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May Gibbs is one of Australia’s most popular and enduring children’s book authors and illustrators. Her picture books have delighted successive generations for over 100 years.

She drew her inspiration from her childhood spent visiting the bush south of Perth, and later from her large garden in Sydney’s Neutral Bay and bush walks in the Blue Mountains. An early environmentalist, she urged her readers to ‘be kind to bush creatures’.

This illustrated talk will examine the enduring influence of Gibbs’ artwork and books, her charitable work and how she built her career.

Before coming to the State Library of NSW in 2015, Alison Wishart worked as a curator and collections manager with the National Museum of Australia, the Australian War Memorial, the State Library of Queensland, and Museum of Tropical Queensland. She has a BA (Hons) from the University of Queensland and a Masters in Cultural Heritage (majoring in Museum Studies) from Deakin University. She is passionate about public history and has curated social history exhibitions on a diverse range of topics from football(soccer), to long distance love, to the stolen generations.

Hosted by the City of Canada Bay Library Service.

Proudly presented as part of the History Council of NSW’s Speaker Connect program for History Week 2017, supported by Create NSW.

When: Wednesday 6 September, 7:00pm
Where: Bayroom, Five Dock Library, Level 1, 4-12 Garfield Street, Five Dock NSW 2046
Cost: Free – book online
Contact: local.studies@canadabay.nsw.gov.au or 02 9911 6317

Images courtesy May Gibbs Archive, State Library of NSW © The Northcott Society and Cerebral Palsy Alliance.