Who gets a seat at your dream dinner party?

If you could have dinner with anyone in the world, living or dead, whom would it be? This is usually a question that comes up in general banter at the dinner table, but always draws a diverse mix of responses.

The chosen dinner dates can fall into one of five categories:

• Artists and performers
• Religious and spiritual figures
• Family or relatives
• World leaders
• Elite sports people and coaches

Usually decisions are based around some form of shared personal interest or involvement. For example, someone who has a keen interest in politics may have Malcolm Fraser for dinner, or a die had rugby league fan might have Wally Lewis. Other usual grounds also stem from curiosity to understand a particular era or to make sense of a certain figure’s life. Who is your ultimate dinner guest?

The most common answers typically include:

• Jane Austen
• Oscar Wilde
• Stephen King
• Kim Carey
• Jesus
• the Budda
• Martin Luther
• Grandparents
• George Clooney
• Hugh Jackman
• John Howard
• Sir Donald Bradman

So if you could have anyone in the world for dinner, whom would it be and why?