What writers read

6-7pm, Tuesday 25 November 2025 at Five Leaves Left, 41 Victoria St Hobart

Join poet, essayist and local legend Pete Hay as he talks to writer and editor Jane Rawson about Samuel Johnson’s 1759 ‘satire of optimism’, The History of Rasselas, Prince of Abissinia. “Rasselas, Prince of Abissinia, leaves the easy life of the Happy Valley, accompanied by his sister Nekayah, her attendant Pekuah, and the much-travelled philosopher Imlac. Their journey takes them to Egypt, where they study the various conditions of men’s lives”. Among other things, we’ll be discussing humanity’s capacity for hope and asking: why is everywhere in Tasmania named after somewhere else?

Tickets include a can of wine or mocktail. You can buy one here for $10.

Pete Hay would like to be remembered as a cricketer. This is unlikely. He is also known as a poet, an essayist and an activist. His books include Physick, shortlisted for the Tasmanian Premier’s Book Prize, Silently on the Tide, voted one of Tasmania’s 15 favourite books, and Forgotten Corners: Essays in Search of an Island’s Soul, winner of the Small Press Network’s 2020 Book of the Year Award.