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.

With Mean Streak, his new investigation of how Robodebt was allowed to create a suicidal wave of despair, Rick Morton proves once again that he has an unflinching instinct for social analysis combining journalistic rigour with an outspoken sense of justice. In our specially commissioned opening address, Rick will reflect on the painful truths he has learned while investigating and exposing brutal policies that ruin lives. But don’t expect a litany of gloom: Rick has a wicked and irreverent sense of humour, so anything is possible.

About Rick Morton

Rick Morton has been a journalist and writer for over fifteen years. His first book, One Hundred Years of Dirt, was shortlisted for the 2019 Victorian Premier’s Literary Awards and the 2019 National Biography Award, longlisted for the 2018 Walkley Book of the Year, and longlisted for both Biography of the Year and the Matt Richell Award for New Writer of the Year at the 2019 ABIA Awards. His second book was the bestselling and critically acclaimed My Year of Living Vulnerably. He is the winner of the 2013 Kennedy Award for Young Journalist of the Year and the 2017 Kennedy Award for Outstanding Columnist. In 2019, Rick left The Australian where he worked as the social affairs writer with a particular focus on social policy and is now a senior reporter for The Saturday Paper. Rick regularly appears on television, radio and panels across both the ABC and commercial networks discussing politics, the media, writing and social policy.

Website: rickmorton.com.au

About Mean Streak

From award-winning journalist and writer Rick Morton comes Mean Streak, the gripping, utterly compelling and horrifying story of how, over the course of four and a half years, Australia’s government turned on its most vulnerable citizens.

Robodebt was the automated debt recovery system, in which close to half a million Australian welfare recipients were illegally pursued over false debts. It was described by the Royal Commission's report as a ‘massive failure of public administration’ caused by ‘venality, incompetence and cowardice’. Essentially, Australia was gaslit by its own government. They backed something that was illegal, shook down innocent people for money, then lied about it for four and a half years.

Buy Mean Streak: https://www.harpercollins.com.au/9781460717448/mean-streak/

ⓘ 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.

When Gina Chick won the first Australian season of Alone, she captured the hearts of millions with her survival skills and earth-mother personality. Now, in We Are the Stars, she has written an exuberant, roaring affirmation of life in the face of loss and triumph. Join Gina for a high-octane hit of inspiration exploring what it takes to thrive beyond the wilderness, with Caroline Baum.

About Gina Chick

Gina Chick is a rewilding facilitator, adventurer, writer and speaker. Writing is in Gina Chick's genes. Her grandmother, Charmian Clift, was an author, essayist and Australia's first female columnist in the early 60's. Charmian married George Johnstone (My Brother Jack) and they lived together on Hydra with Leonard Cohen and bohemian expats. Charmian's teenage indiscretion, an illegitimate daughter, was given up for adoption. Gina's mum, Suzanne Chick, who, after finally discovering her mother's identity at 48, wrote her own book, Searching For Charmian, which was shortlisted for the NBC Banjo Award. Gina was one of ten participants of the first series of Alone Australia, made by iTV and screened on SBS in 2023. After 67 days of unforgettable moments of searing vulnerability, Gina was the last person standing, and the second woman to win an Alone solo challenge. Her determination, passion, and love of the natural world endeared her to more than 5.5 million people around Australia. Gina's articles have been published in The Guardian, news.com.au, Mamamia and SBS online.

Instagram: @gigiamazonia

Website:⁠ www.ginachick.com

Buy For We Are the Stars: https://www.collinsbooks.com.au/p/we-are-the-stars

ⓘ 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.

Memoirist Ailsa Piper (Sinning Across Spain, The Attachment) describes her latest offering, For Life, as a tale of living, dying and flying, but it is also about swimming, noticing, favourite words, friendship, and finding a home. Written in prose that is both luminous and illuminating, For Life shifts from dark to light as Ailsa reflects on her experiences of loss and recovery. In conversation with celebrant and award-winning author of Eulogy Dr Jackie Bailey, she discusses ritual, belonging and the joys of dictionary definitions.

About Ailsa Piper

Ailsa Piper’s latest book is For Life – a celebration of the glories of nature, and of being alive while maintaining awareness of our mortality. Her first book was the travel/walking memoir, Sinning Across Spain, and her second was The Attachment: Letters From A Most Unlikely Friendship, co-authored with Tony Doherty. Her theatre script, Small Mercies, was co-winner of the Patrick White Playwright’s Award. She has written for Griffith Review, the SMH and the Guardian, among others, and is also an accomplished audiobook narrator and literary interviewer. Ailsa is a passionate walker and a year-round swimmer.

Instagram: @ailsapiper

Website:⁠ ailsapiper.com⁠

Buy For Life: ⁠https://www.allenandunwin.com/browse/book/Ailsa-Piper-For-Life-9781761470868⁠

ⓘ 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

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.

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.