a website by Geri Bryant-Badham

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Content about writing & features

Mrs Chester’s Brilliant Boy: Doc Evatt’s dissenting judgment

Herbert Vere (“Doc”) Evatt (1894-1965), was a brilliant Australian lawyer, politician and writer, whose controversial stances, and erratic behaviour invited strong criticism at times. However, he did have a strong band of supporters. Evatt’s career included representing Australia in the British war cabinet (1942-1943), being one of the architects of the United Nations and later, President of the UN General Assembly.  … Read more.

Professor Ron McCallum at 1RPH lunch

Named the 2011 Senior Australian of the Year and with many other awards and accolades, Professor Ron McCallum AO, recently spoke about his memoir, Born At The Right Time, at a radio for the print handicapped (1RPH) lunch at Canberra’s Ainslie Football Club. Having a distinguished career as a lawyer and academic, Professor McCallum was the first blind person to be appointed as Dean at an Australian University (Sydney University).  … Read more.

Book Introductions

Recently in his regular Weekend Australian Magazine article, broadcaster-journalist, Phillip Adams, cited some memorable openings from novels: “…Melville’s elemental ‘Call me Ishmael’; Austen’s elegant ‘It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of a good fortune might be in want of a wife’;…Tolstoy’s ‘Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way’”.  … Read more.

Williamson’s Family Values in Canberra

David Williamson’s Family Values

Staged in Canberra recently, David Williamson’s play, Family Values (Lee Lewis (director); Griffin Theatre Company) presented a mix of poignant and lighter moments, its wonderful cast laying bare some of Australia’s not-so-pleasant aspects about the treatment of refugees and boat people. Just to set the scene. Recently-retired 70-year-old federal court judge, Roger (Andrew McFarlane) clearly hopes to enjoy some birthday celebrations with his family including his lively (very much a “doctor’s-wife” type), Sue (Belinda Giblin).  … Read more.

Ten Doors Down

Ten Doors Down

Former federal parliamentarian and Keating government minister for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs, Robert Tickner, recently shared his story from the warm summer’s day in 1993 when he was re-united with his birth mother. Speaking with Canberra Times journalist, Karen Hardy, Robert read from his book, Ten Doors Down as, describing his mixture of happiness and “roller coaster of emotions” as he waited near Sydney’s Opera House and “magnificent harbour” for the mother who had last held him as a tiny baby some 41 years’ previously.  … Read more.

After She Left

Canberra author, researcher and editor, Penelope Hanley’s latest book, After She Left, takes readers on a journey through five decades, focusing largely on three main characters: bohemian artist, Deirdre O’Mara, an Irish émigré in 1927 to Sydney, where she soon gives birth to her daughter, Maureen. Maureen takes a different life path to her mother, opting for marriage at a young age and devotion to husband, children, hearth and home.  … Read more.

Canberra street libraries

Street library photoHaving been popular overseas for some time, street libraries are now dotting the landscape in many parts of Australia, including Canberra. Books covering many genres are offered free of charge, presented in a variety of containers, such as old fridges, filing or television cabinets or purpose-built cupboards. These mini libraries are a hub for borrowing or exchanging, with no charges, fines or need for a library card.  … Read more.

Canberra freelancers at Festival

Freelance Festival latestThe 2018 Launceston Freelance Festival organised by its founder, Sue Bell, brought together people from Tasmania and mainland Australia, sharing their experiences and insights as freelancers. Held at the start-up space, Enterprize, in Launceston’s charming CBD, the Festival boasted a wide range of presenters and participants and was a great networking event and reminder of the talent and innovation of Australia’s many artists, journalists/writers and illustrators.  … Read more.

Canberra author’s psychological thriller

Only Daughter 2Though now based in Melbourne, Anna Snoekstra grew up in Canberra. Her recent psychological thriller, Only Daughter, is set in Canberra. Based largely on “Bec”, the book takes readers on a journey of intrigue and twists and turns, with a puzzle which only fits together at the very end. Chapters alternate between 2003 (when Rebecca Winter went missing after finishing her late shift at McDonald’s in Manuka) and events of 2014 when the fake Bec takes on the persona of the decade-missing young woman.  … Read more.

2017 Canberra Writers Festival

This year’s Canberra Writers Festival included former Canberran and Doug Anthony All Stars member, Richard Fidler (the ABC’s, Conversations), and Julia Baird, host of The Drum.

A keynote event (Ministry of Truth) hosted by ABC broadcaster, Dan Bourchier, provided lively discussion from Dutch journalist, Rutger Bregman and local journalists, George Megalogenis, Tony Jones and Katharine Murphy, covering many aspects of journalism and news, ranging from “fake news” to a brief outline of Tony Jones’s recent book (set in the 1970s Australia).  … Read more.

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