Great Writers and the Cats Who Owned Them with Susannah Fullerton

Writers and cats go together beautifully. In a silent study, a cat is the perfect authorial companion – it doesn’t need walks, yet is there for comfort. Famous writers have often loved and been inspired by their cats.

Writers and cats have long enjoyed a curious companionship — one of quiet inspiration, eccentric rituals, and, occasionally, literary immortality. This talk explores the lives of seventeen celebrated authors through the eyes of their feline friends, uncovering the ways these creatures padded their way into poetry, prose, and personal histories. From Dr Johnson’s dignified Hodge to Colette’s adored Chartreux, from Edward Lear’s famously unprepossessing Foss to Ernest Hemingway’s brood of twenty, these stories reveal how cats have shaped creativity, comforted their humans, and sometimes even altered the course of literary works. Whether pampered muses, silent confidants, or accidental co-authors, these cats prove that the relationship between writer and feline is as rich, complex, and enduring as literature itself.

Susannah Fullerton OAM, FRSN, has been President of the Jane Austen Society of Australia for nearly thirty years. She is one of Australia’s best-known speakers on classic novels, is a registered speaker for ArtsNational, and gives talks on famous writers and their lives around the country.

Susannah publishes a popular monthly newsletter, Notes from a Book Addict, and is the author of several books including Jane Austen and Crime, Brief Encounters: Literary Travellers in Australia, A Dance with Jane Austen, and Happily Ever After: Celebrating Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice.

Join The Friends for another interesting and stimulating presentation. Afternoon tea, to include an array of delicious petit fours and biscuits, will be served on arrival. 

NOTE: Tickets for this event do not include access to our exhibition-house, Fairhall. Guided tours of the current exhibition can be booked separately. 

This event is supported by The Colin Holden Charitable Trust. 

Image: English, Dr Johnson and his Cat, 1888.