Colm Tóibín: From Brooklyn to Long Island

Colm Tóibín: From Brooklyn to Long Island

  • 19 May 2025 - 21 May 2025
  • 07:00pm - 08:00pm
  • $29.50 - $39.50
  • The Capitol
  • 113 Swanston Street Melbourne
event header image

One of Ireland's most celebrated writers appears in Melbourne for one night only to reflect on his extraordinary career and discuss his latest novel, Long Island, presented by RMIT University in partnership with The Wheeler Centre and Melbourne Writers Festival.

In 2009, Colm Tóibín published Brooklyn – a 'beautifully executed novel' (The Times Literary Supplement) that followed Eilis Lacey as she left Ireland for New York in search of a more fulfilling life.   

Now, the three-time Booker Prize-shortlisted author returns to his beloved heroine in Long Island. Eilis, now in her forties, is married with children and living in a cul-de-sac surrounded by her husband's family – seemingly settled into the American middle-class dream. But when an unexpected knock at the door shatters this illusion, everything changes.  

Featuring an introduction from RMIT University Lecturer in Creative Writing Rebecca Harkins-Cross, Tóibín will join interviewer Sarah L'Estrange for an expansive conversation about his distinguished career and this latest deeply moving addition to his oeuvre – a story permeated with the themes of exile, belonging, desire and regret that have come to define his remarkable body of writing.

Presented by RMIT University, in partnership with The Wheeler Centre and Melbourne Writers Festival.

Dates:

19th of May | 7pm - 8pm

21st of May | 7pm - 8pm (Sold out)

Share

Upcoming events

rmit-games-day-reference-1220x732.jpg

Monthly RMIT Games Day 2026

Icon / Small / CalendarCreated with Sketch. 25 Jan 2026 - 14 Dec 2026
Icon / Small / LocationCreated with Sketch. RMIT City campus

RMIT are back for RMIT Games Day 2026 tournaments!

eoi-ref.jpg

Now accepting 2027 First Site Gallery project proposals

Student
Icon / Small / CalendarCreated with Sketch. 28 Sep 2026 - 01 Nov 2026

Are you an RMIT student with a creative project you’d like to share? We are calling for proposals from RMIT students, who are currently enrolled in the College of Design and Social Context, to exhibit in the 2027 First Site Gallery exhibition program.

gc-zd-ref.jpg

'Docile Anatomy' by Gina Corridore & Zoe Denton

Icon / Small / CalendarCreated with Sketch. 06 Oct 2026 - 30 Oct 2026

Through absurdist video and intricately crocheted metal, 'Docile Anatomy' examines how femininity is shaped and performed, exposing the hidden labour often expected of women and challenging outdated yet enduring societal expectations.

aboriginal flag float-starttorres strait flag float-start

Acknowledgement of Country

RMIT University acknowledges the people of the Woi wurrung and Boon wurrung language groups of the eastern Kulin Nation on whose unceded lands we conduct the business of the University. RMIT University respectfully acknowledges their Ancestors and Elders, past and present. RMIT also acknowledges the Traditional Custodians and their Ancestors of the lands and waters across Australia where we conduct our business - Artwork 'Sentient' by Hollie Johnson, Gunaikurnai and Monero Ngarigo.

Learn more about our commitment to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples