Christine Gordon is the Programming and Community Engagement Manager of Melbourne’s pre-eminent independent bookshop chain, Readings. She considers this the best job in Australia. Gordon was one of the founding members of the Stella Prize, sits on the Victorian Women’s Trust Board and has been a judge on various literary awards. She is passionate about Australian literature and ensuring that reading continues to allow possibilities for everyone. She speaks to ArtsHub about wrangling authors and audiences.
I was a huge fan of Readings, Carlton even before I worked there. I would visit the shop in my lunch breaks, attend author events and read [its] newsletter cover to cover, circling titles I wanted to read with a red pen. During this time, I was working in women’s health at the Royal Women’s Hospital running [its] health promotion program. Parenting gave me a break to consider what I wanted to do with this one wild and wonderful life and, in a moment of bravery, I rang Mark Rubbo, Readings’ managing director. I asked him for a job. He very graciously employed me despite my not having any retail experience. All of this happened more than 20 years ago. I still consider it my lucky break.
