Upcoming events
Lech Blaine in conversation with Mark Kenny
Lech Blaine will be in conversation with Mark Kenny on his new quarterly essay Bad Cop. Peter Dutton's Strongman Politics. Who is Peter Dutton, and what happened to the Liberal Party? In Bad Cop, Lech Blaine traces the making of a hardman – from Queensland detective to leader of the Opposition, from property investor to minister for Home Affairs. This is a story of ambition, race and power, and a politician with a plan.
Dutton became Liberal leader with a strategy to win outer-suburban and regional seats from Labor. Since then we have seen his demolition of the Voice and a rolling campaign of culture wars. What does Peter Dutton know about the Australian electorate? Has he updated Menzies’ Forgotten People pitch for the age of anxiety, or will he collapse the Liberals’ broad church? This revelatory portrait is sardonic, perceptive and altogether compelling.
“Dutton doesn't need to become prime minister to redraw the battle lines of Australian politics. His fight with Albanese over parochial voters was always going to drag the political conversation rightwards: on race, immigration, gender and the pace of a transition away from fossil fuels … Dutton’s raison d’être? Make Australia Afraid Again. Then he will offer himself as the lesser of two evils. A serious strongman for the age of anxiety.”—Lech Blaine,
Lech Blaine, an award-winning writer and journalist from Queensland, is the author of the critically-acclaimed Car Crash: A Memoir and the Quarterly Essay Top Blokes.Car Crash was shortlisted for the National Biography Award and two categories at the Queensland Literary Awards He was the 2023 Charles Perkins Centre writer in residence. His writing has appeared in Good Weekend, Griffith Review, The Guardian and The Monthly
Mark Kenny is Professor at the Australian Studies Institute at ANU, where he hosts the popular podcast series 'Democracy Sausage' .Mark is the Canberra Times political analyst and a regular on the ABC's Insiders program, Sky News Agenda, and radio programs across the country.
The vote of thanks will be given by John Warhurst, Emeritus Professor of Political Science at ANU
Date: Thursday 18 April
Time: 6:00pm
Venue: Tangney Rd T2, Cultural Centre Kambri (ANU Building 153) ACT Acton 2601
Price: This is a free event.
Sorrento Writers Festival 2024: Digging Deep with Lech Blaine
Finding the courage to tell my story
Jan Cochrane-Harry, Robyn Davidson, Lech Blaine and Grace Tame with Sally Warhaft
Date: Friday 26 April
Time: 9:00am
Venue: Sorrento Bowls Club
Sorrento Writers Festival 2024: Talking Politics 2024 with Paddy Manning
Our annual Political Lunch at The Baths
Paddy Manning, Amy Remeikis and Laura Tingle with Barrie Cassidy
Date: Friday 26 April
Time: 12:00pm
Venue: The Baths, Sorrento
Sorrento Writers Festival 2024: Understanding Rupert with Paddy Manning
The influence and legacy of media proprietor Rupert Murdoch
Ranald Macdonald, Paddy Manning, Walter Marsh and Sally Young with Corrie Perkin
Date: Friday 26 April
Time: 3:00pm
Venue: The Ballroom, The Continental
Sorrento Writers Festival 2024: Other People’s Lives (ii) with David Marr
Three writers discuss their approach to biography
Troy Bramston, Kate Fullager and David Marr with Sarah L’Estrange
Date: Friday 26 April
Time: 3:00pm
Venue: Sorrento Bowls Club
Sorrento Writers Festival 2024: Climate, Crisis and Cop28 with Joëlle Gergis
Have we lost the war?
Peter Christoff, Joelle Gergis and John Hewson with Natasha Mitchell
Date: Friday 26 April
Time: 3:00pm
Venue: Ellen Grant Hall
Sorrento Writers Festival 2024: Cripes, You Can’t Say That! with Dennis Glover
What is free speech and what are we afraid of?
Dennis Glover and Lucinda Holdforth with Hannie Rayson
Date: Friday 26 April
Time: 4:30pm
Venue: The Barlow Room, The Continental
Sorrento Writers Festival 2024: Other People’s Lives (iii) with Paddy Manning
Three writers discuss their approach to biography
Julia Baird, Catherine Lumby and Paddy Manning with Jamila Rizvi
Date: Saturday 27 April
Time: 9:00am
Venue: Sorrento Community Centre
Sorrento Writers Festival 2024: After Attenborough, Who or What Will Save Our Planet? with Joëlle Gergis
Peter Christoff, Joelle Gergis and Kylie Soanes with Amanda Smith
Date: Saturday 27 April
Time: 12:00pm
Venue: Portsea Surf Life Saving Club
Sorrento Writers Festival 2024: The Good, The Bad and The Underwhelming with Lech Blaine
What does good political leadership look like
Lech Blaine, Troy Bramston and Niki Savva with Brendan Donohoe
Date: Saturday 27 April
Time: 12:00pm
Venue: Sorrento Community Centre
Sorrento Writers Festival 2024: Inspired by Real Events with Dennis Glover
How novelists weave fact into their fiction
Melissa Ashley, Dennis Glover and Kate Grenville with Irma Gold
Date: Saturday 27 April
Time: 1:30pm
Venue: Portsea Surf Life Saving Club
Sorrento Writers Festival 2024: Creating Real Change Through Truth-telling, Songlines and Shared Knowledge with David Marr
David Marr, Thomas Mayo and Margo Neale with Natasha Mitchell
Date: Saturday 27 April
Time: 1:30pm
Venue: Halcyon Hall, The Continental
Sorrento Writers Festival 2024: The Art of the Essay with David Marr
Sarah Krasnostein, David Marr and Laura Tingle with Ramona Koval
Date: Saturday 27 April
Time: 4:30pm
Venue: Sorrento Community Centre
Sorrento Writers Festival 2024: The Morning Feed with Erik Jensen
Join our chat about the news of the day
Erik Jensen and Amy Remeikis with Tom Wright
Date: Sunday 28 April
Time: 8:15am
Venue: Halcyon Hall, The Continental
Sorrento Writers Festival 2024: Australian Politics with Lech Blaine and Erik Jensen
Toward the 2025 election
Lech Blaine, Erik Jensen, Amy Remeikis and Niki Savva with Brendan Donohoe
Date: Sunday 28 April
Time: 10:30am
Venue: Sorrento Community Centre
Sorrento Writers Festival 2024: Writers on Writing with Dennis Glover
Three authors discuss their work, their writing journey and their creative process
Dennis Glover, Gail Jones and Myfanwy Jones with Laura Macdonald
Date: Sunday 28 April
Time: 10:30am
Venue: The Barlow Room, The Continental
Sorrento Writers Festival 2024: David Marr in conversation with Barrie Cassidy
Date: Sunday 28 April
Time: 10:30am
Venue: Halcyon Hall, The Continental
Sorrento Writers Festival 2024: The Power of Editorials with Erik Jensen
Do people still listen? Should they listen?
Eric Beecher, Erik Jensen and Laura Tingle with Jon Faine
Date: Sunday 28 April
Time: 1:30pm
Venue: Sorrento Bowls Club
Anne Manne in conversation with Tanya Wilks OAM
For many years, Newcastle was the centre of an extensive paedophile network run by members of the Anglican church – and protected by parishioners and community members who looked the other way.
In this gripping book, author Anne Manne reveals how this network was able to avoid detection for so long, and how its ringleaders were finally exposed and brought to justice. At the centre of the story is a survivor, Steve Smith, who endured years of childhood abuse but refused to be silenced.
Join us on Sunday, 28 April for the offical book launch of Crimes of the Cross, led by chair speaker Tanya Wilks OAM in conversation with author, Anne Manne and survivor, Steve Smith.
Date: Sunday 28 April
Time: 5:00pm
Venue: The Lock-Up, 90 Hunter St, Newcastle NSW 2300
Price: This is a free event.
Anne Manne in conversation with David Marr
A searing expose of institutional child abuse, and the remarkable story of the survivors who would not be silenced
For many years, Newcastle was the centre of an extensive paedophile network run by members of the Anglican church – and protected by parishioners and community members who looked the other way.
In this gripping book, Anne Manne reveals how this network was able to avoid detection for so long, and how its ringleaders were finally exposed and brought to justice. At the centre of the story is a survivor, Steve Smith, who endured years of childhood abuse but refused to be silenced.
Drawing on extensive research and interviews with survivors, clergy, police and others, Manne explores how the network operated and how it became entrenched in the upper echelons of Newcastle society. She offers deep insights into the minds and strategies of abusers, and pays tribute to the victims and their tireless struggle for justice. Child sexual abuse has previously been thought of as an individual crime; Manne pioneers an examination of it as part of a network.
This is an unforgettable study of courage and faith in the face of unthinkable evil.
Date: Monday 29 April
Time: 6:00pm
Venue: Gleebooks, 49 Glebe Point Road Glebe, NSW 2037 Australia
Price: $12
Writers @ Stanton: Anne Manne
Part of the Writers @ Stanton collection.
Join Anne Manne, author of Crimes of the Cross, and discover a searing expose of institutional child abuse, and the remarkable story of the survivors who would not be silenced.
Date: Tuesday 30 April
Time: 1:00pm
Venue: Stanton Library, Level 1, 234 Miller St North Sydney, NSW 2060
Price: This is a free event.