Maggie MacKeller already had some experience of farm life before she followed love to the eastern seaboard of Lutruwita ( Tasmania). But the harsh drought conditions of one year really extended her endurance. But still she found things to sustain her.
Recorded at Byron Writers Festival 2023
In her wonderful read from this book Ellen van Neerven lays out the stark divide between white and indigenous Australian culture in revisiting how Ash Barty was treated by the Sports Press for the simple act of including her niece in a press conference.. Fortunately she sees there is a change in the wind in women’s sport, and these days white and black sports people include their families more fully in their triumphs and losses.
Recorded at Byron Writers Festival 2023
This is a window into Sydney’s early 20 century history – and what life was like for the those at the bottom of society, particularly it’s women. Iris is poor and victim of domestic violence who escapes the rural life she was brought up in to fend for herself on the streets of Sydney. The author constructed Iris’ story from police records and local documents, tracing her moves from prostituion to busker to a form of freedom.
Recorded at Bellingen Readers and Writers Festival 2023