How do we write about race in Australia today? Does the race of the writer affect the way stories are written, received and interpreted? And what does it mean when a white person writes about Indigenous Australia?
Two writers from different backgrounds, Paul Daley and Jack Latimore, will pose and tackle these questions. The pair, who admire each other’s work, both write about issues affecting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
Daley is an award-winning Guardian journalist whose work frequently covers Indigenous issues, history and national identity from a non-Indigenous perspective. Latimore’s journalism has appeared in the Guardian, Koori Mail, Overland, and IndigenousX; he’s also a researcher with the Centre for Advancing Journalism.
Besides journalism, both men are accomplished writers of fiction – Daley a novelist and playwright, and Latimore a short story author. Together, they’ll talk about their different fields and genres of writing, and the broader sphere of media as it relates to Indigenous Australians in a wide-ranging conversation about reality, representation and vision.
This event will be Auslan interpreted.
Featuring
Jack Latimore
Jack Latimore is an Indigenous researcher with the Centre for Advancing Journalism. He is currently involved in the development of several projects aimed at improving the quality of Indigenous representation and participation in the mainstream media-sphere. His journalism work has appeared in Koori Mail, Guardian Australia, Overland and IndigenousX.
Paul Daley
Paul Daley is an author, short story writer, journalist, essayist and playwright. His most recent book is the political novel, Challenge. He is the author of five non-fiction books, two of which – Beersheba and Canberra - have been finalists in major literary awards including the Prime Minister’s History Prize, the Manning Clark House Cultural Awards, The Nib and ACT Book of the Year. He has won numerous journalism prizes including two Walkley Awards, the Paul Lyneham Award for political journalism and two Kennedy Awards. In 2013 he co-wrote the acclaimed political play, The Hansard Monologues. He writes about Australian history, Indigenous issues and national identity for the Guardian from Canberra