A Story of Souls
Thursday 22 June 2023, 6.00pm - 7.15pm
Allan Scott Auditorium, Hawke Building,
UniSA City West Campus, 55 North Terrace Adelaide
MAP
Register in-person and live in the venue or watch the live-stream online.
22 June 2023
Dr Debra Dank is a Gudanji/Wakaja woman. She's a daughter, mother, wife, grandmother, academic, and scholar - currently serving as a University of South Australia Visiting Research Fellow. Her memoir of family, community and Country, We Come With This Place, was recently awarded a record four out of fourteen NSW Premier's Literary Awards - including the top gong, Book of the Year. She was also awarded the Indigenous Writers' Prize and received the awards for non-fiction and new writing.
The title of this event, A Story for Souls, is inspired by the first pages of her book, where Dank reflects on Aristotle's "De Anima" while sitting in a dusty Oxford University library. She writes: ‘It is not easy to record the story of souls’.
Dank's book explores the themes of family, Country, love, pain, grief, laughter, story, ancestors, and language. She highlights how the English language, which was imposed on this continent, fails to fully capture the essence of the more than 250 First Nation languages (including 800 dialects) that exist here. The book emphasises that these stories have begun ‘long before paper and words learned to yarn together'.
The Hawke Centre is proud to welcome Dr Debra Dank, who will read from her book. She will then be joined by University of South Australia Senior Research Fellow, Associate Professor Sue Joseph, who will lead a discussion on the book's origins before responding to pre-submitted questions from the audience.
Click HERE to purchase a copy of Dr Debra Dank’s book We Come With This Place from Matilda Bookshop's website and choose Hawke Centre Events Free S.A. Postage as the delivery option. They will then deliver or post (FREE OF CHARGE) your book to South Australian addresses or it can be collected at the event.
Presented by The Bob Hawke Prime Ministerial Centre and UniSA Creative
While the views presented by speakers within The Bob Hawke Prime Ministerial Centre public program are their own and are not necessarily those of either the University of South Australia, or The Bob Hawke Prime Ministerial Centre, they are presented in the interest of open debate and discussion in the community and reflect our themes of: Strengthening our Democracy - Valuing our Diversity - Building our Future. The Hawke Centre reserves the right to change their program at any time without notice.