A love letter to libraries everywhere, The Library that Made Me is a book readers will want on permanent loan. In conversation with editor Phillipa McGuinness, four contributors to this collection share their reflections on these places of public connection and learning.
The Library that Made Me celebrates 200 years of the State Library of NSW – its evolution, its remarkable collection and its people. The Library has earned its enduring place in the hearts of readers and visitors everywhere. In the early days, members were vetted, women weren’t welcome, and having fiction on the shelves raised eyebrows. Today, libraries are vibrant cultural hubs open to all and are shaped by the people they serve.
Come along to hear brilliant writing by Bruce Pascoe, Ellen van Neerven, Yumna Kassab and Roanna Gonsalves, and leave wondering about the library that made you.
Ellen van Neerven is a writer, editor and educator of Mununjali and Dutch heritage. Ellen's fiction debut Heat and Light was the recipient of the David Unaipon Award. Ellen's latest book, Ruby's Web, is a middle grade novel.
Roanna Gonsalves is an award-winning author and educator. Her book The Permanent Resident, published in India and South Asia as Sunita De Souza Goes To Sydney, won the NSW Premier's Literary Award Multicultural Prize 2018, and was longlisted for the Dobbie Literary Award 2018. She is a recipient of the Prime Minister's Australia Asia Endeavour Award, and a UNSW Vice Chancellor's Teaching Award.
Bruce Pascoe is an Aboriginal farmer and writer of literary fiction, non-fiction, poetry, essays and children's literature, based on Yuin Country. His publications, including the groundbreaking, bestselling book Dark Emu, have won numerous awards. His follow-up to Dark Emu is The European Mind: Colonialism, Capitalism, Christianity and How to Recover.
Yumna Kassab is a writer based in Parramatta. She is the author of The House of Youssef, Australiana, The Lovers, Politica, The Theory of Everything and Goodbye, My Love. Her latest book is Parramatta: A Dictionary of Place and Memory.
Phillipa McGuinness is the co-editor of The Library That Made Me: 200 Years of the State Library of NSW. A writer of narrative non-fiction, her books include Skin Deep: The inside story of our outer selves and The Year Everything Changed --- 2001.
This event is presented in partnership with the State Library of NSW
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Tickets to main program events are included in weekend and day passes. Single tickets may be available from September 8, subject to availability.
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This venue is wheelchair accessible, but please visit our Accessibility page or email hello@bluemountainswritersfestival.com.au if you have any other accessibility requirements.