Telling Tales: Representing the History of Melbourne
Representing the History of Melbourne was held in conjunction with The Age Melbourne Writers' Festival. Three writers examined the use of historical fact, oral history and story telling to represent the history of Melbourne. The forum included discussion between the speakers and the audience.
Chair
Richard Gillespie, Australian Society Program, Museum Victoria.
Speakers
Tony Birch
Tony Birch teaches History and Creative Writing at the University of Melbourne. He is also a curator for the Indigenous Cultures Program at Museum Victoria. In addition to writing history he has also published widely in the areas of poetry and fiction.
Janet McCalman
Janet McCalman has written three award-winning social histories set in Melbourne and its institutions: Struggletown, public and private life in Richmond (MUP 1984), Journeyings, the biography of a middle-class generation (MUP 1993) and Sex and Suffering: women’s health and a women’s hospital,(MUP 1998). She teaches history at Melbourne University’s Centre for the Study of Health and Society and writes a fortnightly column in The Age.
Arnold Zable
Arnold Zable is a Melbourne writer, story teller and educator whose critically acclaimed book, Jewels and Ashes, won five Australian literary awards. His most recent book, Wanderers and Dreamers, is a series of tales based on Yiddish theatre in Australia. He has been a columnist with The Age, and has written numerous essays, short stories, feature articles and two children’s books. In recent years Zable has worked on a number of educational projects with indigenous elders. His wall essay, Celebration, features in Melbourne’s Immigration Museum.