Travellers' Tales - Program
A two-day conference National Library Theatre Friday and Saturday, 11-12 April 2003
Join an array of fascinating speakers at a conference which will explore actual and imaginary journeys, ideas of home, location and cultural diversity. The conference will also investigate the ways in which writers travel in their work, whether through fiction, journalism or the recounting of personal stories.
Program
Day one
- 9.15–9.45am Registration
- 9.45–9.50am Welcome and Introduction Sir James Gobbo AC Chairman, National Library of Australia Council
- 9.50–10.10am Opening Remarks How do we travel? How do we write about such personal and often elusive experiences? Ian Britain
- 10.10–11.00am Session 1 ‘Australian Women: Travel and Creating National and International Identities’ Australian women travel in a wide variety of ways, and have been changed by the experience. Ros Pesman Chair: Sir James Gobbo AC
- 11.00–11.30am Morning tea
- 11.30am–12.20pm Session 2 (panel session) ‘Telling Journeys: Re-writing the Story’ Journeys continue to live in the imaginations of travellers. As they recount these journeys there is room for many kinds of storytelling. The Myth of the Journey—Glenda Adams Public Journeys, Private Stories—Penny Russell Reporting the Journey—Myra Jean Bourke Chair: Margy Burn
- 12.20–2.00pm Lunch
- 2.00–2.50pm Session 3 ‘Voyaging South: Travelling to Antarctica’ In extreme conditions common assumptions about travel don’t always hold true. Tom Griffiths Chair: Pam Gatenby
- 2.50–3.20pm Afternoon tea
- 3.20–4.20pm Session 4 (panel session) ‘Latitudes and Longitudes’ On the various maps, and in the various terrain, of individual experience there are many ways of searching and many locations. The Pathfinder—Tony Wheeler The Explorer—Alan Gould Relocating the Centre—Kim Mahood Chair: Marion Halligan 6pm Conference Dinner The Lobby Restaurant A superb meal at a fine restaurant. Speaker: Linda Jaivin
Day two
- 10–10.50am Session 5 ‘The Exiled Voice’ Notions of exile and notions of language often go together as the outsider finds ways of connecting. Arnold Zable Chair: Helen Kon
- 10.50–11.30am Morning tea
- 11.30am–12.20pm Session 6 (panel session) ‘Leaving Home; Looking for Home’ Home and identity are fluid concepts, and are always being newly created and understood. Voyage to Freedom—Diane Armstrong Bringing Them Home—Anna Haebich & Doreen Mellor Crossing Cultures—Barry Hill Chair: Winnie Pelz
- 12.20–2.00pm Lunch
- 2.00–2.50pm Session 7 (panel session) ‘Life Journeys’ Patterns of leaving and returning define who we are and are often at the heart of how we live. From Burma to Bowral—Colin McPhedran The Mother Tongue—Delia Falconer My Journey—Brij Lal Chair: Bruce Bennett
- 2.50–3.20pm Afternoon tea
- 3.20–4.10pm Session 8 ‘A Personal Passage’ In the work of every writer there are many ways of travelling and many places to explore. Peter Steele Chair: Paul Hetherington
- 4.10–4.15pm Closing Remarks Jan Fullerton Director-General, National Library of Australia
