Festival Panel: What Sustains Us? with Tony Birch

The human spirit rises again and again in the face of adversity. When our physical and emotional world turns on its head, what does it do to us and how do we get from crisis, to acceptance, to survival? Four distinguished panelists moderated by Clare Wright discuss as part of the Canberra Writers Festival.

This event costs $10 and requires registration.

Panelists

Julia Baird

Dr Julia Baird is a globally renowned author and award-winning journalist. She hosts The Drum on ABC TV and writes columns for The New York Times and The Sydney Morning Herald. After her first book Media Tarts, she took up a fellowship at the Harvard Kennedy School and in 2007 was senior editor of Newsweek in New York. She has won five Walkley Awards and her biography of Queen Victoria was a New York Times top ten book of 2016. Julia’s recent bestseller is Phosphorescence: on awe, wonder and things that sustain you when the world goes dark.

Jean Kittson

Jean Kittson is an author, public speaker, actor, comedian and scriptwriter for stage, television, theatre and radio. Jean’s first book You’re Still Hot To Me was a fact-filled conversation starter about menopause. We Need to Talk About Mum and Dad is her second book.

David Roland

Dr David Roland is the author of How I Rescued My Brain and The Power of Suffering. He has a PhD in clinical psychology and is an honorary associate with the University Centre for Rural Health at the University of Sydney. He is a founding member of Compassionate Mind Australia.

Tony Birch

Tony Birch is the multi award-winning author of three novels: the bestselling The White Girl, Ghost River, and Blood. He is also the author of Shadowboxing and three short story collections: Father’s Day, The Promise and Common People. In 2017 he was awarded the Patrick White Literary Award. Tony is a frequent contributor to ABC local and national radio, a regular guest at writers’ festivals, and a climate justice campaigner.

Moderator

Clare Wright

Professor Clare Wright OAM is an award-winning historian, author, broadcaster and public commentator who has worked in politics, academia and the media. Clare is currently a principal research fellow and ARC Future Fellow at La Trobe University. She is the author of four works of history, including the best-selling The Forgotten Rebels of Eureka and You Daughters of Freedom. Clare hosts the ABC Radio National history series Shooting the Past and co-hosts the LTU podcast Archive Fever.