What does it take to disrupt Australia’s history and stand by your views when they are attacked? The answer is: a lot. After the controversy surrounding his bestselling book Dark Emu, First Nations writer Bruce Pascoe was bruised but unbowed. Black Duck, a Year at Yumburra is his personal account of his healing on his farm (where he somehow also found time to write a novel, Imperial Harvest). In a candid conversation, he tells Margaret Throsby what it took to rebuild a life, a marriage, and how custodianship of land renewed his sense of purpose.

About Bruce Pascoe

Yuin, Bunurong and Tasmanian man. Board member of First Languages Australia. Past Secretary Bidwell-Maap Aboriginal Nation. Board member Twofold Aboriginal Corporation.

Other books: Bloke, published by Penguin in 2009, Chainsaw File, Oxford, 2010, Fog; a dox, Magabala, 2012. ( 2013 PM’s Award, and shortlisted for the WA Premier’s Award and the Deadlies Award). Dark Emu the history of Aboriginal agriculture was published in 2014 and was shortlisted in the Victorian and Queensland Literature awards and won the NSW Premier’s book of the Year, 2016. Sea Horse, young adult novel, Magabala 2015, Mrs Whitlam, YA, 2016.

Black Duck: A Year at Yumburra and Imperial Harvest both published 2024

Australia Council Award for Lifetime achievement in Literature 2018, Australian Humanist Award 2021.

Lives in Mallacoota, Far East Gippsland. Two children, four grandchildren.

Buy Black Duck: A Year at Yumburra: https://thamesandhudson.com.au/product/black-duck-a-year-at-yumburra/

ⓘ True Story Festival info + tickets

True Story Festival 2025 is on November 15-16 at Coledale Community Hall. For more info go to ⁠https://southcoastwriters.org/true-story-festival⁠

Super Early Bird Tickets for True Story Festival 2025 are available now at: ⁠https://events.humanitix.com/true-story-festival-2025⁠

Credits

Recorded by Two Heads Media

Curated by Caroline Baum, Sarah Nicholson (South Coast Writers Centre) & Genevieve Swart

With thanks to The Illawarra Flame

The South Coast Writers Centre acknowledges the Wodi Wodi people of the Dharawal nation as the traditional custodians of the land on which we live and work, and we offer our respect to elders past, present and emerging.

Local First Nations author Jodi Edwards has been teaching us the Dharawal language at the festival these past couple of years. But she is also continuing to pursue her own academic research into the relationship of coastal First Nations people to the whale population that migrates past our beaches. Jodi will come to True Story fresh from delivering the keynote speech at the international Society for Marine Mammalogy’s first ever conference in Australia. Don’t miss this opportunity to hear about her groundbreaking work with Lillian Rodrigues-Pang.

About Jodi Edwards

Dr. Jodi Edwards is a Yuin woman with Dharawal kinship who is dedicated to revitalizing Indigenous culture and language. A certified Wayapa® Wuurrk Practitioner, she is renowned for her cultural tours that share Aboriginal stories through the lens of Mother Earth. Her advocacy for improved cultural education has spanned over two decades, earning her numerous accolades, including the 2022 Illawarra Regional NAIDOC Aboriginal Community Person of the Year. Dr. Edwards, who earned her PhD in Indigenous Studies from Macquarie University, is also a curriculum advisor for the NSW Education Standards Authority, and a passionate advocate for awakening the Dharawal language.

Learn more about Unbroken Whispers project:

https://www.nespmarinecoastal.edu.au/project/4-3/

https://www.theillawarraflame.com.au/news/unique-project-to-reawaken-the-whale-songline

https://www.sbs.com.au/nitv/article/aunty-jodi-grew-up-learning-about-her-connection-to-whales-now-shes-leading-a-project-to-protect-them/rhfdkev2j

Buy Ezy Dharawal Language books: https://kooricurriculum.com/collections/ezy-series?srsltid=AfmBOopUKjUbeqiI00vIwmkCUAE-YMlx-iAoNBiVIYoIJFr_Gnrk0vDs

ⓘ True Story Festival info + tickets

True Story Festival 2025 is on November 15-16 at Coledale Community Hall. For more info go to ⁠https://southcoastwriters.org/true-story-festival⁠

Super Early Bird Tickets for True Story Festival 2025 are available now at: ⁠https://events.humanitix.com/true-story-festival-2025⁠

Credits

Recorded by Two Heads Media

Curated by Caroline Baum, Sarah Nicholson (South Coast Writers Centre) & Genevieve Swart

With thanks to The Illawarra Flame

The South Coast Writers Centre acknowledges the Wodi Wodi people of the Dharawal nation as the traditional custodians of the land on which we live and work, and we offer our respect to elders past, present and emerging.

Family violence prevention campaigner and 2015 Australian of the Year Rosie Batty is so beloved and admired, she needs no introduction. But having won the sympathy and respect of a nation in the face of the most terrible violence, what next? How do you move forward and restore your faith in human nature? What does Hope (the title of her new book) even mean in the aftermath of tragedy? Rosie Batty shares her remarkable capacity for optimism with Jeremy Lasek.

About Rosie Batty

Rosie Batty is a British-Australian family violence campaigner and speaker. After her 11-year-old son, Luke, was killed by his father in a violent incident in February 2014, Rosie became a passionate campaigner on the issue of family violence. She won the Pride of Australia Award in 2014 and was named Australian of the Year in January 2015. Her first memoir, A Mother’s Story, was published in 2016.

Following on from her runaway best-seller A Mother's Story, which detailed the lead up to her son's murder, Hope shares what happened to Rosie the day after the worst day of her life and how she reclaimed hope when all hope was lost. She shares her struggles with anxiety, PTSD, self-doubt and self-loathing and how she finally confronted her grief. She shares the stories of those who have inspired her to keep going, and given her hope when she needed it most. In this heartfelt, and at times heartbreaking memoir, Rosie tells how she found the light on her darkest days and how she found hope to carry on.

Buy Hope: https://www.angusrobertson.com.au/books/hope-rosie-batty/p/9781460760291

ⓘ True Story Festival info + tickets

True Story Festival 2025 is on November 15-16 at Coledale Community Hall. For more info go to ⁠https://southcoastwriters.org/true-story-festival⁠

Super Early Bird Tickets for True Story Festival 2025 are available now at: ⁠https://events.humanitix.com/true-story-festival-2025⁠

Credits

Recorded by Two Heads Media

Curated by Caroline Baum, Sarah Nicholson (South Coast Writers Centre) & Genevieve Swart

With thanks to The Illawarra Flame

The South Coast Writers Centre acknowledges the Wodi Wodi people of the Dharawal nation as the traditional custodians of the land on which we live and work, and we offer our respect to elders past, present and emerging.