NOTICE OF MEETING
The 2026 Annual General Meeting for the Melbourne Athenaeum Inc. will be held in the library at 1 pm on Monday 13 April.
For more information please speak to library staff.
Members are warmly invited to attend the 2025 Gary Morgan oration, which will be delivered by Simon Plant, a Melbourne writer and researcher with a special interest in Australian performing arts history.
George Coppin and Barry Humphries: How two great showmen made Melbourne marvellous is the title for the oration, a Rare Books Melbourne event being held in the library on March 5.
Simon holds a Masters Degree in Australian History and his first book is titled Entertaining Mr Coppin: An Antipodean Showman in Civil War America (Theatre Heritage Australia, 2025).
Simon’s journalism career spanned 30 years, during which he covered every facet of arts and entertainment. He has also co-curated three exhibitions including Making a Song and Dance: The History of the Australian Musical at Arts Centre Melbourne.
Simon has written two plays, acted with the Goodfa Business Theatre Company (with speechmaker Campbell McComas) and is a long-standing member of the Melbourne Savage Club.
The performance will be held on Thursday 5 March with doors opening at 6:00pm for a 6:30pm start. This event is free for both members and non-members. Bookings can be made through Trybooking using this link.
