Literary La Trobe La Trobe University

In which we pay our respects to literary elders very much present. A chance to recollect, rehash, rebel, reprove and reflect with Barry Jones and Thomas Kenneally, hosted by Clare Wright.

Recorded at the Bendigo Writers Festival on 7th May, 2023

What is the role of documentary film-making in the process of truth-telling? Do we trust what we read in books more than what we see on our screens? How can script writers, producers and directors contribute to the conversations that we need to have - and need to have now. Indeed, do such screen practitioners determine the course of public debate though the very power of their medium? A star-studded panel discusses these hot-button issues.

Tosca Looby (See What You Made Me Do, Strong Female Lead)

Sally Aitken (The Pool,

Phil Craig (former Commissioning Editor, ABC; Discovery Channel)

Chair: Alex West (Head of Documentaries, Screen Australia)

Recorded at the Bendigo Writers Festival on 6th May, 2023

Remember the Babysitters Club and Sweet Valley High? Well books for young adult readers went and grew up. While first love is still a YA staple, mental health, consent, substance abuse, gender and sexual identity and the climate emergency are all topics with which 12-17 year olds — and the authors who write for them — now grapple in fierce, funny and frank ways. Here to discuss why today’s YA has more in common with Sally Rooney than Judy Blume are three super popular authors, with host Bec Kavanagh.

Biffy James, Completely Normal (and other Lies) (Hardie Grant)

Briar Rolfe, Get Your Story Straight (Hachette)

Alice Boyle, Dancing Barefoot (Text)

Chair: Bec Kavanagh (Writer)

Recorded at the Bendigo Writers Festival on 7th May, 2023

Remember the Babysitters Club and Sweet Valley High? Well books for young adult readers went and grew up. While first love is still a YA staple, mental health, consent, substance abuse, gender and sexual identity and the climate emergency are all topics with which 12-17 year olds — and the authors who write for them — now grapple in fierce, funny and frank ways. Here to discuss why today’s YA has more in common with Sally Rooney than Judy Blume are three super popular authors.

Biffy James, Completely Normal (and other Lies) (Hardie Grant)

Briar Rolfe, Get Your Story Straight (Hachette)

Alice Boyle, Dancing Barefoot (Text)

Chair: Bec Kavanagh (Writer)

Recorded at the Bendigo Writers Festival on 7th May, 2023

It’s a full metal jungle out there. Still. Military action has continued to define the 21st century in a way that survivors of and peacemakers after the Great Wars could never have imagined. Discussing past and present states of armed conflict, human rights, international diplomacy and hopes for resolution are specialists in Asian, Indo-Pacific and European theatres of war.

Elaine Pearson (Chasing Rights and Wrongs, Simon and Schuster)

Phil Craig (Finest Hour, Simon and Schuster)

Dr Federica Caso (International Relations, La Trobe University)

Chair: Associate Professor Bec Strating (Director, La Trobe Asia)

Recorded at the Bendigo Writers Festival on 6th May, 2023

Memoir has become one of the most popular genres of the literary marketplace, competing with Biography and Autobiography as forms of life writing. Why is memoir so powerful? Why does it appear to speak to the present moment in ways that other categories of non-fiction don’t? How much of a life do you need to have lived to write a memoir? What are the ethics of writing about your own life (and the lives of your family, friends and lovers) without the accountability of footnotes? Here to discuss the politics and popularity of memoir are three recent practitioners of the artform.

Catherine Deveny (True North, Black Inc)

Shannon Burns (Childhood, Text)

Akuch Anyieth (Unknown, Text),

Chair: Dr Yves Rees, (History, La Trobe University)

Recorded at the Bendigo Writers Festival on 6th May, 2023