The Ray Mathew Lecture was established in 2009 as a major annual event for the National Library of Australia.

It is named in honour of the Australian poet and playwright, Ray Mathew (1929–2002), who left Australia in the late 1960s, never to return. Mathew spent most of the remainder of his life living in the New York apartment of his patrons, Eva and Paul Kollsman.

The Ray Mathew and Eva Kollsman Trust is a generous bequest, made to the Library by Eva Kollsman, to support and promote Australian writing.

Ray Mathew lectures

Morris Gleitzman, 2019

Kim Scott, 2017

Alana Valentine, 2016

Andrea Goldsmith, 2015

Thomas Keneally, 2014

Peter Robb, 2013

Susan Johnson, 2011

Kate Jennings, 2010

Geraldine Brooks, 2009