Apart from his many other accomplishments (including a poem on page 43), Clive James is widely regarded as one of the finest essayists writing in English. Next month, we are delighted to announce, he will be our La Trobe University Essayist: his first appearance in this long series. Mr James’s theme will be ‘On Books, Libraries and Writing’. Sydney and Melbourne readers will have a chance to hear him deliver the essay as the Inaugural David Scott Mitchell Memorial Lecture. This new lecture series celebrates the bicentenary, in November 2002, of the first book published in Australia: the New South Wales General Standing Orders, less euphonious than Mr James’s prose perhaps, but equally resilient. It also honours the great bibliophile David Scott Mitchell whose collection formed the foundation of the Mitchell Library. The first lecture will take place at the Sydney Town Hall on 18 November, at 7.30 p.m.; the second at the State Library of Victoria on 19 November, also at 7.30 p.m. Both are free to the public, courtesy of the State Library of New South Wales.