Skip to content

The Salon Series: Country and Culture

When

Event Status

Presented in partnership with State Library Victoria

Join us for a special celebration of the power of Indigenous storytelling, poetry and music.

This event will honour the 2021 NAIDOC Week theme of ‘Heal Country’, and is the first in a new series of seasonal creative salons presented in partnership with State Library Victoria.

Following a Welcome to Country from Uncle Bill Nicholson Jr, writer and poet Susie Anderson will read from her 2021 black&write! Fellowship winning poetry collection the body country, which explores land, memory, love and art.

Then, David Unaipon Award-winning author and Distinguished Professor Larissa Behrendt will discuss her extraordinary new novel After Story with Yorta Yorta writer and broadcaster Daniel James. Exploring love and familial secrets, After Story movingly fuses Western literature and Indigenous storytelling.

Rounding out a unique and powerful evening, 22-year-old Kuku Yalanji, Jirrbal and Badu Island songbird Kee’ahn will share a striking performance of her soulful melodies of identity, heartbreak and healing.

Enjoy a drink from our bar, which will be open before, during and after the event.

This event will be Auslan interpreted.

The bookseller for this event is Readings.


 

Featuring

Larissa Behrendt

Larissa Behrendt AO is the Laureate Fellow at Jumbunna Research, UTS. She is an award winning author and filmmaker and the host of Speaking Out on ABC Radio.

Daniel James

Daniel is an award-winning Yorta Yorta Melbourne based writer and broadcaster. He hosts the Mission on 3RRR and is the winner of the 2018 Horne Prize for his essay Ten More Days. Born in Melbourne and raised on Taungurong country in North East Victoria, Daniel’s work explores notions of empathy, i... Read more

Kee'ahn

Kee’ahn is a proud Kuku Yalanji, Jirrbal, Zenadth Kes song woman who has recently ventured from her home town in North Queensland, to pursue her dream in the Kulin Nation (Melbourne, Australia). With a name coming from the Wik people, meaning to dance, to sing, to play, Kee’ahn aims to honour he... Read more

Susie Anderson

Susie Anderson writes from the nexus of compassion and resistance. Her poetry and nonfiction are widely published online and in print, such as in Archer, Artist Profile, Artlink, un magazine, Growing Up Aboriginal in Australia and in many poetry anthologies. In 2018, she was runner-up in the O... Read more

Uncle Bill Nicholson Jr

Uncle Bill Nicholson Jr is passionate about sharing his extensive cultural knowledge with the broader community. He is deeply committed to Wurundjeri Woi wurrung traditions and cultural practise and continuously advocates for the rights of contemporary Wurundjeri Woi wurrung people to access and pra... Read more

Location

Hansen Hall and Conversation Quarter, State Library Victoria

328 Swanston Street, Melbourne Victoria 3000

More details

Stay up to date with our upcoming events and special announcements by subscribing to The Wheeler Centre's mailing list.

Privacy Policy

The Wheeler Centre acknowledges the Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung people of the Kulin Nation as the Traditional Owners of the land on which the Centre stands. We acknowledge and pay our respects to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and their Elders, past and present, as the custodians of the world’s oldest continuous living culture.