Global Local: Sharing Stories With The World
Saturday 3rd June
10 AM - 4:30 PM
Eltham Library, Panther Place, Eltham
Program
10:00 am – Registration, Morning Tea
10:15 am - Welcome by Dr Mridula Chakraborty, Monash Asia Institute and Dr Sanaz Fotouhi, Asia Pacific Writers and Translators
10:30am - A Good Muslim Boy
Osamah Sami, A Good Muslim Boy, in conversation with Dr Sally Breen, Atomic City, will discuss his hilarious and heartbreaking memoir of loss, love and family set against the backdrop of the Iran-Iraq war and growing up in a cleric’s family. What we'll do to live up to expectations – and what we must do to live with ourselves will be one of the themes discussed.
11:10am - Book Signing
11:20 am - Identity
Dr Jemma Purdy, Knowing Indonesia, Brigid Delaney,Wild Things, Dr Lily Yulianti Farid, Maiasaura and Dr Sanaz Fotouhi, Literature of the Iranian Diaspora explore the challenges of writing about Indonesian identities in fiction, prose and poetry set against a backdrop a vastly multicultural country.
12 pm – Translation and Play & Eltham Launch of Lady of the Realm
Translation is like poetry, it allows for a playful mind and a playful approach. Dr Susan Hawthorne, Cow, Lupa and Lamb, will talk about the Sanskrit practice of shlesha, the ability to say multiple things at once. She will also talk about her experiments in imaginative translations that she created for her book Lupa and Lamb. Hoa Pham, Lady of The Realm, Wave will discuss the ramifications of having her work translated into Vietnamese in Vietnam and the loss of potential audiences if translations don’t take place because of political embargoes.
12:40 pm - Book signing and Lunch
1:15 pm – Imagining China
Dr Trevor Hay, Letters from a Floating Life and Dreams of Red Dragonflies, will focus on the author’s memories of a more than forty year engagement with China. There will be a reading from his latest book Letters from a Floating Life, and discussion of the way Australia has imagined China over the period from the ‘70s to the present, in which the author has been living and working in China, studying its culture and language and getting to know Chinese people.
1:45 pm - Book signing
2:00 pm - Depends What You Mean by Extremist
John Safran’s just released book, Depends What You Mean By Extremist, is a startling, confronting portrait of contemporary Australia. We all think we know what’s going on in our own country, but this larger-than-life, timely, and alarmingly insightful true story will make you think again. John Safran will be in conversation with Osamah Sami.
2:40 pm - Book signing, afternoon tea
3:00 pm - Indian Story
Dr. Supriya Singh, Girls Ate Last, Globalization and Money, in conversation with Dr Mridula Nath Chakraborty, Monash Asia Institute, will discuss her book and the consequences of the partition of India on family life and in particular on the life of her mother and women. 3.30pm -Book Signing
3:40pm - Fabled Voices
A very special family session for young and old.
Gabrielle Wang and Mandy Ord in conversation with Chris Raja read from and talk about their books that bring history, politics and social justice issues to life in a rich tapestry of myth, fable, prose and comics, especially for the young, the teens and the young adults.
Gabrielle Wang’s new book, The Beast of Hushing Wood, is an imaginative adventure fable teeming with rich detailed scenes and unforgettable characters – both human and animal. It’s lovingly crafted, taking its time to paint wonderful emotional and geographic vistas.
Eat the Sky, Drink The Ocean is a ground-breaking intercontinental collection of speculative stories, in both prose and graphic novel form, with contributors from India and Australia showcasing twenty stellar writers and artists from India and Australia: Isobelle Carmody, Penni Russon, Justine Larbalestier, Margo Lanagan, Lily Mae Martin, Kuzhali Manickavel, Prabha Mallya, Annie Zaidi, Kate Constable, Vandana Singh, Mandy Ord, Priya Kuriyan, Manjula Padmanabhan, Samhita Arni, Alyssa Brugman, Nicki Greenberg and Amruta Patil.
The Burning Elephant is Christopher Raja’s powerful novel set against the backdrop of highly charged assassination of Indira Gandhi and its aftermath on politics and family life. It confronts the reader with how the world works-coping with loss, death, prejudice, violence and reasons for escaping.
4.15pm – Closing Note and Book Signing
Cost: Includes access to all sessions, a copy of a choice of book, morning and afternoon tea and lunchby The Asylum Seekers Resource Centre
$ 35 (General Admission)
$ 30 (APWT Members)
$ 20 (Students with a valid ID card)
$20.00 per family for Fabled Voices only (includes a copy of one of the featured books)
Prepaid bookings are essential: 9439 8700 or [email protected] or visit ELTHAMbookshop, 970 Main Road, Eltham, or you can book your ticket online here.