For millennia, reciprocal relationships with plants have provided both sustenance to First Nations communities and many of the materials needed to produce a complex array of technologies. Managed through fire, harvesting and replanting, the longevity and intricacy of these partnerships are testament to the ingenuity and depth of Indigenous knowledges.
In an illuminating panel event, the co-authors of Plants: Past Present and Future – Barkandji researcher and storyteller Zena Cumpston, Wiradjuri geographer and scientist Michael-Shawn Fletcher, and geographer Lesley Head – and prize-winning Yuin, Bunurong and Tasmanian writer Bruce Pascoe explore this fascinating natural history and its lessons for the future, with Sally Warhaft.
20% early-bird discount until 11.59pm, Thursday 6 April
Flexible refund policy
Community tickets for First Nations peoples
Convenient public transport and parking options
Coffee, bars and dining options nearby
Readings bookshops available plus book signings
Over 80% of our 2022 guests felt MWF helped them gain new insights about the world, held their interest and were inclusive, well-produced and topical! (With more than 70% keen to attend again!)
20% early-bird discount until 11.59pm, Thursday 6 April
Flexible refund policy
Community tickets for First Nations peoples
Convenient public transport and parking options
Coffee, bars and dining options nearby
Readings bookshops available plus book signings
Over 80% of our 2022 guests felt MWF helped them gain new insights about the world, held their interest and were inclusive, well-produced and topical! (With more than 70% keen to attend again!)
Zena Cumpston is a Barkandji woman who works as a freelance writer, researcher, curator and storyteller. She is passionate about plants and the many ways they elucidate the ingenuity and deep knowledge of her people.
Associate Professor Michael-Shawn Fletcher is a Wiradjuri geographer and scientist, and Director of Research at the Indigenous Knowledge Institute, University of Melbourne. His research concerns the long-term interaction...
Lesley Head is Professor of Geography at the University of Melbourne and current President of the Australian Academy of Humanities. She researches the cultural dimensions of environmental issues, including climate change...
Bruce Pascoe has published widely in both adult and young adult literature. He has won numerous awards, including the Children’s Book Council of Australia Eve Pownall Award for Young Dark Emu, New South Wales Premierâ€...
Sally Warhaft is a Melbourne interviewer working in broadcasting, podcasting and print. She is the host of the Wheeler Centre’s live journalism series The Fifth Estate. Her book Well May We Say: The Speeches That Made ...
Ailsa Piper speaks with Tony Birch, Bill Hayes and Chelsea Watego about the relationship between the body, mind and creativity, and workout routines for working out words.
Award-winning journalist Paul Daley (Jesustown) and acclaimed author Fiona McFarlane (The Sun Walks Down) talk about penning novels that explore the myths and realities of our colonial past with Tony Birch.
Charmaine Papertalk Green, Dianne Jones and Yhonnie Scarce discuss the rich cultural relationship between First Nations storytelling and visual art with Jeanine Leane.
Queer writers Claire G. Coleman, Benjamin Dreyer, Bill Hayes, Kris Kneen and Kirli Saunders share the seminal queer texts that shaped them, in conversation with host Maeve Marsden (Queerstories).