For our second meeting of the Longform Society, we look at Maggie Nelson’s The Argonauts, an exhilarating, genre-defying work of feminism, queer theory and memoir. Strikingly original and immediately beloved, Nelson’s unique writing effortlessly moves between compelling literary criticism and memoir. Using selected extracts, Quinn Eades, Hannah McCann, Onyx Carmine (S.J. Norman) and Sophie Cunningham discuss Nelson's philosophical questions of queer family-making, art, literary history, sexual politics and more.

Sophie Cunningham, Onyx Carmine, Hannah McCann and Quinn Eades

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‘Is identity something you "choose," or is it the very thing you can't escape?’

In 2017, the personal has never been more political – and the political never more personal. Still, even as we obsessively unpack how to best define ourselves and others, a clear understanding of ‘identity’ can prove frustratingly elusive.

Jane Caro, Ivan Coyote, Susan Faludi and Paul Beatty

'Community’s not something you consume. It’s something that you build.'

Ivan Coyote

There are few better placed to untangle our often divergent conceptions of identity than Paul Beatty, Susan Faludi and Ivan Coyote.

Paul Beatty’s bitingly funny work – including the satirical, Man Booker Prize-winning The Sellout – explores the complexities and contradictions of what it means to ‘be black’ in a ‘post-racial’ world.

Susan Faludi’s examinations of what it means to ‘be a woman’, meanwhile, have driven her to explore the shifting sands of gender inequality. Her latest work, In The Darkroom, explores the failure of existing transgender narratives to account for the complexity of her father’s late-in-life gender transition.

Transgender Canadian spoken word artist Ivan Coyote is well aware of how complicated gender-based conceptions of identity can be. The author and lead performer of Tomboy Survival Guide, Coyote’s books and performances are designed to guide their audience toward circumnavigating the gender binary ‘in seven thousand easy steps’.

What does it mean to write the self, or to write about nationhood – and how do we best fight to ensure others understand how we want to be seen? Host Jane Caro talks with three acclaimed international authors and artists whose work is driven by a challenge to interrogate how we move between categories, or are forced to inhabit them.

There’s nothing new about women playing Australian Rules Football – they’ve been doing it for as long as men have. Local clubs for girls and women have existed for decades; there are now almost 1,000 of them around the country. Last year, participation jumped by 19% – with 380,000 Australian women playing throughout the year.

Photo: Claire Flynn

It’s always been clear that many women love the game; they comprise a large proportion of crowds watching men’s AFL matches, too. This year’s launch of the AFL’s National Women’s League – brought forward three years, due to popular response – marks a major milestone in women’s ability to compete at the highest level. But another test looms: the League will have to prove its appeal with sponsors and advertisers in order to grow and endure.

So – what did the inaugural 2017 season reveal to us? What will it take to ensure the success of the Women’s League, and what can advocates for other sports learn?

Sports reporter Karen Lyon hosts this conversation with fellow journalist and author Angela Pippos, former Western Bulldogs VP (and longtime champion of women’s footy) Susan Alberti and former AFL commissioner and AFL life membership recipient Sam Mostyn. Alongside Carlton co-vice captain Bri Davey and marquee player Darcy Vescio, they share their insights on the transformations taking place in Australian sport; about the so-called ‘grass ceiling’, and about how the media plays a part in the way women’s sport is played, seen and funded.