Co-presented with the Wheeler Centre

In conjunction with this year’s screening of The End of the Tour, James Ponsoldt’s (The Spectacular Now, MIFF 2013) critically acclaimed adaptation of the Dave Lipsky memoir Although Of Course You End Up Becoming Yourself – about the author’s five days spent with the late David Foster Wallace – the MIFF Talking Pictures program and the Wheeler Centre will co-present a discussion exploring Foster Wallace's legacy for writers and artists.

A panel of experts and commentators including Sam Cooney, Ronnie Scott, Melinda Houston and Steph Harmon will discuss his impact on popular culture and celebrate the work of this extraordinary writer and the equally extraordinary film that captures him.

Sam Cooney is publisher and editorial director at The Lifted Brow. He has worked with several journals and publishers, and his own writing has featured in various publications including Meanjin, Island, The Saturday Paper, The Australian and as a founding part of the McSweeney’s Silent History geofiction project. He teaches at various universities in Melbourne, is a member of the Emerging Writers Festival’s Program Advisory Committee, and was a judge of last year’s Victorian Premier’s Unpublished Manuscript Award.

Ronnie Scott is the author of Salad Days (Penguin) and founding editor of The Lifted Brow, where he published work by David Foster Wallace. He is a writer for The Saturday Paper, The Australian, The Monthly, The Believer, ABC Radio National and many other venues.

Melinda Houston scored her dream job — TV critic — in 2006, after 20 years writing everything from local news to celebrity profiles and hundreds of book, film, food and bar reviews. These days she contributes as a critic and columnist to most Fairfax newspapers and to radio 3AW and 2UE. She lives in Melbourne. Kat Jumps the Shark is her first novel.

Steph Harmon is founding and managing editor of Junkee, a politics, pop culture and comment site that publishes work from some of the best young journalists and writers around Australia. Prior to Junkee, Steph was the editor of music and arts streetpress The Brag, and founding editor of arts and culture website Throw Shapes. She occasionally appears on ABC radio, FBi Radio and The Project, and tweets from @stephharmon.