Ruth Park’s The Harp in the South

Join host James Ley and writer Alice Pung to discuss the beloved Australian classic The Harp in the South, Ruth Park’s book about the life and loves of the Darcy family in Sydney’s slums. Considered scandalous when first published, it’s now a respectable staple of high school reading lists, and close to the hearts of many booklovers.
Featuring
Featuring

James Ley holds a PhD in English literature from the University of Western Sydney. He has been a professional literary critic for fifteen years. His work has appeared in many publications, including the Age, the Australian, the Sydney Morning Herald, Australian Book Review and the Times Literary Sup... Read more

Alice Pung is an award-winning Australian writer whose books include the bestselling memoirs Unpolished Gem (2006) and Her Father’s Daughter (2011), and the novel Laurinda (2014). She is the editor of the anthology Growing Up Asian in Australia (2008), and created the Marly books for Penguin... Read more
Watch, Listen, Read

Read
Hot Desk Extract: three approaches to mem*ry
20 Jun 2022

Watch
Reading with Consent
14 Jun 2022

Watch
Teens Talk... Consent
14 Jun 2022

Read
Paul Dalla Rosa on An Exciting and Vivid Inner Life
10 Jun 2022

Read
'Nothing connects humans like fiction'
9 Jun 2022

Read
Giving new life to lost objects
8 Jun 2022