Conflict, Collective  Memory and the Creation of History

(Tuesday, 30th April 2019)

The History Council of NSW is pleased to announce our event for the 2019 Sydney Writers Festival will be: Conflict, Collective  Memory and the Creation of History at the State Library of NSW.

Three prize-winning historians and authors discuss their award-winning books. Winners of the 2018 New South Wales Premier’s History Awards – Christina Twomey, Paul Irish and Sean Scalmer reveal to Caroline Butler-Bowdon (Director, Strategy and Engagement at Sydney Living Museums) how they fell upon their subjects, how they write engaging historical narratives, and the consequences of their work. Each speaker will discuss their work followed by a panel session Q&A and then questions from the audience.

About the Panel:

Chair Dr Caroline Butler-Bowdon:

Dr Caroline Butler‐Bowdon is the Director, Strategy & Engagement at Sydney Living Museums. Spanning 20 years her career has been dedicated to cultural leadership that connects diverse audiences to history, arts and heritage through a broad range of public engagement programs, including festivals, exhibitions and books. She is also a 2017 Churchill Fellowship recipient.

Professor Christina Twomey:

Christina Twomey is a Professor of History at Monash University. She is the author of four books, including Australia’s Forgotten Prisoners: Civilians Interned by the Japanese in World War Two and A History of Australia (with co-author Mark Peel). Her most recent book, The Battle Within: POWs in Postwar Australia won the 2018 NSW Premiers Prize for Australian History.

Dr Paul Irish:

Paul Irish is a historian and archaeologist and director of Coast History & Heritage. For over ten years he has been piecing together the Aboriginal history of coastal Sydney with researchers from the La Perouse Aboriginal community, including the 2015 NSW History Fellowship exhibition This Is Where They Travelled: Historical Aboriginal Lives in Sydney, and his 2017 book Hidden In Plain View: The Aboriginal People of Coastal Sydney (NewSouth Publishing), which won the NSW Premier’s History Award for Community and Regional History in 2018.

Associate Professor Sean Scalmer

Sean Scalmer is an Associate Professor with the School of Historical and Philosophical Studies at the University of Melbourne is the author and editor of several books on the history of social movements including Dissent Events, Activist Wisdom (with Sarah Maddison), The Little History of Australian Unionism, Gandhi in the West: The Mahatma and the Rise of Radical Protest, and most recently On the Stump: Campaign Oratory and Democracy in the United States, Britain and Australia for which he won the NSW Premiers History Awards General History Prize in 2018.

This is a free event, but tickets are limited so please reserve your ticket here.

When:      Tuesday, 30th April 2019, 3pm-4pm
Where:     Metcalfe Auditorium, State Library of NSW, Macquarie Street, Sydney
Cost:        Free, although tickets are limited, so please reserve yours now.
Contact:  programs@historycouncilnsw.org.au