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n The gripping story of Australia’s first female crime writer and her career-criminal son. When Mary Fortune arrived in Melbourne with her infant son in 1855\, she was determined to reinvent herself. The Victorian goldfields were just the place. After a time selling sly grog and a bigamous marriage to a policeman\, Mary became a pioneering journalist and author. The Detective’s Album was the first book of detective stories to be published in Australia and the first by a woman to be published anywhere in the world. Her work appeared in magazines and newspapers for over forty years – but none of her readers knew who she was. She wrote using pseudonyms\, often adopting the voice of a male narrator to write about ‘unladylike’ subjects. When Mary died in 1911\, her identity was nearly lost. In Outrageous Fortunes\, Megan Brown and Lucy Sussex retrieve Fortune’s astonishing career and discover an equally absorbing story in her illegitimate son\, George. While Mary was writing crime\, George was committing it\, with convictions for theft and bank robbery. In their intertwined stories\, crime fiction meets true crime\, and Melbourne’s literary bohemia consorts with the criminal underworld. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n About the authors \n \n \n \n \n \n Megan Brown completed her PhD at the University of Wollongong\, examining the work of Mary Fortune. She has contributed chapters to The Routledge Companion to Australian Literature and The Unsocial Sociability of Women’s Life Writing. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Megan Brown\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Lucy Sussex’s books include Blockbuster! Fergus Hume and The Mystery of a Hansom Cab\, which won the 2015 Victorian Community History Award\, Women Writers and Detectives in the Nineteenth Century and Saltwater in the Ink: Voices from the Australian Seas. She has a PhD from the University of Wales and is an honorary fellow at La Trobe University. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Lucy Sussex\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Host \n \n \n \n \n \n Meg Tasker: Dr Meg Tasker taught British and Australian literature and cultural studies for many years\, her most notable publication being the first and only critical biography of Anglo-Australian writer\, Francis Adams (Struggle and Storm\, Melb UP 2001). She has published quite a few articles and conference papers on Adams and other 19th century writers\, including a handful co-written with Lucy Sussex as part of an ARC funded project on Australian writers in London. Formerly general editor of the Australasian Journal of Victorian Studies (AJVS)\, and President of the Australasian Victorian Studies Association (AVSA)\, she left her position as Associate Professor at Federation University Australia (formerly the University of Ballarat) in 2018\, and is now\, like Lucy and Megan\, happy to be a Victorianist-at-large. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Dr Meg Tasker\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Enquiries:  Any event specific enquires should be direct to library@ballaratmi.org.au \n \n \n \n \n \n $10 per person plus booking fee & gst includes light refreshment. All proceeds go to the Ballaarat Mechanics’ Institute to support the staging of our author events. Book on-line or contact Rosemary at the Libary via email library@ballaratmi.org.au or phone (03) 5331 3042 \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Get Tickets\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Collins Booksellers\, Ballart on Lydiard will be handling book sales for the event. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Why Not become a member\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n This event takes place on Wadawurrung Country. Ballaarat Mechanics’ Institute acknowledges the Wadawurrung People of the Kulin Nation as the first inhabitants and Traditional Custodians of the lands where we work\, learn and create. Always Was\, Always Will Be\, Aboriginal Land. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n More author talks \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n BMI news \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Library closure Saturday 4 July\n The Library will be closed on Saturday 4 July  and... \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n NAIDOC Week\n NAIDOC 2026 National NAIDOC Week celebrations are held across Australia... \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Rosemary’s Book of the Week | The Secrets of Provence by Daisy Wood.\n The Secrets of Provence Daisy Wood Provence\,1940 Thrown out of... \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n A Message from the Chair | BMI Board of Directors | July 2026\n Membership Contriubtions I imagine many of you have received requests... \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Load More\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n BMI Events URL:https://ballaratmi.org.au/event/petronella-mcgovern/ LOCATION:BMI – Humffray Room\, 117-119 Sturt Street\, Ballarat Central\, VIC\, 3350\, Australia CATEGORIES:Author Talk,Library ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://ballaratmi.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/sp-promo-talks-petronella-mcgovern-v3.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=Australia/Melbourne:20260722T190000 DTEND;TZID=Australia/Melbourne:20260722T200000 DTSTAMP:20260509T054800Z CREATED:20260509T054745Z LAST-MODIFIED:20260509T054800Z UID:72889-1784746800-1784750400@ballaratmi.org.au SUMMARY:Kadampa Meditation Series | A Full Heart: Gratitude and Contentment in Daily Life DESCRIPTION:In Conversation with Megan Brown & Lucy Sussex \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n February 25\n\n \n\n @ \n\n\n6:00 pm\n\n \n\n\n\n \n - \n\n8:00 pm\n\n\n\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n$10 \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Humffray Room \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Get Tickets\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Outrageous Fortunes \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Megan Brown & Lucy Sussex \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Megan & Lucy will be hosted in conversation by Dr. Meg Tasker \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n The Adventures of Mary Fortune\, Crime-writer\, and Her Criminal Son \n \n \n \n \n \n \n 'Engrossingly illuminating and ultimately deeply moving' - John Connolly \n \n \n \n \n \n \n 'Mary Fortune's bold fictions electrified colonial Australia. But her own story\, pieced together by two tenacious literary detectives\, was best of all.' —Gideon Haigh \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n The gripping story of Australia’s first female crime writer and her career-criminal son. When Mary Fortune arrived in Melbourne with her infant son in 1855\, she was determined to reinvent herself. The Victorian goldfields were just the place. After a time selling sly grog and a bigamous marriage to a policeman\, Mary became a pioneering journalist and author. The Detective’s Album was the first book of detective stories to be published in Australia and the first by a woman to be published anywhere in the world. Her work appeared in magazines and newspapers for over forty years – but none of her readers knew who she was. She wrote using pseudonyms\, often adopting the voice of a male narrator to write about ‘unladylike’ subjects. When Mary died in 1911\, her identity was nearly lost. In Outrageous Fortunes\, Megan Brown and Lucy Sussex retrieve Fortune’s astonishing career and discover an equally absorbing story in her illegitimate son\, George. While Mary was writing crime\, George was committing it\, with convictions for theft and bank robbery. In their intertwined stories\, crime fiction meets true crime\, and Melbourne’s literary bohemia consorts with the criminal underworld. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n About the authors \n \n \n \n \n \n Megan Brown completed her PhD at the University of Wollongong\, examining the work of Mary Fortune. She has contributed chapters to The Routledge Companion to Australian Literature and The Unsocial Sociability of Women’s Life Writing. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Megan Brown\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Lucy Sussex’s books include Blockbuster! Fergus Hume and The Mystery of a Hansom Cab\, which won the 2015 Victorian Community History Award\, Women Writers and Detectives in the Nineteenth Century and Saltwater in the Ink: Voices from the Australian Seas. She has a PhD from the University of Wales and is an honorary fellow at La Trobe University. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Lucy Sussex\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Host \n \n \n \n \n \n Meg Tasker: Dr Meg Tasker taught British and Australian literature and cultural studies for many years\, her most notable publication being the first and only critical biography of Anglo-Australian writer\, Francis Adams (Struggle and Storm\, Melb UP 2001). She has published quite a few articles and conference papers on Adams and other 19th century writers\, including a handful co-written with Lucy Sussex as part of an ARC funded project on Australian writers in London. Formerly general editor of the Australasian Journal of Victorian Studies (AJVS)\, and President of the Australasian Victorian Studies Association (AVSA)\, she left her position as Associate Professor at Federation University Australia (formerly the University of Ballarat) in 2018\, and is now\, like Lucy and Megan\, happy to be a Victorianist-at-large. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Dr Meg Tasker\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Enquiries:  Any event specific enquires should be direct to library@ballaratmi.org.au \n \n \n \n \n \n $10 per person plus booking fee & gst includes light refreshment. All proceeds go to the Ballaarat Mechanics’ Institute to support the staging of our author events. Book on-line or contact Rosemary at the Libary via email library@ballaratmi.org.au or phone (03) 5331 3042 \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Get Tickets\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Collins Booksellers\, Ballart on Lydiard will be handling book sales for the event. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Why Not become a member\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n This event takes place on Wadawurrung Country. Ballaarat Mechanics’ Institute acknowledges the Wadawurrung People of the Kulin Nation as the first inhabitants and Traditional Custodians of the lands where we work\, learn and create. Always Was\, Always Will Be\, Aboriginal Land. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n More author talks \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n BMI news \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Library closure Saturday 4 July\n The Library will be closed on Saturday 4 July  and... \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n NAIDOC Week\n NAIDOC 2026 National NAIDOC Week celebrations are held across Australia... \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Rosemary’s Book of the Week | The Secrets of Provence by Daisy Wood.\n The Secrets of Provence Daisy Wood Provence\,1940 Thrown out of... \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n A Message from the Chair | BMI Board of Directors | July 2026\n Membership Contriubtions I imagine many of you have received requests... \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Load More\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n BMI Events URL:https://ballaratmi.org.au/event/kadampa-meditation-series-a-full-heart-gratitude-and-contentment-in-daily-life-22-july/ LOCATION:Lending Library\, Sturt Street\, Ballarat Central\, Victoria\, 3350\, Australia CATEGORIES:kadampa ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://ballaratmi.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/5-Gratitude_GP_Class_BMI-Square.jpg ORGANIZER;CN="Kadampa Meditation":MAILTO:info@kadampa.org.au END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=Australia/Melbourne:20260723T190000 DTEND;TZID=Australia/Melbourne:20260723T210000 DTSTAMP:20260331T034312Z CREATED:20260223T045111Z LAST-MODIFIED:20260331T034312Z UID:70806-1784833200-1784840400@ballaratmi.org.au SUMMARY:God of Carnage\, A Ballarat National Theatre Production DESCRIPTION:In Conversation with Megan Brown & Lucy Sussex \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n February 25\n\n \n\n @ \n\n\n6:00 pm\n\n \n\n\n\n \n - \n\n8:00 pm\n\n\n\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n$10 \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Humffray Room \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Get Tickets\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Outrageous Fortunes \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Megan Brown & Lucy Sussex \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Megan & Lucy will be hosted in conversation by Dr. Meg Tasker \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n The Adventures of Mary Fortune\, Crime-writer\, and Her Criminal Son \n \n \n \n \n \n \n 'Engrossingly illuminating and ultimately deeply moving' - John Connolly \n \n \n \n \n \n \n 'Mary Fortune's bold fictions electrified colonial Australia. But her own story\, pieced together by two tenacious literary detectives\, was best of all.' —Gideon Haigh \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n The gripping story of Australia’s first female crime writer and her career-criminal son. When Mary Fortune arrived in Melbourne with her infant son in 1855\, she was determined to reinvent herself. The Victorian goldfields were just the place. After a time selling sly grog and a bigamous marriage to a policeman\, Mary became a pioneering journalist and author. The Detective’s Album was the first book of detective stories to be published in Australia and the first by a woman to be published anywhere in the world. Her work appeared in magazines and newspapers for over forty years – but none of her readers knew who she was. She wrote using pseudonyms\, often adopting the voice of a male narrator to write about ‘unladylike’ subjects. When Mary died in 1911\, her identity was nearly lost. In Outrageous Fortunes\, Megan Brown and Lucy Sussex retrieve Fortune’s astonishing career and discover an equally absorbing story in her illegitimate son\, George. While Mary was writing crime\, George was committing it\, with convictions for theft and bank robbery. In their intertwined stories\, crime fiction meets true crime\, and Melbourne’s literary bohemia consorts with the criminal underworld. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n About the authors \n \n \n \n \n \n Megan Brown completed her PhD at the University of Wollongong\, examining the work of Mary Fortune. She has contributed chapters to The Routledge Companion to Australian Literature and The Unsocial Sociability of Women’s Life Writing. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Megan Brown\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Lucy Sussex’s books include Blockbuster! Fergus Hume and The Mystery of a Hansom Cab\, which won the 2015 Victorian Community History Award\, Women Writers and Detectives in the Nineteenth Century and Saltwater in the Ink: Voices from the Australian Seas. She has a PhD from the University of Wales and is an honorary fellow at La Trobe University. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Lucy Sussex\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Host \n \n \n \n \n \n Meg Tasker: Dr Meg Tasker taught British and Australian literature and cultural studies for many years\, her most notable publication being the first and only critical biography of Anglo-Australian writer\, Francis Adams (Struggle and Storm\, Melb UP 2001). She has published quite a few articles and conference papers on Adams and other 19th century writers\, including a handful co-written with Lucy Sussex as part of an ARC funded project on Australian writers in London. Formerly general editor of the Australasian Journal of Victorian Studies (AJVS)\, and President of the Australasian Victorian Studies Association (AVSA)\, she left her position as Associate Professor at Federation University Australia (formerly the University of Ballarat) in 2018\, and is now\, like Lucy and Megan\, happy to be a Victorianist-at-large. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Dr Meg Tasker\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Enquiries:  Any event specific enquires should be direct to library@ballaratmi.org.au \n \n \n \n \n \n $10 per person plus booking fee & gst includes light refreshment. All proceeds go to the Ballaarat Mechanics’ Institute to support the staging of our author events. Book on-line or contact Rosemary at the Libary via email library@ballaratmi.org.au or phone (03) 5331 3042 \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Get Tickets\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Collins Booksellers\, Ballart on Lydiard will be handling book sales for the event. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Why Not become a member\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n This event takes place on Wadawurrung Country. Ballaarat Mechanics’ Institute acknowledges the Wadawurrung People of the Kulin Nation as the first inhabitants and Traditional Custodians of the lands where we work\, learn and create. Always Was\, Always Will Be\, Aboriginal Land. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n More author talks \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n BMI news \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Library closure Saturday 4 July\n The Library will be closed on Saturday 4 July  and... \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n NAIDOC Week\n NAIDOC 2026 National NAIDOC Week celebrations are held across Australia... \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Rosemary’s Book of the Week | The Secrets of Provence by Daisy Wood.\n The Secrets of Provence Daisy Wood Provence\,1940 Thrown out of... \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n A Message from the Chair | BMI Board of Directors | July 2026\n Membership Contriubtions I imagine many of you have received requests... \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Load More\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n BMI Events URL:https://ballaratmi.org.au/event/god-of-carnage-23-july/ LOCATION:BMI – Minerva Space\, 117-119 Sturt Street\, Ballarat Central\, VIC\, 3350 CATEGORIES:Ballarat National Theatre,Theatre Production ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/webp:https://ballaratmi.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/God-of-Carnage-BMI-Square.webp ORGANIZER;CN="Ballarat National Theatre":MAILTO:contact@bnt.org.au END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=Australia/Melbourne:20260724T110000 DTEND;TZID=Australia/Melbourne:20260724T123000 DTSTAMP:20260617T043709Z CREATED:20260520T015158Z LAST-MODIFIED:20260617T043709Z UID:73020-1784890800-1784896200@ballaratmi.org.au SUMMARY:Arresting the Ephemeral: The Beautiful Usefulness of a Victorian Herbarium DESCRIPTION:In Conversation with Megan Brown & Lucy Sussex \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n February 25\n\n \n\n @ \n\n\n6:00 pm\n\n \n\n\n\n \n - \n\n8:00 pm\n\n\n\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n$10 \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Humffray Room \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Get Tickets\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Outrageous Fortunes \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Megan Brown & Lucy Sussex \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Megan & Lucy will be hosted in conversation by Dr. Meg Tasker \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n The Adventures of Mary Fortune\, Crime-writer\, and Her Criminal Son \n \n \n \n \n \n \n 'Engrossingly illuminating and ultimately deeply moving' - John Connolly \n \n \n \n \n \n \n 'Mary Fortune's bold fictions electrified colonial Australia. But her own story\, pieced together by two tenacious literary detectives\, was best of all.' —Gideon Haigh \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n The gripping story of Australia’s first female crime writer and her career-criminal son. When Mary Fortune arrived in Melbourne with her infant son in 1855\, she was determined to reinvent herself. The Victorian goldfields were just the place. After a time selling sly grog and a bigamous marriage to a policeman\, Mary became a pioneering journalist and author. The Detective’s Album was the first book of detective stories to be published in Australia and the first by a woman to be published anywhere in the world. Her work appeared in magazines and newspapers for over forty years – but none of her readers knew who she was. She wrote using pseudonyms\, often adopting the voice of a male narrator to write about ‘unladylike’ subjects. When Mary died in 1911\, her identity was nearly lost. In Outrageous Fortunes\, Megan Brown and Lucy Sussex retrieve Fortune’s astonishing career and discover an equally absorbing story in her illegitimate son\, George. While Mary was writing crime\, George was committing it\, with convictions for theft and bank robbery. In their intertwined stories\, crime fiction meets true crime\, and Melbourne’s literary bohemia consorts with the criminal underworld. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n About the authors \n \n \n \n \n \n Megan Brown completed her PhD at the University of Wollongong\, examining the work of Mary Fortune. She has contributed chapters to The Routledge Companion to Australian Literature and The Unsocial Sociability of Women’s Life Writing. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Megan Brown\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Lucy Sussex’s books include Blockbuster! Fergus Hume and The Mystery of a Hansom Cab\, which won the 2015 Victorian Community History Award\, Women Writers and Detectives in the Nineteenth Century and Saltwater in the Ink: Voices from the Australian Seas. She has a PhD from the University of Wales and is an honorary fellow at La Trobe University. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Lucy Sussex\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Host \n \n \n \n \n \n Meg Tasker: Dr Meg Tasker taught British and Australian literature and cultural studies for many years\, her most notable publication being the first and only critical biography of Anglo-Australian writer\, Francis Adams (Struggle and Storm\, Melb UP 2001). She has published quite a few articles and conference papers on Adams and other 19th century writers\, including a handful co-written with Lucy Sussex as part of an ARC funded project on Australian writers in London. Formerly general editor of the Australasian Journal of Victorian Studies (AJVS)\, and President of the Australasian Victorian Studies Association (AVSA)\, she left her position as Associate Professor at Federation University Australia (formerly the University of Ballarat) in 2018\, and is now\, like Lucy and Megan\, happy to be a Victorianist-at-large. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Dr Meg Tasker\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Enquiries:  Any event specific enquires should be direct to library@ballaratmi.org.au \n \n \n \n \n \n $10 per person plus booking fee & gst includes light refreshment. All proceeds go to the Ballaarat Mechanics’ Institute to support the staging of our author events. Book on-line or contact Rosemary at the Libary via email library@ballaratmi.org.au or phone (03) 5331 3042 \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Get Tickets\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Collins Booksellers\, Ballart on Lydiard will be handling book sales for the event. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Why Not become a member\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n This event takes place on Wadawurrung Country. Ballaarat Mechanics’ Institute acknowledges the Wadawurrung People of the Kulin Nation as the first inhabitants and Traditional Custodians of the lands where we work\, learn and create. Always Was\, Always Will Be\, Aboriginal Land. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n More author talks \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n BMI news \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Library closure Saturday 4 July\n The Library will be closed on Saturday 4 July  and... \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n NAIDOC Week\n NAIDOC 2026 National NAIDOC Week celebrations are held across Australia... \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Rosemary’s Book of the Week | The Secrets of Provence by Daisy Wood.\n The Secrets of Provence Daisy Wood Provence\,1940 Thrown out of... \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n A Message from the Chair | BMI Board of Directors | July 2026\n Membership Contriubtions I imagine many of you have received requests... \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Load More\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n BMI Events URL:https://ballaratmi.org.au/event/arresting-the-ephemeral-the-beautiful-usefulness-of-a-victorian-herbarium/ LOCATION:BMI – Humffray Room\, 117-119 Sturt Street\, Ballarat Central\, VIC\, 3350\, Australia CATEGORIES:Rare Book Week,Talk,The Collection ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://ballaratmi.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/sq-promo-events-arresting.png END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=Australia/Melbourne:20260724T190000 DTEND;TZID=Australia/Melbourne:20260724T210000 DTSTAMP:20260331T034253Z CREATED:20260223T053244Z LAST-MODIFIED:20260331T034253Z UID:70815-1784919600-1784926800@ballaratmi.org.au SUMMARY:God of Carnage\, A Ballarat National Theatre Production DESCRIPTION:In Conversation with Megan Brown & Lucy Sussex \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n February 25\n\n \n\n @ \n\n\n6:00 pm\n\n \n\n\n\n \n - \n\n8:00 pm\n\n\n\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n$10 \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Humffray Room \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Get Tickets\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Outrageous Fortunes \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Megan Brown & Lucy Sussex \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Megan & Lucy will be hosted in conversation by Dr. Meg Tasker \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n The Adventures of Mary Fortune\, Crime-writer\, and Her Criminal Son \n \n \n \n \n \n \n 'Engrossingly illuminating and ultimately deeply moving' - John Connolly \n \n \n \n \n \n \n 'Mary Fortune's bold fictions electrified colonial Australia. But her own story\, pieced together by two tenacious literary detectives\, was best of all.' —Gideon Haigh \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n The gripping story of Australia’s first female crime writer and her career-criminal son. When Mary Fortune arrived in Melbourne with her infant son in 1855\, she was determined to reinvent herself. The Victorian goldfields were just the place. After a time selling sly grog and a bigamous marriage to a policeman\, Mary became a pioneering journalist and author. The Detective’s Album was the first book of detective stories to be published in Australia and the first by a woman to be published anywhere in the world. Her work appeared in magazines and newspapers for over forty years – but none of her readers knew who she was. She wrote using pseudonyms\, often adopting the voice of a male narrator to write about ‘unladylike’ subjects. When Mary died in 1911\, her identity was nearly lost. In Outrageous Fortunes\, Megan Brown and Lucy Sussex retrieve Fortune’s astonishing career and discover an equally absorbing story in her illegitimate son\, George. While Mary was writing crime\, George was committing it\, with convictions for theft and bank robbery. In their intertwined stories\, crime fiction meets true crime\, and Melbourne’s literary bohemia consorts with the criminal underworld. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n About the authors \n \n \n \n \n \n Megan Brown completed her PhD at the University of Wollongong\, examining the work of Mary Fortune. She has contributed chapters to The Routledge Companion to Australian Literature and The Unsocial Sociability of Women’s Life Writing. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Megan Brown\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Lucy Sussex’s books include Blockbuster! Fergus Hume and The Mystery of a Hansom Cab\, which won the 2015 Victorian Community History Award\, Women Writers and Detectives in the Nineteenth Century and Saltwater in the Ink: Voices from the Australian Seas. She has a PhD from the University of Wales and is an honorary fellow at La Trobe University. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Lucy Sussex\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Host \n \n \n \n \n \n Meg Tasker: Dr Meg Tasker taught British and Australian literature and cultural studies for many years\, her most notable publication being the first and only critical biography of Anglo-Australian writer\, Francis Adams (Struggle and Storm\, Melb UP 2001). She has published quite a few articles and conference papers on Adams and other 19th century writers\, including a handful co-written with Lucy Sussex as part of an ARC funded project on Australian writers in London. Formerly general editor of the Australasian Journal of Victorian Studies (AJVS)\, and President of the Australasian Victorian Studies Association (AVSA)\, she left her position as Associate Professor at Federation University Australia (formerly the University of Ballarat) in 2018\, and is now\, like Lucy and Megan\, happy to be a Victorianist-at-large. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Dr Meg Tasker\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Enquiries:  Any event specific enquires should be direct to library@ballaratmi.org.au \n \n \n \n \n \n $10 per person plus booking fee & gst includes light refreshment. All proceeds go to the Ballaarat Mechanics’ Institute to support the staging of our author events. Book on-line or contact Rosemary at the Libary via email library@ballaratmi.org.au or phone (03) 5331 3042 \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Get Tickets\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Collins Booksellers\, Ballart on Lydiard will be handling book sales for the event. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Why Not become a member\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n This event takes place on Wadawurrung Country. Ballaarat Mechanics’ Institute acknowledges the Wadawurrung People of the Kulin Nation as the first inhabitants and Traditional Custodians of the lands where we work\, learn and create. Always Was\, Always Will Be\, Aboriginal Land. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n More author talks \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n BMI news \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Library closure Saturday 4 July\n The Library will be closed on Saturday 4 July  and... \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n NAIDOC Week\n NAIDOC 2026 National NAIDOC Week celebrations are held across Australia... \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Rosemary’s Book of the Week | The Secrets of Provence by Daisy Wood.\n The Secrets of Provence Daisy Wood Provence\,1940 Thrown out of... \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n A Message from the Chair | BMI Board of Directors | July 2026\n Membership Contriubtions I imagine many of you have received requests... \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Load More\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n BMI Events URL:https://ballaratmi.org.au/event/god-of-carnage-24-july/ LOCATION:BMI – Minerva Space\, 117-119 Sturt Street\, Ballarat Central\, VIC\, 3350 CATEGORIES:Ballarat National Theatre,Theatre Production ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/webp:https://ballaratmi.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/God-of-Carnage-BMI-Square.webp ORGANIZER;CN="Ballarat National Theatre":MAILTO:contact@bnt.org.au END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=Australia/Melbourne:20260725T140000 DTEND;TZID=Australia/Melbourne:20260725T160000 DTSTAMP:20260331T034233Z CREATED:20260223T053557Z LAST-MODIFIED:20260331T034233Z UID:70819-1784988000-1784995200@ballaratmi.org.au SUMMARY:God of Carnage\, A Ballarat National Theatre Production DESCRIPTION:In Conversation with Megan Brown & Lucy Sussex \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n February 25\n\n \n\n @ \n\n\n6:00 pm\n\n \n\n\n\n \n - \n\n8:00 pm\n\n\n\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n$10 \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Humffray Room \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Get Tickets\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Outrageous Fortunes \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Megan Brown & Lucy Sussex \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Megan & Lucy will be hosted in conversation by Dr. Meg Tasker \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n The Adventures of Mary Fortune\, Crime-writer\, and Her Criminal Son \n \n \n \n \n \n \n 'Engrossingly illuminating and ultimately deeply moving' - John Connolly \n \n \n \n \n \n \n 'Mary Fortune's bold fictions electrified colonial Australia. But her own story\, pieced together by two tenacious literary detectives\, was best of all.' —Gideon Haigh \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n The gripping story of Australia’s first female crime writer and her career-criminal son. When Mary Fortune arrived in Melbourne with her infant son in 1855\, she was determined to reinvent herself. The Victorian goldfields were just the place. After a time selling sly grog and a bigamous marriage to a policeman\, Mary became a pioneering journalist and author. The Detective’s Album was the first book of detective stories to be published in Australia and the first by a woman to be published anywhere in the world. Her work appeared in magazines and newspapers for over forty years – but none of her readers knew who she was. She wrote using pseudonyms\, often adopting the voice of a male narrator to write about ‘unladylike’ subjects. When Mary died in 1911\, her identity was nearly lost. In Outrageous Fortunes\, Megan Brown and Lucy Sussex retrieve Fortune’s astonishing career and discover an equally absorbing story in her illegitimate son\, George. While Mary was writing crime\, George was committing it\, with convictions for theft and bank robbery. In their intertwined stories\, crime fiction meets true crime\, and Melbourne’s literary bohemia consorts with the criminal underworld. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n About the authors \n \n \n \n \n \n Megan Brown completed her PhD at the University of Wollongong\, examining the work of Mary Fortune. She has contributed chapters to The Routledge Companion to Australian Literature and The Unsocial Sociability of Women’s Life Writing. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Megan Brown\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Lucy Sussex’s books include Blockbuster! Fergus Hume and The Mystery of a Hansom Cab\, which won the 2015 Victorian Community History Award\, Women Writers and Detectives in the Nineteenth Century and Saltwater in the Ink: Voices from the Australian Seas. She has a PhD from the University of Wales and is an honorary fellow at La Trobe University. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Lucy Sussex\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Host \n \n \n \n \n \n Meg Tasker: Dr Meg Tasker taught British and Australian literature and cultural studies for many years\, her most notable publication being the first and only critical biography of Anglo-Australian writer\, Francis Adams (Struggle and Storm\, Melb UP 2001). She has published quite a few articles and conference papers on Adams and other 19th century writers\, including a handful co-written with Lucy Sussex as part of an ARC funded project on Australian writers in London. Formerly general editor of the Australasian Journal of Victorian Studies (AJVS)\, and President of the Australasian Victorian Studies Association (AVSA)\, she left her position as Associate Professor at Federation University Australia (formerly the University of Ballarat) in 2018\, and is now\, like Lucy and Megan\, happy to be a Victorianist-at-large. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Dr Meg Tasker\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Enquiries:  Any event specific enquires should be direct to library@ballaratmi.org.au \n \n \n \n \n \n $10 per person plus booking fee & gst includes light refreshment. All proceeds go to the Ballaarat Mechanics’ Institute to support the staging of our author events. Book on-line or contact Rosemary at the Libary via email library@ballaratmi.org.au or phone (03) 5331 3042 \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Get Tickets\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Collins Booksellers\, Ballart on Lydiard will be handling book sales for the event. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Why Not become a member\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n This event takes place on Wadawurrung Country. Ballaarat Mechanics’ Institute acknowledges the Wadawurrung People of the Kulin Nation as the first inhabitants and Traditional Custodians of the lands where we work\, learn and create. Always Was\, Always Will Be\, Aboriginal Land. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n More author talks \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n BMI news \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Library closure Saturday 4 July\n The Library will be closed on Saturday 4 July  and... \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n NAIDOC Week\n NAIDOC 2026 National NAIDOC Week celebrations are held across Australia... \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Rosemary’s Book of the Week | The Secrets of Provence by Daisy Wood.\n The Secrets of Provence Daisy Wood Provence\,1940 Thrown out of... \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n A Message from the Chair | BMI Board of Directors | July 2026\n Membership Contriubtions I imagine many of you have received requests... \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Load More\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n BMI Events URL:https://ballaratmi.org.au/event/god-of-carnage-25-july/ LOCATION:BMI – Minerva Space\, 117-119 Sturt Street\, Ballarat Central\, VIC\, 3350 CATEGORIES:Ballarat National Theatre,Theatre Production ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/webp:https://ballaratmi.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/God-of-Carnage-BMI-Square.webp ORGANIZER;CN="Ballarat National Theatre":MAILTO:contact@bnt.org.au END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=Australia/Melbourne:20260725T190000 DTEND;TZID=Australia/Melbourne:20260725T210000 DTSTAMP:20260331T034212Z CREATED:20260223T053430Z LAST-MODIFIED:20260331T034212Z UID:70817-1785006000-1785013200@ballaratmi.org.au SUMMARY:God of Carnage\, A Ballarat National Theatre Production DESCRIPTION:In Conversation with Megan Brown & Lucy Sussex \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n February 25\n\n \n\n @ \n\n\n6:00 pm\n\n \n\n\n\n \n - \n\n8:00 pm\n\n\n\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n$10 \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Humffray Room \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Get Tickets\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Outrageous Fortunes \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Megan Brown & Lucy Sussex \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Megan & Lucy will be hosted in conversation by Dr. Meg Tasker \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n The Adventures of Mary Fortune\, Crime-writer\, and Her Criminal Son \n \n \n \n \n \n \n 'Engrossingly illuminating and ultimately deeply moving' - John Connolly \n \n \n \n \n \n \n 'Mary Fortune's bold fictions electrified colonial Australia. But her own story\, pieced together by two tenacious literary detectives\, was best of all.' —Gideon Haigh \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n The gripping story of Australia’s first female crime writer and her career-criminal son. When Mary Fortune arrived in Melbourne with her infant son in 1855\, she was determined to reinvent herself. The Victorian goldfields were just the place. After a time selling sly grog and a bigamous marriage to a policeman\, Mary became a pioneering journalist and author. The Detective’s Album was the first book of detective stories to be published in Australia and the first by a woman to be published anywhere in the world. Her work appeared in magazines and newspapers for over forty years – but none of her readers knew who she was. She wrote using pseudonyms\, often adopting the voice of a male narrator to write about ‘unladylike’ subjects. When Mary died in 1911\, her identity was nearly lost. In Outrageous Fortunes\, Megan Brown and Lucy Sussex retrieve Fortune’s astonishing career and discover an equally absorbing story in her illegitimate son\, George. While Mary was writing crime\, George was committing it\, with convictions for theft and bank robbery. In their intertwined stories\, crime fiction meets true crime\, and Melbourne’s literary bohemia consorts with the criminal underworld. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n About the authors \n \n \n \n \n \n Megan Brown completed her PhD at the University of Wollongong\, examining the work of Mary Fortune. She has contributed chapters to The Routledge Companion to Australian Literature and The Unsocial Sociability of Women’s Life Writing. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Megan Brown\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Lucy Sussex’s books include Blockbuster! Fergus Hume and The Mystery of a Hansom Cab\, which won the 2015 Victorian Community History Award\, Women Writers and Detectives in the Nineteenth Century and Saltwater in the Ink: Voices from the Australian Seas. She has a PhD from the University of Wales and is an honorary fellow at La Trobe University. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Lucy Sussex\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Host \n \n \n \n \n \n Meg Tasker: Dr Meg Tasker taught British and Australian literature and cultural studies for many years\, her most notable publication being the first and only critical biography of Anglo-Australian writer\, Francis Adams (Struggle and Storm\, Melb UP 2001). She has published quite a few articles and conference papers on Adams and other 19th century writers\, including a handful co-written with Lucy Sussex as part of an ARC funded project on Australian writers in London. Formerly general editor of the Australasian Journal of Victorian Studies (AJVS)\, and President of the Australasian Victorian Studies Association (AVSA)\, she left her position as Associate Professor at Federation University Australia (formerly the University of Ballarat) in 2018\, and is now\, like Lucy and Megan\, happy to be a Victorianist-at-large. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Dr Meg Tasker\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Enquiries:  Any event specific enquires should be direct to library@ballaratmi.org.au \n \n \n \n \n \n $10 per person plus booking fee & gst includes light refreshment. All proceeds go to the Ballaarat Mechanics’ Institute to support the staging of our author events. Book on-line or contact Rosemary at the Libary via email library@ballaratmi.org.au or phone (03) 5331 3042 \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Get Tickets\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Collins Booksellers\, Ballart on Lydiard will be handling book sales for the event. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Why Not become a member\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n This event takes place on Wadawurrung Country. Ballaarat Mechanics’ Institute acknowledges the Wadawurrung People of the Kulin Nation as the first inhabitants and Traditional Custodians of the lands where we work\, learn and create. Always Was\, Always Will Be\, Aboriginal Land. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n More author talks \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n BMI news \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Library closure Saturday 4 July\n The Library will be closed on Saturday 4 July  and... \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n NAIDOC Week\n NAIDOC 2026 National NAIDOC Week celebrations are held across Australia... \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Rosemary’s Book of the Week | The Secrets of Provence by Daisy Wood.\n The Secrets of Provence Daisy Wood Provence\,1940 Thrown out of... \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n A Message from the Chair | BMI Board of Directors | July 2026\n Membership Contriubtions I imagine many of you have received requests... \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Load More\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n BMI Events URL:https://ballaratmi.org.au/event/god-of-carnage-25-july-2/ LOCATION:BMI – Minerva Space\, 117-119 Sturt Street\, Ballarat Central\, VIC\, 3350 CATEGORIES:Ballarat National Theatre,Theatre Production ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/webp:https://ballaratmi.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/God-of-Carnage-BMI-Square.webp ORGANIZER;CN="Ballarat National Theatre":MAILTO:contact@bnt.org.au END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=Australia/Melbourne:20260729T180000 DTEND;TZID=Australia/Melbourne:20260729T193000 DTSTAMP:20260417T012750Z CREATED:20260416T050939Z LAST-MODIFIED:20260417T012750Z UID:72260-1785348000-1785353400@ballaratmi.org.au SUMMARY:In Conversation with Phillipa Nefri Clark DESCRIPTION:In Conversation with Megan Brown & Lucy Sussex \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n February 25\n\n \n\n @ \n\n\n6:00 pm\n\n \n\n\n\n \n - \n\n8:00 pm\n\n\n\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n$10 \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Humffray Room \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Get Tickets\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Outrageous Fortunes \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Megan Brown & Lucy Sussex \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Megan & Lucy will be hosted in conversation by Dr. Meg Tasker \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n The Adventures of Mary Fortune\, Crime-writer\, and Her Criminal Son \n \n \n \n \n \n \n 'Engrossingly illuminating and ultimately deeply moving' - John Connolly \n \n \n \n \n \n \n 'Mary Fortune's bold fictions electrified colonial Australia. But her own story\, pieced together by two tenacious literary detectives\, was best of all.' —Gideon Haigh \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n The gripping story of Australia’s first female crime writer and her career-criminal son. When Mary Fortune arrived in Melbourne with her infant son in 1855\, she was determined to reinvent herself. The Victorian goldfields were just the place. After a time selling sly grog and a bigamous marriage to a policeman\, Mary became a pioneering journalist and author. The Detective’s Album was the first book of detective stories to be published in Australia and the first by a woman to be published anywhere in the world. Her work appeared in magazines and newspapers for over forty years – but none of her readers knew who she was. She wrote using pseudonyms\, often adopting the voice of a male narrator to write about ‘unladylike’ subjects. When Mary died in 1911\, her identity was nearly lost. In Outrageous Fortunes\, Megan Brown and Lucy Sussex retrieve Fortune’s astonishing career and discover an equally absorbing story in her illegitimate son\, George. While Mary was writing crime\, George was committing it\, with convictions for theft and bank robbery. In their intertwined stories\, crime fiction meets true crime\, and Melbourne’s literary bohemia consorts with the criminal underworld. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n About the authors \n \n \n \n \n \n Megan Brown completed her PhD at the University of Wollongong\, examining the work of Mary Fortune. She has contributed chapters to The Routledge Companion to Australian Literature and The Unsocial Sociability of Women’s Life Writing. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Megan Brown\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Lucy Sussex’s books include Blockbuster! Fergus Hume and The Mystery of a Hansom Cab\, which won the 2015 Victorian Community History Award\, Women Writers and Detectives in the Nineteenth Century and Saltwater in the Ink: Voices from the Australian Seas. She has a PhD from the University of Wales and is an honorary fellow at La Trobe University. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Lucy Sussex\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Host \n \n \n \n \n \n Meg Tasker: Dr Meg Tasker taught British and Australian literature and cultural studies for many years\, her most notable publication being the first and only critical biography of Anglo-Australian writer\, Francis Adams (Struggle and Storm\, Melb UP 2001). She has published quite a few articles and conference papers on Adams and other 19th century writers\, including a handful co-written with Lucy Sussex as part of an ARC funded project on Australian writers in London. Formerly general editor of the Australasian Journal of Victorian Studies (AJVS)\, and President of the Australasian Victorian Studies Association (AVSA)\, she left her position as Associate Professor at Federation University Australia (formerly the University of Ballarat) in 2018\, and is now\, like Lucy and Megan\, happy to be a Victorianist-at-large. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Dr Meg Tasker\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Enquiries:  Any event specific enquires should be direct to library@ballaratmi.org.au \n \n \n \n \n \n $10 per person plus booking fee & gst includes light refreshment. All proceeds go to the Ballaarat Mechanics’ Institute to support the staging of our author events. Book on-line or contact Rosemary at the Libary via email library@ballaratmi.org.au or phone (03) 5331 3042 \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Get Tickets\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Collins Booksellers\, Ballart on Lydiard will be handling book sales for the event. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Why Not become a member\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n This event takes place on Wadawurrung Country. Ballaarat Mechanics’ Institute acknowledges the Wadawurrung People of the Kulin Nation as the first inhabitants and Traditional Custodians of the lands where we work\, learn and create. Always Was\, Always Will Be\, Aboriginal Land. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n More author talks \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n BMI news \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Library closure Saturday 4 July\n The Library will be closed on Saturday 4 July  and... \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n NAIDOC Week\n NAIDOC 2026 National NAIDOC Week celebrations are held across Australia... \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Rosemary’s Book of the Week | The Secrets of Provence by Daisy Wood.\n The Secrets of Provence Daisy Wood Provence\,1940 Thrown out of... \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n A Message from the Chair | BMI Board of Directors | July 2026\n Membership Contriubtions I imagine many of you have received requests... \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Load More\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n BMI Events URL:https://ballaratmi.org.au/event/phillipa-nefri-clark/ LOCATION:BMI – Humffray Room\, 117-119 Sturt Street\, Ballarat Central\, VIC\, 3350\, Australia CATEGORIES:Author Talk,Library ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://ballaratmi.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/sp-promo-talks-v2.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=Australia/Melbourne:20260801T190000 DTEND;TZID=Australia/Melbourne:20260801T235000 DTSTAMP:20260613T032955Z CREATED:20260612T030356Z LAST-MODIFIED:20260613T032955Z UID:73553-1785610800-1785628200@ballaratmi.org.au SUMMARY:Anything for a Mate: Charity Ball DESCRIPTION:In Conversation with Megan Brown & Lucy Sussex \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n February 25\n\n \n\n @ \n\n\n6:00 pm\n\n \n\n\n\n \n - \n\n8:00 pm\n\n\n\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n$10 \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Humffray Room \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Get Tickets\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Outrageous Fortunes \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Megan Brown & Lucy Sussex \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Megan & Lucy will be hosted in conversation by Dr. Meg Tasker \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n The Adventures of Mary Fortune\, Crime-writer\, and Her Criminal Son \n \n \n \n \n \n \n 'Engrossingly illuminating and ultimately deeply moving' - John Connolly \n \n \n \n \n \n \n 'Mary Fortune's bold fictions electrified colonial Australia. But her own story\, pieced together by two tenacious literary detectives\, was best of all.' —Gideon Haigh \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n The gripping story of Australia’s first female crime writer and her career-criminal son. When Mary Fortune arrived in Melbourne with her infant son in 1855\, she was determined to reinvent herself. The Victorian goldfields were just the place. After a time selling sly grog and a bigamous marriage to a policeman\, Mary became a pioneering journalist and author. The Detective’s Album was the first book of detective stories to be published in Australia and the first by a woman to be published anywhere in the world. Her work appeared in magazines and newspapers for over forty years – but none of her readers knew who she was. She wrote using pseudonyms\, often adopting the voice of a male narrator to write about ‘unladylike’ subjects. When Mary died in 1911\, her identity was nearly lost. In Outrageous Fortunes\, Megan Brown and Lucy Sussex retrieve Fortune’s astonishing career and discover an equally absorbing story in her illegitimate son\, George. While Mary was writing crime\, George was committing it\, with convictions for theft and bank robbery. In their intertwined stories\, crime fiction meets true crime\, and Melbourne’s literary bohemia consorts with the criminal underworld. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n About the authors \n \n \n \n \n \n Megan Brown completed her PhD at the University of Wollongong\, examining the work of Mary Fortune. She has contributed chapters to The Routledge Companion to Australian Literature and The Unsocial Sociability of Women’s Life Writing. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Megan Brown\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Lucy Sussex’s books include Blockbuster! Fergus Hume and The Mystery of a Hansom Cab\, which won the 2015 Victorian Community History Award\, Women Writers and Detectives in the Nineteenth Century and Saltwater in the Ink: Voices from the Australian Seas. She has a PhD from the University of Wales and is an honorary fellow at La Trobe University. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Lucy Sussex\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Host \n \n \n \n \n \n Meg Tasker: Dr Meg Tasker taught British and Australian literature and cultural studies for many years\, her most notable publication being the first and only critical biography of Anglo-Australian writer\, Francis Adams (Struggle and Storm\, Melb UP 2001). She has published quite a few articles and conference papers on Adams and other 19th century writers\, including a handful co-written with Lucy Sussex as part of an ARC funded project on Australian writers in London. Formerly general editor of the Australasian Journal of Victorian Studies (AJVS)\, and President of the Australasian Victorian Studies Association (AVSA)\, she left her position as Associate Professor at Federation University Australia (formerly the University of Ballarat) in 2018\, and is now\, like Lucy and Megan\, happy to be a Victorianist-at-large. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Dr Meg Tasker\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Enquiries:  Any event specific enquires should be direct to library@ballaratmi.org.au \n \n \n \n \n \n $10 per person plus booking fee & gst includes light refreshment. All proceeds go to the Ballaarat Mechanics’ Institute to support the staging of our author events. Book on-line or contact Rosemary at the Libary via email library@ballaratmi.org.au or phone (03) 5331 3042 \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Get Tickets\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Collins Booksellers\, Ballart on Lydiard will be handling book sales for the event. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Why Not become a member\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n This event takes place on Wadawurrung Country. Ballaarat Mechanics’ Institute acknowledges the Wadawurrung People of the Kulin Nation as the first inhabitants and Traditional Custodians of the lands where we work\, learn and create. Always Was\, Always Will Be\, Aboriginal Land. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n More author talks \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n BMI news \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Library closure Saturday 4 July\n The Library will be closed on Saturday 4 July  and... \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n NAIDOC Week\n NAIDOC 2026 National NAIDOC Week celebrations are held across Australia... \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Rosemary’s Book of the Week | The Secrets of Provence by Daisy Wood.\n The Secrets of Provence Daisy Wood Provence\,1940 Thrown out of... \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n A Message from the Chair | BMI Board of Directors | July 2026\n Membership Contriubtions I imagine many of you have received requests... \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Load More\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n BMI Events URL:https://ballaratmi.org.au/event/anything-for-a-mate-charity-ball/ LOCATION:BMI – Minerva Space\, 117-119 Sturt Street\, Ballarat Central\, VIC\, 3350 CATEGORIES:external event ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/webp:https://ballaratmi.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/promo.webp END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=Australia/Melbourne:20260803T180000 DTEND;TZID=Australia/Melbourne:20260803T193000 DTSTAMP:20260630T040354Z CREATED:20260520T044923Z LAST-MODIFIED:20260630T040354Z UID:73049-1785780000-1785785400@ballaratmi.org.au SUMMARY:In Conversation with Margaret Hickey DESCRIPTION:In Conversation with Megan Brown & Lucy Sussex \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n February 25\n\n \n\n @ \n\n\n6:00 pm\n\n \n\n\n\n \n - \n\n8:00 pm\n\n\n\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n$10 \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Humffray Room \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Get Tickets\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Outrageous Fortunes \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Megan Brown & Lucy Sussex \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Megan & Lucy will be hosted in conversation by Dr. Meg Tasker \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n The Adventures of Mary Fortune\, Crime-writer\, and Her Criminal Son \n \n \n \n \n \n \n 'Engrossingly illuminating and ultimately deeply moving' - John Connolly \n \n \n \n \n \n \n 'Mary Fortune's bold fictions electrified colonial Australia. But her own story\, pieced together by two tenacious literary detectives\, was best of all.' —Gideon Haigh \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n The gripping story of Australia’s first female crime writer and her career-criminal son. When Mary Fortune arrived in Melbourne with her infant son in 1855\, she was determined to reinvent herself. The Victorian goldfields were just the place. After a time selling sly grog and a bigamous marriage to a policeman\, Mary became a pioneering journalist and author. The Detective’s Album was the first book of detective stories to be published in Australia and the first by a woman to be published anywhere in the world. Her work appeared in magazines and newspapers for over forty years – but none of her readers knew who she was. She wrote using pseudonyms\, often adopting the voice of a male narrator to write about ‘unladylike’ subjects. When Mary died in 1911\, her identity was nearly lost. In Outrageous Fortunes\, Megan Brown and Lucy Sussex retrieve Fortune’s astonishing career and discover an equally absorbing story in her illegitimate son\, George. While Mary was writing crime\, George was committing it\, with convictions for theft and bank robbery. In their intertwined stories\, crime fiction meets true crime\, and Melbourne’s literary bohemia consorts with the criminal underworld. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n About the authors \n \n \n \n \n \n Megan Brown completed her PhD at the University of Wollongong\, examining the work of Mary Fortune. She has contributed chapters to The Routledge Companion to Australian Literature and The Unsocial Sociability of Women’s Life Writing. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Megan Brown\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Lucy Sussex’s books include Blockbuster! Fergus Hume and The Mystery of a Hansom Cab\, which won the 2015 Victorian Community History Award\, Women Writers and Detectives in the Nineteenth Century and Saltwater in the Ink: Voices from the Australian Seas. She has a PhD from the University of Wales and is an honorary fellow at La Trobe University. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Lucy Sussex\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Host \n \n \n \n \n \n Meg Tasker: Dr Meg Tasker taught British and Australian literature and cultural studies for many years\, her most notable publication being the first and only critical biography of Anglo-Australian writer\, Francis Adams (Struggle and Storm\, Melb UP 2001). She has published quite a few articles and conference papers on Adams and other 19th century writers\, including a handful co-written with Lucy Sussex as part of an ARC funded project on Australian writers in London. Formerly general editor of the Australasian Journal of Victorian Studies (AJVS)\, and President of the Australasian Victorian Studies Association (AVSA)\, she left her position as Associate Professor at Federation University Australia (formerly the University of Ballarat) in 2018\, and is now\, like Lucy and Megan\, happy to be a Victorianist-at-large. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Dr Meg Tasker\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Enquiries:  Any event specific enquires should be direct to library@ballaratmi.org.au \n \n \n \n \n \n $10 per person plus booking fee & gst includes light refreshment. All proceeds go to the Ballaarat Mechanics’ Institute to support the staging of our author events. Book on-line or contact Rosemary at the Libary via email library@ballaratmi.org.au or phone (03) 5331 3042 \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Get Tickets\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Collins Booksellers\, Ballart on Lydiard will be handling book sales for the event. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Why Not become a member\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n This event takes place on Wadawurrung Country. Ballaarat Mechanics’ Institute acknowledges the Wadawurrung People of the Kulin Nation as the first inhabitants and Traditional Custodians of the lands where we work\, learn and create. Always Was\, Always Will Be\, Aboriginal Land. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n More author talks \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n BMI news \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Library closure Saturday 4 July\n The Library will be closed on Saturday 4 July  and... \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n NAIDOC Week\n NAIDOC 2026 National NAIDOC Week celebrations are held across Australia... \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Rosemary’s Book of the Week | The Secrets of Provence by Daisy Wood.\n The Secrets of Provence Daisy Wood Provence\,1940 Thrown out of... \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n A Message from the Chair | BMI Board of Directors | July 2026\n Membership Contriubtions I imagine many of you have received requests... \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Load More\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n BMI Events URL:https://ballaratmi.org.au/event/in-conversation-with-margaret-hickety/ LOCATION:BMI – Humffray Room\, 117-119 Sturt Street\, Ballarat Central\, VIC\, 3350\, Australia CATEGORIES:Author Talk,Library ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://ballaratmi.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/sp-promo-talks-margaret-hickey.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=Australia/Melbourne:20260807T180000 DTEND;TZID=Australia/Melbourne:20260807T190000 DTSTAMP:20260617T043625Z CREATED:20260615T050825Z LAST-MODIFIED:20260617T043625Z UID:73589-1786125600-1786129200@ballaratmi.org.au SUMMARY:150 Years of Botanical Communication DESCRIPTION:In Conversation with Megan Brown & Lucy Sussex \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n February 25\n\n \n\n @ \n\n\n6:00 pm\n\n \n\n\n\n \n - \n\n8:00 pm\n\n\n\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n$10 \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Humffray Room \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Get Tickets\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Outrageous Fortunes \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Megan Brown & Lucy Sussex \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Megan & Lucy will be hosted in conversation by Dr. Meg Tasker \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n The Adventures of Mary Fortune\, Crime-writer\, and Her Criminal Son \n \n \n \n \n \n \n 'Engrossingly illuminating and ultimately deeply moving' - John Connolly \n \n \n \n \n \n \n 'Mary Fortune's bold fictions electrified colonial Australia. But her own story\, pieced together by two tenacious literary detectives\, was best of all.' —Gideon Haigh \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n The gripping story of Australia’s first female crime writer and her career-criminal son. When Mary Fortune arrived in Melbourne with her infant son in 1855\, she was determined to reinvent herself. The Victorian goldfields were just the place. After a time selling sly grog and a bigamous marriage to a policeman\, Mary became a pioneering journalist and author. The Detective’s Album was the first book of detective stories to be published in Australia and the first by a woman to be published anywhere in the world. Her work appeared in magazines and newspapers for over forty years – but none of her readers knew who she was. She wrote using pseudonyms\, often adopting the voice of a male narrator to write about ‘unladylike’ subjects. When Mary died in 1911\, her identity was nearly lost. In Outrageous Fortunes\, Megan Brown and Lucy Sussex retrieve Fortune’s astonishing career and discover an equally absorbing story in her illegitimate son\, George. While Mary was writing crime\, George was committing it\, with convictions for theft and bank robbery. In their intertwined stories\, crime fiction meets true crime\, and Melbourne’s literary bohemia consorts with the criminal underworld. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n About the authors \n \n \n \n \n \n Megan Brown completed her PhD at the University of Wollongong\, examining the work of Mary Fortune. She has contributed chapters to The Routledge Companion to Australian Literature and The Unsocial Sociability of Women’s Life Writing. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Megan Brown\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Lucy Sussex’s books include Blockbuster! Fergus Hume and The Mystery of a Hansom Cab\, which won the 2015 Victorian Community History Award\, Women Writers and Detectives in the Nineteenth Century and Saltwater in the Ink: Voices from the Australian Seas. She has a PhD from the University of Wales and is an honorary fellow at La Trobe University. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Lucy Sussex\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Host \n \n \n \n \n \n Meg Tasker: Dr Meg Tasker taught British and Australian literature and cultural studies for many years\, her most notable publication being the first and only critical biography of Anglo-Australian writer\, Francis Adams (Struggle and Storm\, Melb UP 2001). She has published quite a few articles and conference papers on Adams and other 19th century writers\, including a handful co-written with Lucy Sussex as part of an ARC funded project on Australian writers in London. Formerly general editor of the Australasian Journal of Victorian Studies (AJVS)\, and President of the Australasian Victorian Studies Association (AVSA)\, she left her position as Associate Professor at Federation University Australia (formerly the University of Ballarat) in 2018\, and is now\, like Lucy and Megan\, happy to be a Victorianist-at-large. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Dr Meg Tasker\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Enquiries:  Any event specific enquires should be direct to library@ballaratmi.org.au \n \n \n \n \n \n $10 per person plus booking fee & gst includes light refreshment. All proceeds go to the Ballaarat Mechanics’ Institute to support the staging of our author events. Book on-line or contact Rosemary at the Libary via email library@ballaratmi.org.au or phone (03) 5331 3042 \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Get Tickets\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Collins Booksellers\, Ballart on Lydiard will be handling book sales for the event. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Why Not become a member\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n This event takes place on Wadawurrung Country. Ballaarat Mechanics’ Institute acknowledges the Wadawurrung People of the Kulin Nation as the first inhabitants and Traditional Custodians of the lands where we work\, learn and create. Always Was\, Always Will Be\, Aboriginal Land. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n More author talks \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n BMI news \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Library closure Saturday 4 July\n The Library will be closed on Saturday 4 July  and... \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n NAIDOC Week\n NAIDOC 2026 National NAIDOC Week celebrations are held across Australia... \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Rosemary’s Book of the Week | The Secrets of Provence by Daisy Wood.\n The Secrets of Provence Daisy Wood Provence\,1940 Thrown out of... \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n A Message from the Chair | BMI Board of Directors | July 2026\n Membership Contriubtions I imagine many of you have received requests... \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Load More\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n BMI Events URL:https://ballaratmi.org.au/event/150-years-of-botanical-communication/ LOCATION:Lending Library\, Sturt Street\, Ballarat Central\, Victoria\, 3350\, Australia CATEGORIES:Talk,The Collection ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://ballaratmi.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/sq-promo-events-arresting.png END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=Australia/Melbourne:20260807T193000 DTEND;TZID=Australia/Melbourne:20260807T204000 DTSTAMP:20260331T034032Z CREATED:20251205T035734Z LAST-MODIFIED:20260331T034032Z UID:69366-1786131000-1786135200@ballaratmi.org.au SUMMARY:Blake Pavey: A Bit Scared DESCRIPTION:In Conversation with Megan Brown & Lucy Sussex \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n February 25\n\n \n\n @ \n\n\n6:00 pm\n\n \n\n\n\n \n - \n\n8:00 pm\n\n\n\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n$10 \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Humffray Room \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Get Tickets\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Outrageous Fortunes \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Megan Brown & Lucy Sussex \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Megan & Lucy will be hosted in conversation by Dr. Meg Tasker \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n The Adventures of Mary Fortune\, Crime-writer\, and Her Criminal Son \n \n \n \n \n \n \n 'Engrossingly illuminating and ultimately deeply moving' - John Connolly \n \n \n \n \n \n \n 'Mary Fortune's bold fictions electrified colonial Australia. But her own story\, pieced together by two tenacious literary detectives\, was best of all.' —Gideon Haigh \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n The gripping story of Australia’s first female crime writer and her career-criminal son. When Mary Fortune arrived in Melbourne with her infant son in 1855\, she was determined to reinvent herself. The Victorian goldfields were just the place. After a time selling sly grog and a bigamous marriage to a policeman\, Mary became a pioneering journalist and author. The Detective’s Album was the first book of detective stories to be published in Australia and the first by a woman to be published anywhere in the world. Her work appeared in magazines and newspapers for over forty years – but none of her readers knew who she was. She wrote using pseudonyms\, often adopting the voice of a male narrator to write about ‘unladylike’ subjects. When Mary died in 1911\, her identity was nearly lost. In Outrageous Fortunes\, Megan Brown and Lucy Sussex retrieve Fortune’s astonishing career and discover an equally absorbing story in her illegitimate son\, George. While Mary was writing crime\, George was committing it\, with convictions for theft and bank robbery. In their intertwined stories\, crime fiction meets true crime\, and Melbourne’s literary bohemia consorts with the criminal underworld. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n About the authors \n \n \n \n \n \n Megan Brown completed her PhD at the University of Wollongong\, examining the work of Mary Fortune. She has contributed chapters to The Routledge Companion to Australian Literature and The Unsocial Sociability of Women’s Life Writing. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Megan Brown\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Lucy Sussex’s books include Blockbuster! Fergus Hume and The Mystery of a Hansom Cab\, which won the 2015 Victorian Community History Award\, Women Writers and Detectives in the Nineteenth Century and Saltwater in the Ink: Voices from the Australian Seas. She has a PhD from the University of Wales and is an honorary fellow at La Trobe University. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Lucy Sussex\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Host \n \n \n \n \n \n Meg Tasker: Dr Meg Tasker taught British and Australian literature and cultural studies for many years\, her most notable publication being the first and only critical biography of Anglo-Australian writer\, Francis Adams (Struggle and Storm\, Melb UP 2001). She has published quite a few articles and conference papers on Adams and other 19th century writers\, including a handful co-written with Lucy Sussex as part of an ARC funded project on Australian writers in London. Formerly general editor of the Australasian Journal of Victorian Studies (AJVS)\, and President of the Australasian Victorian Studies Association (AVSA)\, she left her position as Associate Professor at Federation University Australia (formerly the University of Ballarat) in 2018\, and is now\, like Lucy and Megan\, happy to be a Victorianist-at-large. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Dr Meg Tasker\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Enquiries:  Any event specific enquires should be direct to library@ballaratmi.org.au \n \n \n \n \n \n $10 per person plus booking fee & gst includes light refreshment. All proceeds go to the Ballaarat Mechanics’ Institute to support the staging of our author events. Book on-line or contact Rosemary at the Libary via email library@ballaratmi.org.au or phone (03) 5331 3042 \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Get Tickets\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Collins Booksellers\, Ballart on Lydiard will be handling book sales for the event. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Why Not become a member\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n This event takes place on Wadawurrung Country. Ballaarat Mechanics’ Institute acknowledges the Wadawurrung People of the Kulin Nation as the first inhabitants and Traditional Custodians of the lands where we work\, learn and create. Always Was\, Always Will Be\, Aboriginal Land. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n More author talks \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n BMI news \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Library closure Saturday 4 July\n The Library will be closed on Saturday 4 July  and... \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n NAIDOC Week\n NAIDOC 2026 National NAIDOC Week celebrations are held across Australia... \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Rosemary’s Book of the Week | The Secrets of Provence by Daisy Wood.\n The Secrets of Provence Daisy Wood Provence\,1940 Thrown out of... \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n A Message from the Chair | BMI Board of Directors | July 2026\n Membership Contriubtions I imagine many of you have received requests... \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Load More\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n BMI Events URL:https://ballaratmi.org.au/event/blake-pavey-a-bit-scared/ LOCATION:BMI – Minerva Space\, 117-119 Sturt Street\, Ballarat Central\, VIC\, 3350 CATEGORIES:Comedy ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://ballaratmi.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/sq-promo-blake-pavey.jpg ORGANIZER;CN="KEG Touring":MAILTO:Contact@kegtouring.com END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=Australia/Melbourne:20260809T123000 DTEND;TZID=Australia/Melbourne:20260809T153000 DTSTAMP:20260701T021404Z CREATED:20260622T050152Z LAST-MODIFIED:20260701T021404Z UID:73794-1786278600-1786289400@ballaratmi.org.au SUMMARY:Lawrence Mooney and Friends DESCRIPTION:In Conversation with Megan Brown & Lucy Sussex \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n February 25\n\n \n\n @ \n\n\n6:00 pm\n\n \n\n\n\n \n - \n\n8:00 pm\n\n\n\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n$10 \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Humffray Room \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Get Tickets\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Outrageous Fortunes \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Megan Brown & Lucy Sussex \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Megan & Lucy will be hosted in conversation by Dr. Meg Tasker \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n The Adventures of Mary Fortune\, Crime-writer\, and Her Criminal Son \n \n \n \n \n \n \n 'Engrossingly illuminating and ultimately deeply moving' - John Connolly \n \n \n \n \n \n \n 'Mary Fortune's bold fictions electrified colonial Australia. But her own story\, pieced together by two tenacious literary detectives\, was best of all.' —Gideon Haigh \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n The gripping story of Australia’s first female crime writer and her career-criminal son. When Mary Fortune arrived in Melbourne with her infant son in 1855\, she was determined to reinvent herself. The Victorian goldfields were just the place. After a time selling sly grog and a bigamous marriage to a policeman\, Mary became a pioneering journalist and author. The Detective’s Album was the first book of detective stories to be published in Australia and the first by a woman to be published anywhere in the world. Her work appeared in magazines and newspapers for over forty years – but none of her readers knew who she was. She wrote using pseudonyms\, often adopting the voice of a male narrator to write about ‘unladylike’ subjects. When Mary died in 1911\, her identity was nearly lost. In Outrageous Fortunes\, Megan Brown and Lucy Sussex retrieve Fortune’s astonishing career and discover an equally absorbing story in her illegitimate son\, George. While Mary was writing crime\, George was committing it\, with convictions for theft and bank robbery. In their intertwined stories\, crime fiction meets true crime\, and Melbourne’s literary bohemia consorts with the criminal underworld. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n About the authors \n \n \n \n \n \n Megan Brown completed her PhD at the University of Wollongong\, examining the work of Mary Fortune. She has contributed chapters to The Routledge Companion to Australian Literature and The Unsocial Sociability of Women’s Life Writing. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Megan Brown\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Lucy Sussex’s books include Blockbuster! Fergus Hume and The Mystery of a Hansom Cab\, which won the 2015 Victorian Community History Award\, Women Writers and Detectives in the Nineteenth Century and Saltwater in the Ink: Voices from the Australian Seas. She has a PhD from the University of Wales and is an honorary fellow at La Trobe University. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Lucy Sussex\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Host \n \n \n \n \n \n Meg Tasker: Dr Meg Tasker taught British and Australian literature and cultural studies for many years\, her most notable publication being the first and only critical biography of Anglo-Australian writer\, Francis Adams (Struggle and Storm\, Melb UP 2001). She has published quite a few articles and conference papers on Adams and other 19th century writers\, including a handful co-written with Lucy Sussex as part of an ARC funded project on Australian writers in London. Formerly general editor of the Australasian Journal of Victorian Studies (AJVS)\, and President of the Australasian Victorian Studies Association (AVSA)\, she left her position as Associate Professor at Federation University Australia (formerly the University of Ballarat) in 2018\, and is now\, like Lucy and Megan\, happy to be a Victorianist-at-large. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Dr Meg Tasker\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Enquiries:  Any event specific enquires should be direct to library@ballaratmi.org.au \n \n \n \n \n \n $10 per person plus booking fee & gst includes light refreshment. All proceeds go to the Ballaarat Mechanics’ Institute to support the staging of our author events. Book on-line or contact Rosemary at the Libary via email library@ballaratmi.org.au or phone (03) 5331 3042 \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Get Tickets\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Collins Booksellers\, Ballart on Lydiard will be handling book sales for the event. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Why Not become a member\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n This event takes place on Wadawurrung Country. Ballaarat Mechanics’ Institute acknowledges the Wadawurrung People of the Kulin Nation as the first inhabitants and Traditional Custodians of the lands where we work\, learn and create. Always Was\, Always Will Be\, Aboriginal Land. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n More author talks \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n BMI news \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Library closure Saturday 4 July\n The Library will be closed on Saturday 4 July  and... \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n NAIDOC Week\n NAIDOC 2026 National NAIDOC Week celebrations are held across Australia... \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Rosemary’s Book of the Week | The Secrets of Provence by Daisy Wood.\n The Secrets of Provence Daisy Wood Provence\,1940 Thrown out of... \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n A Message from the Chair | BMI Board of Directors | July 2026\n Membership Contriubtions I imagine many of you have received requests... \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Load More\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n BMI Events URL:https://ballaratmi.org.au/event/lawrence-mooney/ LOCATION:BMI – Minerva Space\, 117-119 Sturt Street\, Ballarat Central\, VIC\, 3350 CATEGORIES:Comedy ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://ballaratmi.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/sq-promo-events-lawrence-mooney.png END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=Australia/Melbourne:20260812T180000 DTEND;TZID=Australia/Melbourne:20260812T193000 DTSTAMP:20260611T041738Z CREATED:20260324T234500Z LAST-MODIFIED:20260611T041738Z UID:71535-1786557600-1786563000@ballaratmi.org.au SUMMARY:In Conversation with Sophie Green DESCRIPTION:In Conversation with Megan Brown & Lucy Sussex \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n February 25\n\n \n\n @ \n\n\n6:00 pm\n\n \n\n\n\n \n - \n\n8:00 pm\n\n\n\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n$10 \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Humffray Room \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Get Tickets\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Outrageous Fortunes \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Megan Brown & Lucy Sussex \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Megan & Lucy will be hosted in conversation by Dr. Meg Tasker \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n The Adventures of Mary Fortune\, Crime-writer\, and Her Criminal Son \n \n \n \n \n \n \n 'Engrossingly illuminating and ultimately deeply moving' - John Connolly \n \n \n \n \n \n \n 'Mary Fortune's bold fictions electrified colonial Australia. But her own story\, pieced together by two tenacious literary detectives\, was best of all.' —Gideon Haigh \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n The gripping story of Australia’s first female crime writer and her career-criminal son. When Mary Fortune arrived in Melbourne with her infant son in 1855\, she was determined to reinvent herself. The Victorian goldfields were just the place. After a time selling sly grog and a bigamous marriage to a policeman\, Mary became a pioneering journalist and author. The Detective’s Album was the first book of detective stories to be published in Australia and the first by a woman to be published anywhere in the world. Her work appeared in magazines and newspapers for over forty years – but none of her readers knew who she was. She wrote using pseudonyms\, often adopting the voice of a male narrator to write about ‘unladylike’ subjects. When Mary died in 1911\, her identity was nearly lost. In Outrageous Fortunes\, Megan Brown and Lucy Sussex retrieve Fortune’s astonishing career and discover an equally absorbing story in her illegitimate son\, George. While Mary was writing crime\, George was committing it\, with convictions for theft and bank robbery. In their intertwined stories\, crime fiction meets true crime\, and Melbourne’s literary bohemia consorts with the criminal underworld. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n About the authors \n \n \n \n \n \n Megan Brown completed her PhD at the University of Wollongong\, examining the work of Mary Fortune. She has contributed chapters to The Routledge Companion to Australian Literature and The Unsocial Sociability of Women’s Life Writing. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Megan Brown\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Lucy Sussex’s books include Blockbuster! Fergus Hume and The Mystery of a Hansom Cab\, which won the 2015 Victorian Community History Award\, Women Writers and Detectives in the Nineteenth Century and Saltwater in the Ink: Voices from the Australian Seas. She has a PhD from the University of Wales and is an honorary fellow at La Trobe University. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Lucy Sussex\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Host \n \n \n \n \n \n Meg Tasker: Dr Meg Tasker taught British and Australian literature and cultural studies for many years\, her most notable publication being the first and only critical biography of Anglo-Australian writer\, Francis Adams (Struggle and Storm\, Melb UP 2001). She has published quite a few articles and conference papers on Adams and other 19th century writers\, including a handful co-written with Lucy Sussex as part of an ARC funded project on Australian writers in London. Formerly general editor of the Australasian Journal of Victorian Studies (AJVS)\, and President of the Australasian Victorian Studies Association (AVSA)\, she left her position as Associate Professor at Federation University Australia (formerly the University of Ballarat) in 2018\, and is now\, like Lucy and Megan\, happy to be a Victorianist-at-large. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Dr Meg Tasker\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Enquiries:  Any event specific enquires should be direct to library@ballaratmi.org.au \n \n \n \n \n \n $10 per person plus booking fee & gst includes light refreshment. All proceeds go to the Ballaarat Mechanics’ Institute to support the staging of our author events. Book on-line or contact Rosemary at the Libary via email library@ballaratmi.org.au or phone (03) 5331 3042 \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Get Tickets\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Collins Booksellers\, Ballart on Lydiard will be handling book sales for the event. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Why Not become a member\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n This event takes place on Wadawurrung Country. Ballaarat Mechanics’ Institute acknowledges the Wadawurrung People of the Kulin Nation as the first inhabitants and Traditional Custodians of the lands where we work\, learn and create. Always Was\, Always Will Be\, Aboriginal Land. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n More author talks \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n BMI news \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Library closure Saturday 4 July\n The Library will be closed on Saturday 4 July  and... \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n NAIDOC Week\n NAIDOC 2026 National NAIDOC Week celebrations are held across Australia... \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Rosemary’s Book of the Week | The Secrets of Provence by Daisy Wood.\n The Secrets of Provence Daisy Wood Provence\,1940 Thrown out of... \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n A Message from the Chair | BMI Board of Directors | July 2026\n Membership Contriubtions I imagine many of you have received requests... \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Load More\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n BMI Events URL:https://ballaratmi.org.au/event/sophie-green/ LOCATION:BMI – Humffray Room\, 117-119 Sturt Street\, Ballarat Central\, VIC\, 3350\, Australia CATEGORIES:Author Talk,Library ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://ballaratmi.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/sp-promo-talks-sophie-green.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=Australia/Melbourne:20260813T193000 DTEND;TZID=Australia/Melbourne:20260813T210000 DTSTAMP:20260331T033912Z CREATED:20260129T051107Z LAST-MODIFIED:20260331T033912Z UID:70430-1786649400-1786654800@ballaratmi.org.au SUMMARY:Ballarat Film Society | The Blue Trail DESCRIPTION:In Conversation with Megan Brown & Lucy Sussex \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n February 25\n\n \n\n @ \n\n\n6:00 pm\n\n \n\n\n\n \n - \n\n8:00 pm\n\n\n\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n$10 \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Humffray Room \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Get Tickets\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Outrageous Fortunes \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Megan Brown & Lucy Sussex \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Megan & Lucy will be hosted in conversation by Dr. Meg Tasker \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n The Adventures of Mary Fortune\, Crime-writer\, and Her Criminal Son \n \n \n \n \n \n \n 'Engrossingly illuminating and ultimately deeply moving' - John Connolly \n \n \n \n \n \n \n 'Mary Fortune's bold fictions electrified colonial Australia. But her own story\, pieced together by two tenacious literary detectives\, was best of all.' —Gideon Haigh \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n The gripping story of Australia’s first female crime writer and her career-criminal son. When Mary Fortune arrived in Melbourne with her infant son in 1855\, she was determined to reinvent herself. The Victorian goldfields were just the place. After a time selling sly grog and a bigamous marriage to a policeman\, Mary became a pioneering journalist and author. The Detective’s Album was the first book of detective stories to be published in Australia and the first by a woman to be published anywhere in the world. Her work appeared in magazines and newspapers for over forty years – but none of her readers knew who she was. She wrote using pseudonyms\, often adopting the voice of a male narrator to write about ‘unladylike’ subjects. When Mary died in 1911\, her identity was nearly lost. In Outrageous Fortunes\, Megan Brown and Lucy Sussex retrieve Fortune’s astonishing career and discover an equally absorbing story in her illegitimate son\, George. While Mary was writing crime\, George was committing it\, with convictions for theft and bank robbery. In their intertwined stories\, crime fiction meets true crime\, and Melbourne’s literary bohemia consorts with the criminal underworld. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n About the authors \n \n \n \n \n \n Megan Brown completed her PhD at the University of Wollongong\, examining the work of Mary Fortune. She has contributed chapters to The Routledge Companion to Australian Literature and The Unsocial Sociability of Women’s Life Writing. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Megan Brown\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Lucy Sussex’s books include Blockbuster! Fergus Hume and The Mystery of a Hansom Cab\, which won the 2015 Victorian Community History Award\, Women Writers and Detectives in the Nineteenth Century and Saltwater in the Ink: Voices from the Australian Seas. She has a PhD from the University of Wales and is an honorary fellow at La Trobe University. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Lucy Sussex\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Host \n \n \n \n \n \n Meg Tasker: Dr Meg Tasker taught British and Australian literature and cultural studies for many years\, her most notable publication being the first and only critical biography of Anglo-Australian writer\, Francis Adams (Struggle and Storm\, Melb UP 2001). She has published quite a few articles and conference papers on Adams and other 19th century writers\, including a handful co-written with Lucy Sussex as part of an ARC funded project on Australian writers in London. Formerly general editor of the Australasian Journal of Victorian Studies (AJVS)\, and President of the Australasian Victorian Studies Association (AVSA)\, she left her position as Associate Professor at Federation University Australia (formerly the University of Ballarat) in 2018\, and is now\, like Lucy and Megan\, happy to be a Victorianist-at-large. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Dr Meg Tasker\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Enquiries:  Any event specific enquires should be direct to library@ballaratmi.org.au \n \n \n \n \n \n $10 per person plus booking fee & gst includes light refreshment. All proceeds go to the Ballaarat Mechanics’ Institute to support the staging of our author events. Book on-line or contact Rosemary at the Libary via email library@ballaratmi.org.au or phone (03) 5331 3042 \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Get Tickets\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Collins Booksellers\, Ballart on Lydiard will be handling book sales for the event. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Why Not become a member\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n This event takes place on Wadawurrung Country. Ballaarat Mechanics’ Institute acknowledges the Wadawurrung People of the Kulin Nation as the first inhabitants and Traditional Custodians of the lands where we work\, learn and create. Always Was\, Always Will Be\, Aboriginal Land. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n More author talks \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n BMI news \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Library closure Saturday 4 July\n The Library will be closed on Saturday 4 July  and... \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n NAIDOC Week\n NAIDOC 2026 National NAIDOC Week celebrations are held across Australia... \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Rosemary’s Book of the Week | The Secrets of Provence by Daisy Wood.\n The Secrets of Provence Daisy Wood Provence\,1940 Thrown out of... \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n A Message from the Chair | BMI Board of Directors | July 2026\n Membership Contriubtions I imagine many of you have received requests... \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Load More\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n BMI Events URL:https://ballaratmi.org.au/event/ballarat-film-society-the-blue-trail/ LOCATION:BMI – Minerva Space\, 117-119 Sturt Street\, Ballarat Central\, VIC\, 3350 CATEGORIES:Ballarat Film Society,Film ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://ballaratmi.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/the-blue-trail-sq-promo.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=Australia/Melbourne:20260820T190000 DTEND;TZID=Australia/Melbourne:20260820T203000 DTSTAMP:20260629T040002Z CREATED:20260223T053749Z LAST-MODIFIED:20260629T040002Z UID:70821-1787252400-1787257800@ballaratmi.org.au SUMMARY:You Can't Tell Anyone\, A Ballarat National Theatre Production DESCRIPTION:In Conversation with Megan Brown & Lucy Sussex \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n February 25\n\n \n\n @ \n\n\n6:00 pm\n\n \n\n\n\n \n - \n\n8:00 pm\n\n\n\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n$10 \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Humffray Room \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Get Tickets\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Outrageous Fortunes \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Megan Brown & Lucy Sussex \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Megan & Lucy will be hosted in conversation by Dr. Meg Tasker \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n The Adventures of Mary Fortune\, Crime-writer\, and Her Criminal Son \n \n \n \n \n \n \n 'Engrossingly illuminating and ultimately deeply moving' - John Connolly \n \n \n \n \n \n \n 'Mary Fortune's bold fictions electrified colonial Australia. But her own story\, pieced together by two tenacious literary detectives\, was best of all.' —Gideon Haigh \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n The gripping story of Australia’s first female crime writer and her career-criminal son. When Mary Fortune arrived in Melbourne with her infant son in 1855\, she was determined to reinvent herself. The Victorian goldfields were just the place. After a time selling sly grog and a bigamous marriage to a policeman\, Mary became a pioneering journalist and author. The Detective’s Album was the first book of detective stories to be published in Australia and the first by a woman to be published anywhere in the world. Her work appeared in magazines and newspapers for over forty years – but none of her readers knew who she was. She wrote using pseudonyms\, often adopting the voice of a male narrator to write about ‘unladylike’ subjects. When Mary died in 1911\, her identity was nearly lost. In Outrageous Fortunes\, Megan Brown and Lucy Sussex retrieve Fortune’s astonishing career and discover an equally absorbing story in her illegitimate son\, George. While Mary was writing crime\, George was committing it\, with convictions for theft and bank robbery. In their intertwined stories\, crime fiction meets true crime\, and Melbourne’s literary bohemia consorts with the criminal underworld. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n About the authors \n \n \n \n \n \n Megan Brown completed her PhD at the University of Wollongong\, examining the work of Mary Fortune. She has contributed chapters to The Routledge Companion to Australian Literature and The Unsocial Sociability of Women’s Life Writing. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Megan Brown\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Lucy Sussex’s books include Blockbuster! Fergus Hume and The Mystery of a Hansom Cab\, which won the 2015 Victorian Community History Award\, Women Writers and Detectives in the Nineteenth Century and Saltwater in the Ink: Voices from the Australian Seas. She has a PhD from the University of Wales and is an honorary fellow at La Trobe University. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Lucy Sussex\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Host \n \n \n \n \n \n Meg Tasker: Dr Meg Tasker taught British and Australian literature and cultural studies for many years\, her most notable publication being the first and only critical biography of Anglo-Australian writer\, Francis Adams (Struggle and Storm\, Melb UP 2001). She has published quite a few articles and conference papers on Adams and other 19th century writers\, including a handful co-written with Lucy Sussex as part of an ARC funded project on Australian writers in London. Formerly general editor of the Australasian Journal of Victorian Studies (AJVS)\, and President of the Australasian Victorian Studies Association (AVSA)\, she left her position as Associate Professor at Federation University Australia (formerly the University of Ballarat) in 2018\, and is now\, like Lucy and Megan\, happy to be a Victorianist-at-large. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Dr Meg Tasker\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Enquiries:  Any event specific enquires should be direct to library@ballaratmi.org.au \n \n \n \n \n \n $10 per person plus booking fee & gst includes light refreshment. All proceeds go to the Ballaarat Mechanics’ Institute to support the staging of our author events. Book on-line or contact Rosemary at the Libary via email library@ballaratmi.org.au or phone (03) 5331 3042 \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Get Tickets\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Collins Booksellers\, Ballart on Lydiard will be handling book sales for the event. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Why Not become a member\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n This event takes place on Wadawurrung Country. Ballaarat Mechanics’ Institute acknowledges the Wadawurrung People of the Kulin Nation as the first inhabitants and Traditional Custodians of the lands where we work\, learn and create. Always Was\, Always Will Be\, Aboriginal Land. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n More author talks \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n BMI news \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Library closure Saturday 4 July\n The Library will be closed on Saturday 4 July  and... \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n NAIDOC Week\n NAIDOC 2026 National NAIDOC Week celebrations are held across Australia... \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Rosemary’s Book of the Week | The Secrets of Provence by Daisy Wood.\n The Secrets of Provence Daisy Wood Provence\,1940 Thrown out of... \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n A Message from the Chair | BMI Board of Directors | July 2026\n Membership Contriubtions I imagine many of you have received requests... \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Load More\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n BMI Events URL:https://ballaratmi.org.au/event/you-cant-tell-anyone-20-aug/ LOCATION:BMI – Minerva Space\, 117-119 Sturt Street\, Ballarat Central\, VIC\, 3350 CATEGORIES:Ballarat National Theatre,Theatre Production ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://ballaratmi.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/YCTA-ATDW-1600-x-1200-px-e1782429973747.png ORGANIZER;CN="Ballarat National Theatre":MAILTO:contact@bnt.org.au END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=Australia/Melbourne:20260821T190000 DTEND;TZID=Australia/Melbourne:20260821T203000 DTSTAMP:20260629T035851Z CREATED:20260629T033353Z LAST-MODIFIED:20260629T035851Z UID:73961-1787338800-1787344200@ballaratmi.org.au SUMMARY:You Can't Tell Anyone\, A Ballarat National Theatre Production DESCRIPTION:In Conversation with Megan Brown & Lucy Sussex \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n February 25\n\n \n\n @ \n\n\n6:00 pm\n\n \n\n\n\n \n - \n\n8:00 pm\n\n\n\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n$10 \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Humffray Room \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Get Tickets\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Outrageous Fortunes \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Megan Brown & Lucy Sussex \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Megan & Lucy will be hosted in conversation by Dr. Meg Tasker \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n The Adventures of Mary Fortune\, Crime-writer\, and Her Criminal Son \n \n \n \n \n \n \n 'Engrossingly illuminating and ultimately deeply moving' - John Connolly \n \n \n \n \n \n \n 'Mary Fortune's bold fictions electrified colonial Australia. But her own story\, pieced together by two tenacious literary detectives\, was best of all.' —Gideon Haigh \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n The gripping story of Australia’s first female crime writer and her career-criminal son. When Mary Fortune arrived in Melbourne with her infant son in 1855\, she was determined to reinvent herself. The Victorian goldfields were just the place. After a time selling sly grog and a bigamous marriage to a policeman\, Mary became a pioneering journalist and author. The Detective’s Album was the first book of detective stories to be published in Australia and the first by a woman to be published anywhere in the world. Her work appeared in magazines and newspapers for over forty years – but none of her readers knew who she was. She wrote using pseudonyms\, often adopting the voice of a male narrator to write about ‘unladylike’ subjects. When Mary died in 1911\, her identity was nearly lost. In Outrageous Fortunes\, Megan Brown and Lucy Sussex retrieve Fortune’s astonishing career and discover an equally absorbing story in her illegitimate son\, George. While Mary was writing crime\, George was committing it\, with convictions for theft and bank robbery. In their intertwined stories\, crime fiction meets true crime\, and Melbourne’s literary bohemia consorts with the criminal underworld. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n About the authors \n \n \n \n \n \n Megan Brown completed her PhD at the University of Wollongong\, examining the work of Mary Fortune. She has contributed chapters to The Routledge Companion to Australian Literature and The Unsocial Sociability of Women’s Life Writing. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Megan Brown\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Lucy Sussex’s books include Blockbuster! Fergus Hume and The Mystery of a Hansom Cab\, which won the 2015 Victorian Community History Award\, Women Writers and Detectives in the Nineteenth Century and Saltwater in the Ink: Voices from the Australian Seas. She has a PhD from the University of Wales and is an honorary fellow at La Trobe University. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Lucy Sussex\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Host \n \n \n \n \n \n Meg Tasker: Dr Meg Tasker taught British and Australian literature and cultural studies for many years\, her most notable publication being the first and only critical biography of Anglo-Australian writer\, Francis Adams (Struggle and Storm\, Melb UP 2001). She has published quite a few articles and conference papers on Adams and other 19th century writers\, including a handful co-written with Lucy Sussex as part of an ARC funded project on Australian writers in London. Formerly general editor of the Australasian Journal of Victorian Studies (AJVS)\, and President of the Australasian Victorian Studies Association (AVSA)\, she left her position as Associate Professor at Federation University Australia (formerly the University of Ballarat) in 2018\, and is now\, like Lucy and Megan\, happy to be a Victorianist-at-large. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Dr Meg Tasker\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Enquiries:  Any event specific enquires should be direct to library@ballaratmi.org.au \n \n \n \n \n \n $10 per person plus booking fee & gst includes light refreshment. All proceeds go to the Ballaarat Mechanics’ Institute to support the staging of our author events. Book on-line or contact Rosemary at the Libary via email library@ballaratmi.org.au or phone (03) 5331 3042 \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Get Tickets\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Collins Booksellers\, Ballart on Lydiard will be handling book sales for the event. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Why Not become a member\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n This event takes place on Wadawurrung Country. Ballaarat Mechanics’ Institute acknowledges the Wadawurrung People of the Kulin Nation as the first inhabitants and Traditional Custodians of the lands where we work\, learn and create. Always Was\, Always Will Be\, Aboriginal Land. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n More author talks \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n BMI news \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Library closure Saturday 4 July\n The Library will be closed on Saturday 4 July  and... \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n NAIDOC Week\n NAIDOC 2026 National NAIDOC Week celebrations are held across Australia... \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Rosemary’s Book of the Week | The Secrets of Provence by Daisy Wood.\n The Secrets of Provence Daisy Wood Provence\,1940 Thrown out of... \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n A Message from the Chair | BMI Board of Directors | July 2026\n Membership Contriubtions I imagine many of you have received requests... \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Load More\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n BMI Events URL:https://ballaratmi.org.au/event/you-cant-tell-anyone-21-aug/ LOCATION:BMI – Minerva Space\, 117-119 Sturt Street\, Ballarat Central\, VIC\, 3350 CATEGORIES:Ballarat National Theatre,Theatre Production ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://ballaratmi.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/YCTA-ATDW-1600-x-1200-px-e1782429973747.png ORGANIZER;CN="Ballarat National Theatre":MAILTO:contact@bnt.org.au END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=Australia/Melbourne:20260822T140000 DTEND;TZID=Australia/Melbourne:20260822T153000 DTSTAMP:20260629T035740Z CREATED:20260629T033533Z LAST-MODIFIED:20260629T035740Z UID:73963-1787407200-1787412600@ballaratmi.org.au SUMMARY:You Can't Tell Anyone\, A Ballarat National Theatre Production DESCRIPTION:In Conversation with Megan Brown & Lucy Sussex \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n February 25\n\n \n\n @ \n\n\n6:00 pm\n\n \n\n\n\n \n - \n\n8:00 pm\n\n\n\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n$10 \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Humffray Room \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Get Tickets\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Outrageous Fortunes \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Megan Brown & Lucy Sussex \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Megan & Lucy will be hosted in conversation by Dr. Meg Tasker \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n The Adventures of Mary Fortune\, Crime-writer\, and Her Criminal Son \n \n \n \n \n \n \n 'Engrossingly illuminating and ultimately deeply moving' - John Connolly \n \n \n \n \n \n \n 'Mary Fortune's bold fictions electrified colonial Australia. But her own story\, pieced together by two tenacious literary detectives\, was best of all.' —Gideon Haigh \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n The gripping story of Australia’s first female crime writer and her career-criminal son. When Mary Fortune arrived in Melbourne with her infant son in 1855\, she was determined to reinvent herself. The Victorian goldfields were just the place. After a time selling sly grog and a bigamous marriage to a policeman\, Mary became a pioneering journalist and author. The Detective’s Album was the first book of detective stories to be published in Australia and the first by a woman to be published anywhere in the world. Her work appeared in magazines and newspapers for over forty years – but none of her readers knew who she was. She wrote using pseudonyms\, often adopting the voice of a male narrator to write about ‘unladylike’ subjects. When Mary died in 1911\, her identity was nearly lost. In Outrageous Fortunes\, Megan Brown and Lucy Sussex retrieve Fortune’s astonishing career and discover an equally absorbing story in her illegitimate son\, George. While Mary was writing crime\, George was committing it\, with convictions for theft and bank robbery. In their intertwined stories\, crime fiction meets true crime\, and Melbourne’s literary bohemia consorts with the criminal underworld. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n About the authors \n \n \n \n \n \n Megan Brown completed her PhD at the University of Wollongong\, examining the work of Mary Fortune. She has contributed chapters to The Routledge Companion to Australian Literature and The Unsocial Sociability of Women’s Life Writing. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Megan Brown\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Lucy Sussex’s books include Blockbuster! Fergus Hume and The Mystery of a Hansom Cab\, which won the 2015 Victorian Community History Award\, Women Writers and Detectives in the Nineteenth Century and Saltwater in the Ink: Voices from the Australian Seas. She has a PhD from the University of Wales and is an honorary fellow at La Trobe University. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Lucy Sussex\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Host \n \n \n \n \n \n Meg Tasker: Dr Meg Tasker taught British and Australian literature and cultural studies for many years\, her most notable publication being the first and only critical biography of Anglo-Australian writer\, Francis Adams (Struggle and Storm\, Melb UP 2001). She has published quite a few articles and conference papers on Adams and other 19th century writers\, including a handful co-written with Lucy Sussex as part of an ARC funded project on Australian writers in London. Formerly general editor of the Australasian Journal of Victorian Studies (AJVS)\, and President of the Australasian Victorian Studies Association (AVSA)\, she left her position as Associate Professor at Federation University Australia (formerly the University of Ballarat) in 2018\, and is now\, like Lucy and Megan\, happy to be a Victorianist-at-large. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Dr Meg Tasker\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Enquiries:  Any event specific enquires should be direct to library@ballaratmi.org.au \n \n \n \n \n \n $10 per person plus booking fee & gst includes light refreshment. All proceeds go to the Ballaarat Mechanics’ Institute to support the staging of our author events. Book on-line or contact Rosemary at the Libary via email library@ballaratmi.org.au or phone (03) 5331 3042 \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Get Tickets\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Collins Booksellers\, Ballart on Lydiard will be handling book sales for the event. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Why Not become a member\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n This event takes place on Wadawurrung Country. Ballaarat Mechanics’ Institute acknowledges the Wadawurrung People of the Kulin Nation as the first inhabitants and Traditional Custodians of the lands where we work\, learn and create. Always Was\, Always Will Be\, Aboriginal Land. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n More author talks \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n BMI news \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Library closure Saturday 4 July\n The Library will be closed on Saturday 4 July  and... \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n NAIDOC Week\n NAIDOC 2026 National NAIDOC Week celebrations are held across Australia... \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Rosemary’s Book of the Week | The Secrets of Provence by Daisy Wood.\n The Secrets of Provence Daisy Wood Provence\,1940 Thrown out of... \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n A Message from the Chair | BMI Board of Directors | July 2026\n Membership Contriubtions I imagine many of you have received requests... \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Load More\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n BMI Events URL:https://ballaratmi.org.au/event/you-cant-tell-anyone-22-aug-matinee/ LOCATION:BMI – Minerva Space\, 117-119 Sturt Street\, Ballarat Central\, VIC\, 3350 CATEGORIES:Ballarat National Theatre,Theatre Production ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://ballaratmi.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/YCTA-ATDW-1600-x-1200-px-e1782429973747.png ORGANIZER;CN="Ballarat National Theatre":MAILTO:contact@bnt.org.au END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=Australia/Melbourne:20260822T190000 DTEND;TZID=Australia/Melbourne:20260822T203000 DTSTAMP:20260629T035634Z CREATED:20260629T033731Z LAST-MODIFIED:20260629T035634Z UID:73965-1787425200-1787430600@ballaratmi.org.au SUMMARY:You Can't Tell Anyone\, A Ballarat National Theatre Production DESCRIPTION:In Conversation with Megan Brown & Lucy Sussex \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n February 25\n\n \n\n @ \n\n\n6:00 pm\n\n \n\n\n\n \n - \n\n8:00 pm\n\n\n\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n$10 \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Humffray Room \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Get Tickets\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Outrageous Fortunes \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Megan Brown & Lucy Sussex \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Megan & Lucy will be hosted in conversation by Dr. Meg Tasker \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n The Adventures of Mary Fortune\, Crime-writer\, and Her Criminal Son \n \n \n \n \n \n \n 'Engrossingly illuminating and ultimately deeply moving' - John Connolly \n \n \n \n \n \n \n 'Mary Fortune's bold fictions electrified colonial Australia. But her own story\, pieced together by two tenacious literary detectives\, was best of all.' —Gideon Haigh \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n The gripping story of Australia’s first female crime writer and her career-criminal son. When Mary Fortune arrived in Melbourne with her infant son in 1855\, she was determined to reinvent herself. The Victorian goldfields were just the place. After a time selling sly grog and a bigamous marriage to a policeman\, Mary became a pioneering journalist and author. The Detective’s Album was the first book of detective stories to be published in Australia and the first by a woman to be published anywhere in the world. Her work appeared in magazines and newspapers for over forty years – but none of her readers knew who she was. She wrote using pseudonyms\, often adopting the voice of a male narrator to write about ‘unladylike’ subjects. When Mary died in 1911\, her identity was nearly lost. In Outrageous Fortunes\, Megan Brown and Lucy Sussex retrieve Fortune’s astonishing career and discover an equally absorbing story in her illegitimate son\, George. While Mary was writing crime\, George was committing it\, with convictions for theft and bank robbery. In their intertwined stories\, crime fiction meets true crime\, and Melbourne’s literary bohemia consorts with the criminal underworld. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n About the authors \n \n \n \n \n \n Megan Brown completed her PhD at the University of Wollongong\, examining the work of Mary Fortune. She has contributed chapters to The Routledge Companion to Australian Literature and The Unsocial Sociability of Women’s Life Writing. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Megan Brown\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Lucy Sussex’s books include Blockbuster! Fergus Hume and The Mystery of a Hansom Cab\, which won the 2015 Victorian Community History Award\, Women Writers and Detectives in the Nineteenth Century and Saltwater in the Ink: Voices from the Australian Seas. She has a PhD from the University of Wales and is an honorary fellow at La Trobe University. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Lucy Sussex\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Host \n \n \n \n \n \n Meg Tasker: Dr Meg Tasker taught British and Australian literature and cultural studies for many years\, her most notable publication being the first and only critical biography of Anglo-Australian writer\, Francis Adams (Struggle and Storm\, Melb UP 2001). She has published quite a few articles and conference papers on Adams and other 19th century writers\, including a handful co-written with Lucy Sussex as part of an ARC funded project on Australian writers in London. Formerly general editor of the Australasian Journal of Victorian Studies (AJVS)\, and President of the Australasian Victorian Studies Association (AVSA)\, she left her position as Associate Professor at Federation University Australia (formerly the University of Ballarat) in 2018\, and is now\, like Lucy and Megan\, happy to be a Victorianist-at-large. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Dr Meg Tasker\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Enquiries:  Any event specific enquires should be direct to library@ballaratmi.org.au \n \n \n \n \n \n $10 per person plus booking fee & gst includes light refreshment. All proceeds go to the Ballaarat Mechanics’ Institute to support the staging of our author events. Book on-line or contact Rosemary at the Libary via email library@ballaratmi.org.au or phone (03) 5331 3042 \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Get Tickets\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Collins Booksellers\, Ballart on Lydiard will be handling book sales for the event. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Why Not become a member\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n This event takes place on Wadawurrung Country. Ballaarat Mechanics’ Institute acknowledges the Wadawurrung People of the Kulin Nation as the first inhabitants and Traditional Custodians of the lands where we work\, learn and create. Always Was\, Always Will Be\, Aboriginal Land. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n More author talks \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n BMI news \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Library closure Saturday 4 July\n The Library will be closed on Saturday 4 July  and... \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n NAIDOC Week\n NAIDOC 2026 National NAIDOC Week celebrations are held across Australia... \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Rosemary’s Book of the Week | The Secrets of Provence by Daisy Wood.\n The Secrets of Provence Daisy Wood Provence\,1940 Thrown out of... \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n A Message from the Chair | BMI Board of Directors | July 2026\n Membership Contriubtions I imagine many of you have received requests... \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Load More\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n BMI Events URL:https://ballaratmi.org.au/event/you-cant-tell-anyone-22-aug/ LOCATION:BMI – Minerva Space\, 117-119 Sturt Street\, Ballarat Central\, VIC\, 3350 CATEGORIES:Ballarat National Theatre,Theatre Production ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://ballaratmi.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/YCTA-ATDW-1600-x-1200-px-e1782429973747.png ORGANIZER;CN="Ballarat National Theatre":MAILTO:contact@bnt.org.au END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=Australia/Melbourne:20260823T130000 DTEND;TZID=Australia/Melbourne:20260823T143000 DTSTAMP:20260630T001508Z CREATED:20260629T033831Z LAST-MODIFIED:20260630T001508Z UID:73967-1787490000-1787495400@ballaratmi.org.au SUMMARY:You Can't Tell Anyone\, A Ballarat National Theatre Production DESCRIPTION:In Conversation with Megan Brown & Lucy Sussex \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n February 25\n\n \n\n @ \n\n\n6:00 pm\n\n \n\n\n\n \n - \n\n8:00 pm\n\n\n\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n$10 \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Humffray Room \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Get Tickets\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Outrageous Fortunes \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Megan Brown & Lucy Sussex \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Megan & Lucy will be hosted in conversation by Dr. Meg Tasker \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n The Adventures of Mary Fortune\, Crime-writer\, and Her Criminal Son \n \n \n \n \n \n \n 'Engrossingly illuminating and ultimately deeply moving' - John Connolly \n \n \n \n \n \n \n 'Mary Fortune's bold fictions electrified colonial Australia. But her own story\, pieced together by two tenacious literary detectives\, was best of all.' —Gideon Haigh \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n The gripping story of Australia’s first female crime writer and her career-criminal son. When Mary Fortune arrived in Melbourne with her infant son in 1855\, she was determined to reinvent herself. The Victorian goldfields were just the place. After a time selling sly grog and a bigamous marriage to a policeman\, Mary became a pioneering journalist and author. The Detective’s Album was the first book of detective stories to be published in Australia and the first by a woman to be published anywhere in the world. Her work appeared in magazines and newspapers for over forty years – but none of her readers knew who she was. She wrote using pseudonyms\, often adopting the voice of a male narrator to write about ‘unladylike’ subjects. When Mary died in 1911\, her identity was nearly lost. In Outrageous Fortunes\, Megan Brown and Lucy Sussex retrieve Fortune’s astonishing career and discover an equally absorbing story in her illegitimate son\, George. While Mary was writing crime\, George was committing it\, with convictions for theft and bank robbery. In their intertwined stories\, crime fiction meets true crime\, and Melbourne’s literary bohemia consorts with the criminal underworld. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n About the authors \n \n \n \n \n \n Megan Brown completed her PhD at the University of Wollongong\, examining the work of Mary Fortune. She has contributed chapters to The Routledge Companion to Australian Literature and The Unsocial Sociability of Women’s Life Writing. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Megan Brown\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Lucy Sussex’s books include Blockbuster! Fergus Hume and The Mystery of a Hansom Cab\, which won the 2015 Victorian Community History Award\, Women Writers and Detectives in the Nineteenth Century and Saltwater in the Ink: Voices from the Australian Seas. She has a PhD from the University of Wales and is an honorary fellow at La Trobe University. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Lucy Sussex\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Host \n \n \n \n \n \n Meg Tasker: Dr Meg Tasker taught British and Australian literature and cultural studies for many years\, her most notable publication being the first and only critical biography of Anglo-Australian writer\, Francis Adams (Struggle and Storm\, Melb UP 2001). She has published quite a few articles and conference papers on Adams and other 19th century writers\, including a handful co-written with Lucy Sussex as part of an ARC funded project on Australian writers in London. Formerly general editor of the Australasian Journal of Victorian Studies (AJVS)\, and President of the Australasian Victorian Studies Association (AVSA)\, she left her position as Associate Professor at Federation University Australia (formerly the University of Ballarat) in 2018\, and is now\, like Lucy and Megan\, happy to be a Victorianist-at-large. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Dr Meg Tasker\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Enquiries:  Any event specific enquires should be direct to library@ballaratmi.org.au \n \n \n \n \n \n $10 per person plus booking fee & gst includes light refreshment. All proceeds go to the Ballaarat Mechanics’ Institute to support the staging of our author events. Book on-line or contact Rosemary at the Libary via email library@ballaratmi.org.au or phone (03) 5331 3042 \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Get Tickets\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Collins Booksellers\, Ballart on Lydiard will be handling book sales for the event. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Why Not become a member\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n This event takes place on Wadawurrung Country. Ballaarat Mechanics’ Institute acknowledges the Wadawurrung People of the Kulin Nation as the first inhabitants and Traditional Custodians of the lands where we work\, learn and create. Always Was\, Always Will Be\, Aboriginal Land. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n More author talks \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n BMI news \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Library closure Saturday 4 July\n The Library will be closed on Saturday 4 July  and... \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n NAIDOC Week\n NAIDOC 2026 National NAIDOC Week celebrations are held across Australia... \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Rosemary’s Book of the Week | The Secrets of Provence by Daisy Wood.\n The Secrets of Provence Daisy Wood Provence\,1940 Thrown out of... \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n A Message from the Chair | BMI Board of Directors | July 2026\n Membership Contriubtions I imagine many of you have received requests... \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Load More\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n BMI Events URL:https://ballaratmi.org.au/event/you-cant-tell-anyone-23-aug-matinee/ LOCATION:BMI – Minerva Space\, 117-119 Sturt Street\, Ballarat Central\, VIC\, 3350 CATEGORIES:Ballarat National Theatre,Theatre Production ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://ballaratmi.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/YCTA-ATDW-1600-x-1200-px-e1782429973747.png ORGANIZER;CN="Ballarat National Theatre":MAILTO:contact@bnt.org.au END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=Australia/Melbourne:20260823T180000 DTEND;TZID=Australia/Melbourne:20260823T193000 DTSTAMP:20260630T015250Z CREATED:20260629T033929Z LAST-MODIFIED:20260630T015250Z UID:73969-1787508000-1787513400@ballaratmi.org.au SUMMARY:You Can't Tell Anyone\, A Ballarat National Theatre Production DESCRIPTION:In Conversation with Megan Brown & Lucy Sussex \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n February 25\n\n \n\n @ \n\n\n6:00 pm\n\n \n\n\n\n \n - \n\n8:00 pm\n\n\n\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n$10 \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Humffray Room \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Get Tickets\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Outrageous Fortunes \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Megan Brown & Lucy Sussex \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Megan & Lucy will be hosted in conversation by Dr. Meg Tasker \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n The Adventures of Mary Fortune\, Crime-writer\, and Her Criminal Son \n \n \n \n \n \n \n 'Engrossingly illuminating and ultimately deeply moving' - John Connolly \n \n \n \n \n \n \n 'Mary Fortune's bold fictions electrified colonial Australia. But her own story\, pieced together by two tenacious literary detectives\, was best of all.' —Gideon Haigh \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n The gripping story of Australia’s first female crime writer and her career-criminal son. When Mary Fortune arrived in Melbourne with her infant son in 1855\, she was determined to reinvent herself. The Victorian goldfields were just the place. After a time selling sly grog and a bigamous marriage to a policeman\, Mary became a pioneering journalist and author. The Detective’s Album was the first book of detective stories to be published in Australia and the first by a woman to be published anywhere in the world. Her work appeared in magazines and newspapers for over forty years – but none of her readers knew who she was. She wrote using pseudonyms\, often adopting the voice of a male narrator to write about ‘unladylike’ subjects. When Mary died in 1911\, her identity was nearly lost. In Outrageous Fortunes\, Megan Brown and Lucy Sussex retrieve Fortune’s astonishing career and discover an equally absorbing story in her illegitimate son\, George. While Mary was writing crime\, George was committing it\, with convictions for theft and bank robbery. In their intertwined stories\, crime fiction meets true crime\, and Melbourne’s literary bohemia consorts with the criminal underworld. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n About the authors \n \n \n \n \n \n Megan Brown completed her PhD at the University of Wollongong\, examining the work of Mary Fortune. She has contributed chapters to The Routledge Companion to Australian Literature and The Unsocial Sociability of Women’s Life Writing. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Megan Brown\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Lucy Sussex’s books include Blockbuster! Fergus Hume and The Mystery of a Hansom Cab\, which won the 2015 Victorian Community History Award\, Women Writers and Detectives in the Nineteenth Century and Saltwater in the Ink: Voices from the Australian Seas. She has a PhD from the University of Wales and is an honorary fellow at La Trobe University. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Lucy Sussex\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Host \n \n \n \n \n \n Meg Tasker: Dr Meg Tasker taught British and Australian literature and cultural studies for many years\, her most notable publication being the first and only critical biography of Anglo-Australian writer\, Francis Adams (Struggle and Storm\, Melb UP 2001). She has published quite a few articles and conference papers on Adams and other 19th century writers\, including a handful co-written with Lucy Sussex as part of an ARC funded project on Australian writers in London. Formerly general editor of the Australasian Journal of Victorian Studies (AJVS)\, and President of the Australasian Victorian Studies Association (AVSA)\, she left her position as Associate Professor at Federation University Australia (formerly the University of Ballarat) in 2018\, and is now\, like Lucy and Megan\, happy to be a Victorianist-at-large. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Dr Meg Tasker\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Enquiries:  Any event specific enquires should be direct to library@ballaratmi.org.au \n \n \n \n \n \n $10 per person plus booking fee & gst includes light refreshment. All proceeds go to the Ballaarat Mechanics’ Institute to support the staging of our author events. Book on-line or contact Rosemary at the Libary via email library@ballaratmi.org.au or phone (03) 5331 3042 \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Get Tickets\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Collins Booksellers\, Ballart on Lydiard will be handling book sales for the event. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Why Not become a member\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n This event takes place on Wadawurrung Country. Ballaarat Mechanics’ Institute acknowledges the Wadawurrung People of the Kulin Nation as the first inhabitants and Traditional Custodians of the lands where we work\, learn and create. Always Was\, Always Will Be\, Aboriginal Land. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n More author talks \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n BMI news \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Library closure Saturday 4 July\n The Library will be closed on Saturday 4 July  and... \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n NAIDOC Week\n NAIDOC 2026 National NAIDOC Week celebrations are held across Australia... \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Rosemary’s Book of the Week | The Secrets of Provence by Daisy Wood.\n The Secrets of Provence Daisy Wood Provence\,1940 Thrown out of... \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n A Message from the Chair | BMI Board of Directors | July 2026\n Membership Contriubtions I imagine many of you have received requests... \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Load More\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n BMI Events URL:https://ballaratmi.org.au/event/you-cant-tell-anyone-23-aug/ LOCATION:BMI – Minerva Space\, 117-119 Sturt Street\, Ballarat Central\, VIC\, 3350 CATEGORIES:Ballarat National Theatre,Theatre Production ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://ballaratmi.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/YCTA-ATDW-1600-x-1200-px-e1782429973747.png ORGANIZER;CN="Ballarat National Theatre":MAILTO:contact@bnt.org.au END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=Australia/Melbourne:20260905T100000 DTEND;TZID=Australia/Melbourne:20260906T140000 DTSTAMP:20260619T051824Z CREATED:20260604T032725Z LAST-MODIFIED:20260619T051824Z UID:73413-1788602400-1788703200@ballaratmi.org.au SUMMARY:Book Sale | Reward yourself with some excellent Spring reading DESCRIPTION:In Conversation with Megan Brown & Lucy Sussex \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n February 25\n\n \n\n @ \n\n\n6:00 pm\n\n \n\n\n\n \n - \n\n8:00 pm\n\n\n\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n$10 \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Humffray Room \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Get Tickets\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Outrageous Fortunes \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Megan Brown & Lucy Sussex \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Megan & Lucy will be hosted in conversation by Dr. Meg Tasker \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n The Adventures of Mary Fortune\, Crime-writer\, and Her Criminal Son \n \n \n \n \n \n \n 'Engrossingly illuminating and ultimately deeply moving' - John Connolly \n \n \n \n \n \n \n 'Mary Fortune's bold fictions electrified colonial Australia. But her own story\, pieced together by two tenacious literary detectives\, was best of all.' —Gideon Haigh \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n The gripping story of Australia’s first female crime writer and her career-criminal son. When Mary Fortune arrived in Melbourne with her infant son in 1855\, she was determined to reinvent herself. The Victorian goldfields were just the place. After a time selling sly grog and a bigamous marriage to a policeman\, Mary became a pioneering journalist and author. The Detective’s Album was the first book of detective stories to be published in Australia and the first by a woman to be published anywhere in the world. Her work appeared in magazines and newspapers for over forty years – but none of her readers knew who she was. She wrote using pseudonyms\, often adopting the voice of a male narrator to write about ‘unladylike’ subjects. When Mary died in 1911\, her identity was nearly lost. In Outrageous Fortunes\, Megan Brown and Lucy Sussex retrieve Fortune’s astonishing career and discover an equally absorbing story in her illegitimate son\, George. While Mary was writing crime\, George was committing it\, with convictions for theft and bank robbery. In their intertwined stories\, crime fiction meets true crime\, and Melbourne’s literary bohemia consorts with the criminal underworld. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n About the authors \n \n \n \n \n \n Megan Brown completed her PhD at the University of Wollongong\, examining the work of Mary Fortune. She has contributed chapters to The Routledge Companion to Australian Literature and The Unsocial Sociability of Women’s Life Writing. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Megan Brown\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Lucy Sussex’s books include Blockbuster! Fergus Hume and The Mystery of a Hansom Cab\, which won the 2015 Victorian Community History Award\, Women Writers and Detectives in the Nineteenth Century and Saltwater in the Ink: Voices from the Australian Seas. She has a PhD from the University of Wales and is an honorary fellow at La Trobe University. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Lucy Sussex\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Host \n \n \n \n \n \n Meg Tasker: Dr Meg Tasker taught British and Australian literature and cultural studies for many years\, her most notable publication being the first and only critical biography of Anglo-Australian writer\, Francis Adams (Struggle and Storm\, Melb UP 2001). She has published quite a few articles and conference papers on Adams and other 19th century writers\, including a handful co-written with Lucy Sussex as part of an ARC funded project on Australian writers in London. Formerly general editor of the Australasian Journal of Victorian Studies (AJVS)\, and President of the Australasian Victorian Studies Association (AVSA)\, she left her position as Associate Professor at Federation University Australia (formerly the University of Ballarat) in 2018\, and is now\, like Lucy and Megan\, happy to be a Victorianist-at-large. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Dr Meg Tasker\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Enquiries:  Any event specific enquires should be direct to library@ballaratmi.org.au \n \n \n \n \n \n $10 per person plus booking fee & gst includes light refreshment. All proceeds go to the Ballaarat Mechanics’ Institute to support the staging of our author events. Book on-line or contact Rosemary at the Libary via email library@ballaratmi.org.au or phone (03) 5331 3042 \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Get Tickets\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Collins Booksellers\, Ballart on Lydiard will be handling book sales for the event. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Why Not become a member\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n This event takes place on Wadawurrung Country. Ballaarat Mechanics’ Institute acknowledges the Wadawurrung People of the Kulin Nation as the first inhabitants and Traditional Custodians of the lands where we work\, learn and create. Always Was\, Always Will Be\, Aboriginal Land. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n More author talks \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n BMI news \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Library closure Saturday 4 July\n The Library will be closed on Saturday 4 July  and... \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n NAIDOC Week\n NAIDOC 2026 National NAIDOC Week celebrations are held across Australia... \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Rosemary’s Book of the Week | The Secrets of Provence by Daisy Wood.\n The Secrets of Provence Daisy Wood Provence\,1940 Thrown out of... \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n A Message from the Chair | BMI Board of Directors | July 2026\n Membership Contriubtions I imagine many of you have received requests... \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Load More\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n BMI Events URL:https://ballaratmi.org.au/event/book-sale-spring-bmi/ LOCATION:Lending Library\, Sturt Street\, Ballarat Central\, Victoria\, 3350\, Australia CATEGORIES:Fundraiser,Library ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://ballaratmi.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/square-promo-spring-book-sale.jpg END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR