Take a moment to unwind in the heart of the city with MPavilion’s pop-up library, curated in collaboration with The Wheeler Centre. Nestled in the Queen Victoria Gardens, this collection offers something for every reader—from bold First Nations storytelling to thought-provoking design books and poetry that lingers long after the last page. We caught up with Gene Smith Head of Programming at The Wheeler Centre to hear more about their standout picks and what makes this reading nook so special.

Can you share a few standout titles from the collection and why they were chosen?

There are so many! Here are three especially good ones: mark the dawn by Jazz Money, an electrifying poetry collection celebrating community and gathering, and which draws from the legacies of intersecting histories to illuminate the experience of being a queer First Nations person today.

The Garden Against Time by Olivia Laing, a thoughtful and delving investigation of ‘paradise’ and its long association with the imagery of gardens. Laing conjures up depictions of real and imagined gardens, drawing widely from mythology and history, to interrogate the sometimes shocking cost of making paradise on Earth.

Ultrawild by Stephen Mushin, a book perfect for children and grown-ups alike, which showcases some audacious and often hilarious engineering ideas to rewild cities into carbon-sucking mega-habitats for all worldly species. This is perfect for fans of Graeme Base’s Animalia – there are little moments of discovery all throughout Mushin’s marvellously illustrated compendium.

How do you hope visitors will engage with The Wheeler Centre’s selection at MPavilion?

Actress Emma Thompson once said that ‘books are like people, in the sense that they’ll turn up in your life when you most need them’. Perhaps visitors at MPavilion will find exactly what they need, when they need it, while browsing The Wheeler Centre’s pop-up library.

The collection contains rich First Nations perspectives, engaging design books for children, and works of fiction, non-fiction and poetry that will delight and challenge in equal measure.

What are you most looking forward to at MPavilion Season 11?

The panel discussion ‘Design for Difference, Design for Delight’ on Tuesday 18 March, 7:30–8am sounds like the perfect primer before your 9–5. Dr Bree Trevena and Tim Hunt from Arup Australasia will convene for an illuminating conversation about designing with physical and cognitive diversity in mind, and the creative and joyful interactions with the world that such an approach could inspire.

The MPavilion Library is free and open daily until Sat 22 Mar from 8am – 6pm. Check out our Visit page to see the rest of our daily offerings.