The meaning of reading

There’s nothing like being transported to imaginative worlds by another person’s writing, but it’s harder and harder to read undistracted by digital pressures and lures. Join us and our guest, Ronan McDonald, professor of Irish Studies, as we explore whether reading in the old, immersive way still matters, and if so, why. For one special evening we’ll conjure the works of glorious Irish writers including Joyce, Yeats and others, with spoken word and live music brought together by uilleann piper Matthew Horsley and acclaimed actors Evelyn Krape and Hamish Michael. You just might find a philosophical justification for that delicious pleasure – tucking yourself away for a good few hours with a favourite book.

Ronan McDonald

Speaker

Ronan McDonald is a professor at the University of Melbourne, where he holds the Gerry Higgins Chair in Irish Studies. He is president-elect of Melbourne’s Celtic Club, Australia’s oldest Irish organization. His research and writing explore Irish and modernist literature as well as broader questions about the history of criticism, cultural value, and the role of the humanities today. He has published widely in these areas and beyond both for academic publications and for national newspapers and magazines. His current research examines the history and philosophy of attention and distraction, drawing on literary, aesthetic, and neuroscientific approaches to explore how the arts and humanities cultivate forms of care and focus that resist the distracted tempo of digital life.

Matthew Horsley

Artist

Matthew Horsley is a multi-instrumentalist, improviser, composer and ethnomusicologist specialising in the uilleann (Irish) pipes. He has performed extensively across classical, experimental, popular, jazz, and folk genres, with artists such as ELISION Ensemble, the Australian Art Orchestra, Steve Reich, the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, Speak Percussion, Horsley & Williams Duo, Topology, and Clocked Out. He holds a Bachelor of Music in percussion from the Queensland Conservatorium, a Master of Music Performance (by research) from the Victorian College of the Arts, and has completed a PhD in ethnomusicology at Monash University. Matthew’s first uilleann piping album, Australian Waters, was released in 2015, and his forthcoming book on musical style in uilleann piping is set for publication by Cork University Press in 2026.

Matthew can be found on Instagram at @hornpipebotherer and on Facebook at Matthew Horsley

Evelyn Krape

Artist

Evelyn Krape is an Australian acting icon with more than 30 years’ experience in theatre, film and television. She has appeared on screen in popular television series such as Australia You’re Standing in It, The Flying Doctors, Blue Heelers and Laid, and in celebrated films including Dimboola, The Sound of One Hand Clapping and as the voice of ‘the Old Ewe’ in the award-winning movie Babe. Her on-stage appearances include her Green Room Award-winning performances in Ginger and her one-woman show Female Parts, as well as a breadth of productions for Melbourne Theatre Company, Playbox, 11th Hour, Victorian Opera Company, Malthouse Theatre, and Shakespeare in the Park. Evelyn is currently the artistic director of Kadimah Yiddish Theatre. In 2026, she will be appearing on screen in the new Stan Original Series Gnomes and on stage in the Malthouse Theatre’s production of All About Eve.

Hamish Michael

Artist

Hamish Michael is an award-winning Australian actor whose film, television and theatre career spans more than two decades. Hamish first came to national prominence in the ABC dramedy Crownies and its highly lauded spin-off Janet King. Since then, he has starred in numerous popular television series such as Frayed, Ladies in Black, The Twelve, and Scrublands: Silver, and in acclaimed films including The Great Gatsby and One More Shot, among many others. A multiple award-winning stage actor, Hamish has also worked extensively with Australia’s most prestigious theatre companies including Sydney Theatre Company, Melbourne Theatre Company, and Malthouse Theatre.

Hamish can be found on Instagram at @hmshmchl

Brigid Hains

Host

Brigid Hains is the editorial director of Aeon Media. An environmental historian by training, she is driven by a deep curiosity about the natural and human worlds. The Sophia Club is a chance for Brigid to express her love of beauty and the arts, and to share the heartfelt dimensions of her intellectual life.