Book launch: IDES by Margaret Malloch & Joe Pascoe

In ancient Rome the ides of each month were when accounts were commonly settled. Merchants met with their creditors and debtors. Most famously, Julius Caesar was stabbed by Brutus and 21 other senators to restore the political balance of the republic. These ides, however, see two poets swap a poem mid-month for almost two years. The exchanges were conducted by email, with the Melbourne Athenaeum Library acting as their shared cultural home. They are members of the Library’s Tuesday Writers Group.

You are invited to follow their zig-zagging path through a wide-ranging collection of poems, which balance and teeter on many of life’s eternal questions.

Marg Malloch’s background is in education, with a focus on vocational education and training, higher education, and capability. Her doctorate examined the impact of affirmative action policies on gender equity in the Victorian education system. She is lead editor of The SAGE Handbook of Workplace Learning, and The SAGE Handbook of Learning and Work, and second author with Len Cairns of Lifelong Learning for Capability. A work on digital technology and empowerment of workers in in production.

Joe Pascoe has had a long career in the visual arts, including roles at Shepparton Art Gallery, Australia Council for the Arts, and Craft Victoria. He has an Art History degree (La Trobe University) and a Graduate Diploma in Museum Studies (Prahran CAE). Recent poetry publications include Glass Kangaroo, Sharp Pencil, Bubbles, Frangipani, Gum Tree Burning, Merry-Go-Round and Bird Rock. Joe lives in Ivanhoe, Melbourne, with his family.

Doors 6.00pm
Launch 6.30pm

Thursday 19 March 2026 6:00 PM - 8:00 PM (UTC+11)This event is free for both members and non-members. Bookings can be made through Trybooking using this link.