WHERE ARE YOU HAPPIEST?

On the third or fourth or eighth day of a long-distance walking track with unexplored bush or countryside ahead of me.

WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE FILM?

Bertrand Tavernier's Une semaine de vacances, set in his city of Lyon, is a meditative and poignant story of a young teacher who takes a week's holiday at home to consider her life and career. I also love political thrillers. A favourite is A Very British Coup, which resonates for any Australian whose political consciousness was forged in 1975.

AND YOUR FAVOURITE BOOK?

For a novel, Charles Dickens's David Copperfield ; for non-fiction, Barry Lopez's Arctic Dreams; and for a memoir, Simone de Beauvoir's The Prime of Life.

NAME THE THREE PEOPLE YOU WOULD MOST LIKE TO DINE WITH.

I'd like to dine with Charles Darwin, but fear he'd just talk about barnacles and earthworms. Instead, I'm going to invite three Aboriginal Australians: Barangaroo, an Eora woman from the eighteenth century; William Barak, a Wurundjeri man from the nineteenth century; and Oodgeroo Noonuccal, a Quandamooka woman of the twentieth century. What kind of conversation would we have about Australian history?

WHICH WORD DO YOU MOST DISLIKE, AND WHICH WOULD YOU LIKE TO SEE BACK IN PUBLIC USAGE?

'Impacted' is horrible: burnt houses are now 'fire-impacted'. 'Firestorm' is the word we need to describe Black Saturday.

WHO IS YOUR FAVOURITE AUTHOR?

Many of my favourite authors are described in my new book, The Art of Time Travel: Greg Dening, Eric Rolls, Donna Merwick, Grace Karskens, Graeme Davison, Inga Clendinnen and others. I admire the American nature writer, Annie Dillard.

AND YOUR FAVOURITE LITERARY HERO AND HEROINE?

Mr Dick from David Copperfield and Emily Stanton from Conditions of Faith. And a vote for Captain Haddock.

NAME AN EARLY LITERARY IDOL OR INFLUENCE WHOM YOU NO LONGER ADMIRE – OR VICE VERSA.

I was late to discover Shirley Hazzard, but she is marvellous.

WHAT, IF ANYTHING, IMPEDES YOUR WRITING?

The corporate bureaucracy of the modern university and the game of grantsmanship. Amazingly, good academic teachers still manage to foster fine writing.

HOW DO YOU REGARD PUBLISHERS?

At their best, they perform magic.

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THE STATE OF CRITICISM?

Australian scholars – at least in my field of history – are very good at reflecting on intellectual traditions. It helps one feel part of a long-term conversation that goes beyond individual reputations or achievements.

IF YOU HAD YOUR TIME OVER AGAIN, WOULD YOU CHOOSE TO BE A WRITER?

I can't imagine not writing.

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF WRITERS' FESTIVALS?

The audiences can be electric with excitement. I loved reading aloud to my children, thus sharing a parallel imaginative world. Writers' festivals can have the same intimacy and wonder.

ARE ARTISTS VALUED IN OUR SOCIETY?

They are undervalued by government and business, but popular esteem is quite high, because books, paintings, plays, and films underpin our national life and subtly engineer social change.

WHAT ARE YOU WORKING ON NOW?

Having written about fire and ice, I'm turning now to the earth – and the literature of nature writing in Australia.