'At the Antipodes Writers Festival (Melbourne) 2012's opening event, Christos Tsiolkas, multi-award winning author of Loaded, Dead Europe and The Slap, speaks to cultural theorist, Professor Nikos Papastergiadis (School of Culture and Communication, University of Melbourne). In this excerpt, edited by Prof. Papastergiadis, they discuss Tsiolkas’ work in the context of multiculturalism and cosmopolitanism – the focus of Papastergiadis's recent book Cosmopolitanism and Culture 2012; they also discuss hospitality, belonging and Australian culture.' (Author's abstract)