Ryan Cropp in conversation with Sean Kelly

Writer and historian Ryan Cropp illuminates the life of the late Donald Horne — one of Australia’s best known public intellectuals — in a discussion based on his landmark biography, Donald Horne: A Life in the Lucky Country, with Sean Kelly.

When it was first published in 1964, Horne’s book, The Lucky Country, caused a sensation. Horne took Australian society to task for its philistinism, provincialism and dependence. Thereafter the phrase ‘the lucky country’ became part of our lexicon, yet Horne’s intended irony was often overlooked.

Now, Ryan Cropp’s landmark biography positions Horne as an antipodean Orwell, a lively, independent and distinct literary voice ‘searching for the temper of the people, accepting it, and moving on from there’. Through the eyes — and unforgettable words — of this preternaturally observant and articulate man, we see a recognisable modern Australia taking shape.

Join us after the talk for an exclusive tour of the Donald and Myfanwy Horne Room at the Library, which is now used to inspire the Library’s scholars and fellows. See the armchair and desk from which Horne wrote The Lucky Country, and his 4,000-odd books, lining the room’s walls, which influenced his thinking.

This initiative is proudly supported by the NSW Government through the Culture Up Late Program.