When some of the institutions fundamental to democracy are struggling both here and overseas, when it feels like progress is slipping and hard-won rights are being wound back, how can the power of writing show us a way forward? Amy McQuire, Clare Wright and Anna Spargo-Ryan offer ideas for working our way out of some of the wicked problems of our time, in discussion with chair Alice Grundy.

SPEAKERS:

Anna Spargo-Ryan is an award-winning Melbourne writer, teacher and editor. She is the author of two novels, The Gulf (2017) and The Paper House (2016). Her latest book, A Kind of Magic (2022) was shortlisted in the Queensland Literary Awards. Anna was the inaugural winner of the Horne Prize for her essay "The Suicide Gene" and she holds a PhD in truth, memory and life writing.

Clare Wright is an award-winning historian, author, broadcaster and public commentator who has worked in politics, academia and the media. She is currently Professor of History and Professor of Public Engagement at La Trobe University. Clare is the author of the bestselling Beyond the Ladies Lounge: Australia’s Female Publicans (2003) and The Forgotten Rebels of Eureka (2013). Her latest book is Ṉäku Dhäruk: The Bark Petitions. 

Jonathan Green has been an editor, writer, commentator and broadcaster in a 40-year career as a journalist, beginning with a cadetship at The Canberra Times and including 15 years at The Age. He is the author of Around Australia in 80 Days (2004) and The Year My Politics Broke (2013). He has been editor of literary quarterly Meanjin since 2015, and he presents Blueprint for Living on ABC Radio National.   

Dr Alice Grundy is Managing Editor of Australia Institute Press and a Research Manager at The Australia Institute. She worked in book publishing for fifteen years before researching a PhD at ANU on publishing and editing history. The first half of her PhD was published by Cambridge University Press, Editing Fiction (2022), and her essays, articles and reviews have appeared in the Canberra Times, Sydney Review of Books, The Conversation and Griffith Review.

For more information on Adelaide Writers' Week website, please click here.