MLC is delighted to invite Old Collegians to join with Year 9 students during the 2026 Festival of Stories to hear award‑winning author Alice Pung OAM.
Alice’s remarkable life story, from her family’s survival of the Khmer Rouge to her own experiences growing up in Melbourne, gives her writing and speaking a depth, empathy and insight that makes hearing her in person a privilege.
Read Alice's biography below.
Following the talk, you will tour the Junior Library and then accompany MLC Libraries Director Inger Krueger and Deputy Director Amanda Lucas (1979) to the Walton Library for lunch with the Staff Book Club. Alice will join guests at lunch for this special gathering.
This is an exclusive event with only 25 tickets available. Limit of two tickets per person.
Wednesday, 26 August, 2026
10.50am – 1.30pm
James Tatoulis Auditorium, MLC
RSVP - Thursday 20 August, 2026
Biography
Alice is an award-winning author and an Adjunct Professor in the School of Media and Communication at RMIT University.
She is the bestselling author of the memoirs Unpolished Gem and Her Father’s Daughter, the novels Laurinda and One Hundred Days, the essay collection Close to Home, as well as the editor of the anthologies Growing Up Asian in Australia and My First Lesson. Her books have been published internationally, including in the US, UK, Italy, Germany and Indonesia.
Her Father's Daughter won the Western Australia Premiers' Award. Laurinda won the Ethel Turner Prize at the 2016 NSW Premier’s Literary Awards. Her second novel One Hundred Days, was shortlisted for the 2022 Miles Franklin Award, and has been optioned by Michelle Law for development as a film. She is also the author of children’s books including Be Careful, Xiao Xin!, When Grandma Came to Stay and the Meet Marly books.
A qualified lawyer, Alice still works part-time in the area of minimum wages and pay equity. Alice was awarded an Order of Australia Medal for her services to literature in 2022.
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