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Category: Social Commentator
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Anna Barnes
Inspirational Speaker, Personal Development, Social Commentator, Author
Anna Barnes is an award winning writer and playwright. Her plays and monologues have been performed around Australia and in 2011 she was Red Stitch Actors Theatre’s writer-in-residence (VIC). In 2012 her first book, a non-fiction book for girls, Girl! The Ultimate Guide to Being You, was published by Penguin Australia.
» Read more about Anna Barnes
Steve Biddulph
Personal Development, Education Consultant, Social Commentator, Author
Steve will be presenting at events in Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne in 2012.
Psychologist Steve Biddulph realised that males were in crisis at a time when it was fashionable to ignore their needs. He blitzed schools and communities around the globe with engaging, practical and moving seminars, facilitating a cultural shift which is still in motion. His parenting books, including Raising Boys and Manhood, are now in four million homes and twenty seven languages.
» Read more about Steve Biddulph
Dr Karen Brooks
Education Consultant, Social Commentator, Author
Described as ‘Australia’s best known academic’ by ABC radio and a ‘celebrity academic’ by other media, Karen lectures on the areas of youth, sexuality and popular culture using a psychoanalytical model. Karen has also worked as a professional actress, a children’s playwright, an Army Officer in the Royal Australian Army Survey Corp, a checkout-chick, an assessment clerk with the NRMA, a waitress, a dress-boutique manager, a theatre director, a wife (twice), and a mother (twice over too!).
» Read more about Dr Karen Brooks
Dr Leslie Cannold
Author, Inspirational Speaker, Social Commentator, Journalist
Dr Leslie Cannold is an author, commentator, ethicist and activist. Her books include the award-winning The Abortion Myth and What, No Baby? which made the Australian Financial Review’s top 101 books list. Her first novel, The Book of Rachael was published in 2011 by Text. Leslie is often noted as one of Australia’s leading thinkers. In 2005 she was listed alongside Professor Peter Singer, Professor Gustav Nossal and Inga Clendinnen as one of Australia’s top 20 public intellectuals. In 2011 she was named Australian Humanist of the Year.
» Read more about Dr Leslie Cannold
Jane Caro
Author, Social Commentator
Jane Caro is an author, novelist, award winning advertising writer and political/social commentator. She is a funny, warm and engaging speaker in high demand both on podiums and on radio and TV for her straight – talking style. She is passionate about connecting with people through words – whether spoken, written or broadcast and loves to tell a story.
» Read more about Jane Caro
Sophie Cunningham
Author, Social Commentator
Sophie Cunningham worked in publishing for twenty years before becoming the Chair of the Literature Board of the Australia Council. She is well known for her work as the editor of Meanjin, and is the author of two novels, Geography (2004) and Bird (2008) as well as the non-fiction Melbourne.
» Read more about Sophie Cunningham
Chris Daicos
Education Consultant, Personal Development, Social Commentator
As a trained social worker and teacher Chris Daicos has extensive experience in working directly with children and adolescents in schools. Chris can talk to welfare staff, teaching staff, and parents.
» Read more about Chris Daicos
Hanifa Deen
Author, Social Commentator
Hanifa Deen is an award-winning author and social commentator with extensive public speaking experience: Audiences around Australia, at writers’ festivals, conferences, seminars and debates have heard her speak on a range of topical and literary subjects.
An ex-English literature teacher, Hanifa can also guide secondary students to a better understanding of Australian curriculum themes of Identity, Belonging and Australian history. Her aim is to inform and entertain.
» Read more about Hanifa Deen
Mary Delahunty
Author, Inspirational Speaker, Personal Development, Social Commentator
Mary is a writer, award winning ABC Journalist and former Education Minister. She is National Director of Writing Australia and Chair of Orchestra Victoria. She was the first female solo prime time TV newsreader in Victoria, and the first female Planning Minister in Victoria.
» Read more about Mary Delahunty
Catherine Deveny
Author, Inspirational Speaker, Personal Development, Social Commentator, Journalist, Entertainer
Catherine Deveny is a comedy writer, comedian, author, social commentator and broadcaster well known for her work as a columnist with The Age and as an ABC regular. Deveny has been named in the Top 100 Most Influential Melbournians. She is an atheist and (along with two of her sons) dyslexic. Her extensive charity and community work includes the Asylum Seeker’s Resource Centre, Homelessness and Broken Rites. She is a proud ambassador for Dying With Dignity Victoria, International Day of People with Disability, and the Patron (alongside Father Bob) of Griefline. Catherine was also one of the founding members of Friends of Public Housing.
» Read more about Catherine Deveny
Paul Dillon
Author, Personal Development, Education Consultant, Social Commentator
Paul Dillon has a unique investment in the wellbeing of young people. Founder of Drug and Alcohol Research and Training Australia and a former school teacher, Paul continues to conduct drug information sessions and workshops for school students across Australia and internationally, in countries as diverse as the UK, the Phillipines, and Indonesia.
» Read more about Paul Dillon
Linh Do
Inspirational Speaker, Social Commentator, Journalist
Linh Do is a Melbourne based activist with a globe-trotting lifestyle, having worked in over 15 countries. She’s done everything from changing one million lightbulbs (and mindsets) in Australia to working at the UN to create social change on environmental issues.
» Read more about Linh Do
Sean Dooley
Author, Inspirational Speaker, Social Commentator, Entertainer
Sean Dooley is a Melbourne author who has worked as a television comedy writer. He is a contributor to The Age, ABC radio and 3RRR, writing and talking about birds, environmental issues, sport and, well, anything, really. But his greatest claim to fame is that in 2002 he broke the Australian birdwatching record for seeing the most species in the one year. He then wrote about it in The Big Twitch, thereby publicly outing himself as a bird-nerd.
» Read more about Sean Dooley
Meyer Eidelson
Storyteller/Performer, Social Commentator, Author, Entertainer
Meyer has written over fourteen books and published a number of others as the publishing coordinator of the St Kilda Historical Society. All the books deal with the natural, cultural and social history of Melbourne. He is the founder of Melbourne Walks, which uses the performative and engaging format of a walking tour to impart social, cultural and historical knowledge.
» Read more about Meyer Eidelson
Evelyn Field
Personal Development, Education Consultant, Social Commentator
Evelyn Field is an international expert in managing school and workplace bullying. She answers the big question, “Help, I am being bullied! How can I block the bullying myself when others don’t?”
» Read more about Evelyn Field
Nina Funnell
Education Consultant, Social Commentator, Inspirational Speaker
Nina will be presenting at one of our events in Sydney in 2012.
Nina Funnell is a freelance opinion writer and researcher. She has had work published in the Sydney Morning Herald, The Australian, The Age, The Brisbane Times and in the Sydney Star Observer. Nina often writes on gender and sexuality related issues and also sits on the board of the NSW Rape Crisis Centre, the Premier’s Council on Preventing Violence Against Women and the National Children and Youth Law Centre. In 2010, she also received the Australian Human Rights Commission Community Individual Award for her work in advocacy against sexual assault and violence.
» Read more about Nina Funnell
Neil Grant
Author, Social Commentator
Neil Grant was born in Scotland in the Year of the Fire Horse. He finished high school at the International School of Kuala Lumpur then spent years blundering through Indonesia, Israel, Yugoslavia, India, Nepal, Thailand, Greece, Italy, the UK and Tasmania. To research his latest novel, The Ink Bridge, he travelled (quietly) through Afghanistan.
» Read more about Neil Grant
Maggie Hamilton
Personal Development, Education Consultant, Social Commentator, Author
Author and researcher Maggie Hamilton writes books and for magazines; gives frequent talks and lectures; is a regular media commentator and a keen observer of social trends. Her many books, which have been published in Australia, New Zealand, Holland, Italy, China, Lithuania, Korea, the Arab States and Brazil, include What Men Don’t Talk About, which examines the lives of real men and boys; What’s Happening to Our Girls? and What’s Happening to Our Boys? which take a close look at the 21st century issues boys and girls face, and offer practical, workable solutions to these challenges; and Secret Girls' Business a fun funky empowering gift book for teen girls.
» Read more about Maggie Hamilton
Nicholas Hansen
Social Commentator, Journalist
Nicholas Hansen’s first feature documentary Rash was awarded the Best Australian Documentary Film from the Critics Circle of Australia Awards in 2005. Nicholas is passionate about documentary and produces and directs the successful outcomes of short, feature documentaries and multi-platform online storytelling. In 2011 Nicholas completed the one hour documentary Breaking The News about two local East Timorese journalists who a decade after independence still struggle to freely report the ongoing turmoil of their country.
» Read more about Nicholas Hansen
Barry Heard
Author, Social Commentator, Personal Development, Inspirational Speaker
Barry Heard is Scribe Publication’s bestselling author. His first book, Well Done Those Men is used in over one hundred high schools throughout Australia in both History and English subject areas. Barry visits these schools to give talks on the book. Now claimed as a classic, the author has received over 100 000 emails and some 30 000 letters in response to the book. The book is essential reading in most Australian University History faculties.
Barry has been involved with fund raising for the Hope Foundation, the Fred Hollows Foundation, Books for Bhutan, and the Repatriation Hospital Heidelberg. His writing has garnered him the Weary Dunlop Award and the Sir Edmund Herring award, and he is a five time winner of the Veteran Community short story competition.
» Read more about Barry Heard
Lucy Howard-Taylor
Author, Inspirational Speaker, Social Commentator
» Read more about Lucy Howard-Taylor
Michael Hyde
Author, Social Commentator, Curriculum Specialist, Journalist
Michael Hyde has written for kids, teens and YA for 30 years. He has twenty five published books, mostly fiction, but also several English and Writing texts.
» Read more about Michael Hyde
Linda Jaivin
Author, Social Commentator
Linda Jaivin is one of Australia’s most versatile writers. Her work spans humour, eroticism, social issues (The Infernal Optimist is set in an immigration detention centre), China studies, literary translation and cultural commentary. She has appeared on ABC’s Q & A and was a regular panelist on the now sadly defunct Critical Mass.
» Read more about Linda Jaivin
Tara June Winch
Author, Social Commentator
‘Tara June Winch is a most stimulating young person to know and to interact with, an active mind and a truly engaged social being.’ Professor Wole Soyinka, Nobel Laureate and UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador.
» Read more about Tara June Winch
Jason Kimberly
Author, Inspirational Speaker, Social Commentator
Cool Australia founder Jason Kimberly is an eco-warrior, globally renowned photographer, adventurer and founder of the online environmental resources, Cool Australia and Our Cool School.
» Read more about Jason Kimberly
Anneli Knight
Author, Personal Development, Inspirational Speaker, Social Commentator, Journalist
Anneli is a regular contributor to The Age and Sydney Morning Herald newspapers and is author of Flirting with Finance, the modern woman’s guide to financial freedom. She lives and writes between Melbourne, the Kimberley and Northern NSW.
» Read more about Anneli Knight
Anna Krien
Author, Social Commentator
Anna Krien is a writer of the usual suspects – journalism, essays, fiction and poetry. Her debut book Into the Woods: The Battle for Tasmania’s Forests was shortlisted for the 2011 NSW Premier’s Literary Awards and she has been published in The Monthly, The Age, The Big Issue, The Best Australian Essays, The Best Australian Stories, Griffith Review, Colors, and Frankie. In 2008, she won the Val Vallis Poetry Award.
» Read more about Anna Krien
L.A. Larkin
Author, Social Commentator
Thriller author, L.A. Larkin, has been likened to Michael Crichton and John Grisham. Her debut novel, The Genesis Flaw, received glowing reviews and was nominated for four crime writing awards. Her second thriller, Thirst, was published in August 2012 and has been described as ‘the best Antarctic thriller since Ice Station. L. A. Larkin divides her time between writing novels, her public speaking engagements and running thriller writing courses. She is a member of The Australian Society of Authors, Sisters In Crime, International Thriller Writers, and the UK’s Crime Writers’ Association.
» Read more about L.A. Larkin
Benjamin Law
Author, Social Commentator, Journalist
Benjamin Law is a Brisbane-based freelance writer for various magazines, including frankie, The Monthly, Qweekend and Good Weekend. In 2009, he released his black comedy memoir The Family Law, which was about growing up in Australia as gay and Asian—or, for brevity’s sake, gaysian. His new book is Gaysia: Adventures in the Queer East.
» Read more about Benjamin Law
Emily Maguire
Author, Social Commentator
Emily Maguire is the award-winning author of three novels and two non-fiction books. Her articles and essays on sex, religion, culture and literature have been published widely in Australian and international magazines, journals and newspapers.
» Read more about Emily Maguire
Sheree Marris
Author, Inspirational Speaker, Social Commentator
Aquatic Scientist Sheree Marris is one of Australia’s youngest environment ambassadors. She is committed to educating the community about their responsibilities in water preservation, marine life and other environmental issues such as recycling. Among her many accolades, she was Young Australian of the Year (Victoria) in 2002.
» Read more about Sheree Marris
Najaf Mazari
Author, Social Commentator
A shepherd boy from the mountains of Afghanistan, Najaf became a rugmaker of genius but was forced to flee his homeland under the onslaught of the Taliban. He painstakingly rebuilt his life in Australia and rescued his family from the despair of Pakistan’s refugee camps.
» Read more about Najaf Mazari
Meg Mundell
Author, Journalist, Social Commentator
Meg Mundell is a novelist, journalist, short fiction writer and teacher who is passionate about the power of storytelling. Meg has taught journalism at the University of Melbourne and run creative writing workshops for young homeless people. She has a strong interest in creativity, social justice and sense of place.
» Read more about Meg Mundell
Dr Michael Nagel
Author, Personal Development, Education Consultant, Social Commentator
Dr Michael Nagel is an Associate Professor and the Head of Education Programs in the School of Science in Education at the University of the Sunshine Coast. Dr Nagel teaches and researches in the areas of cognition, behaviour and learning and human development and early learning.
» Read more about Dr Michael Nagel
P.M. Newton
Author, Inspirational Speaker, Social Commentator
After thirteen years as a detective in the NSW police force, P.M. Newton decided to take a leap into the unknown and seek a different path, one that did not involve constantly meeting people for the first time on the worst day of their life. Since then she has travelled to Timbuktu, written about music in Mali, studied Buddhist philosophy in India, taught English to Tibetan monks and written a critically acclaimed novel.
Who says you can’t change your life?
» Read more about P.M. Newton
Kathleen Noonan
Journalist, Social Commentator
Kathleen Noonan is a journalist with The Courier-Mail, writing feature stories and arts and music interviews. She writes a weekly column The Last Word in the paper on Saturdays.
» Read more about Kathleen Noonan
Dr Maria Pallotta-Chiarolli
Author, Personal Development, Education Consultant, Social Commentator
Dr Maria Pallotta-Chiarolli has gained national and international recognition as a writer, researcher, lecturer and consultant in the issues of cultural diversity, gender diversity, sexual diversity, family diversity, HIV/AIDS, and social diversity in health and education, with a specific focus on adolescence and young people. She is Honorary Patron of PFLAG Victoria; External Faculty Member of Saybrook University in San Francisco and Founding Member of AGMC (Australian GLBTIQ Multicultural Council), which has been recognised as a member of FECCA (Federation of Ethnic Communities Councils of Australia). Her first novel has recently won a 2010 US Lambda Literary Award
» Read more about Dr Maria Pallotta-Chiarolli
Tim Pegler
Author, Journalist, Social Commentator
Acclaimed YA author Tim Pegler is an award-winning journalist, extensively published in newspapers, magazines and online. Tim’s experience covering social issues, such as homelessness, disability and juvenile justice, provides the foundation for much of his writing for young adults.
For school visits in Victoria in 2013, Tim’s available dates are limited to Book Week (19-23 August).
» Read more about Tim Pegler
Ben Pobjie
Author, Journalist, Social Commentator
Ben Pobjie is the author of the Masterchef spoof Superchef, and the satirical collection Surveying the Wreckage. He is the resident satirist for New Matilda and TV writer for the Saturday Age, co-hosts comedy podcast Gather Around Me, and is a regular voice on ABC radio, Triple R and 3CR as well as writing occasionally for TV.
» Read more about Ben Pobjie
Alice Pung
Author, Personal Development, Inspirational Speaker, Social Commentator, Curriculum Specialist
Alice Pung is a writer and lawyer who loves teaching. Alice’s books are studied in secondary schools and universities in Australia as well as the United States, and she has taught writing workshops to students from the ages of 8 to 80 in Australia, China and the States. Alice is also an Ambassador for the 100 Story Building Project, a social enterprise which helps promote literature and literacy skills to young people in the Western suburbs.
» Read more about Alice Pung
Project Rockit
Education Consultant, Inspirational Speaker, Social Commentator, Personal Development, Storyteller/Performer
PROJECT ROCKIT is a Victorian-based Anti-bullying and Youth Leadership program that is run by young people for young people. Launched in 2006 by sisters Lucy and Rosie Thomas, PROJECT ROCKIT is the outcome of two young people who wanted to achieve change. Since then, PROJECT ROCKIT has worked with over 25,000 young people in schools, universities and community groups, earning the reputation as the “student’s choice”.
» Read more about Project Rockit
Andrew Rule
Author, Social Commentator, Journalist
Since starting on a country newspaper in 1975, Andrew Rule has worked on three metropolitan newspapers and in both radio and television production. He has written, co-written, edited and published many books, including the Underbelly true crime series and the Chopper series, which inspired the successful feature film. He hosts a regular fortnightly spot on Triple M’s Hot Breakfast called In The Rule World.
» Read more about Andrew Rule
Ellen Sandell
Social Commentator, Inspirational Speaker
As National Director of the Australian Youth Climate Coalition, Ellen is one of Australia’s leading commentators and campaigners on the issue of climate change. She inspires young people to take action on issues that they care about, empowering them to make a difference.
» Read more about Ellen Sandell
Angela Savage
Author, Social Commentator
Angela Savage’s crime novels are inspired by the six and a half years she spent living in South-east Asia in the late 1990s, working for the Red Cross on HIV/AIDS programs. Her love affair with Asia continues, and in 2008 she spent the year in Cambodia with her partner and their two-year-old.
» Read more about Angela Savage
Trent Southworth
Personal Development, Social Commentator
Trent Southworth is a former NSW Police Officer with over fourteen years policing experience, including eight years employed in the Youth Liaison role. In his role, Trent worked closely with numerous government and non government agencies to identify youth related initiatives such as underage drinking programs, truancy, road safety, drug programs, and bullying.
» Read more about Trent Southworth
Melinda Tankard Reist
Social Commentator, Education Consultant
Melinda Tankard Reist is an author, speaker, media commentator, blogger and advocate for women and girls. She is author/editor of four books including Getting Real: Challenging the Sexualisation of Girls, now in its fourth printing, and Big Porn Inc: Exposing the harms of the global pornography industry. Her presentations aim to show us how stereotyped, limited and hypersexualised messages give distorted ideas of bodies, relationships and sexuality and give us tools for addressing the problem.
» Read more about Melinda Tankard Reist
Robyn Treyvaud
Education Consultant, Social Commentator
Robyn is specialist consultant at the Centre for Strategic Education working with schools and their communities nationally and internationally in the area of cybersafety. She has had 30 years teaching, curriculum development and school leadership experience in both the government and independent systems.
Robyn is an innovator, leader and team member of large scale projects in Australia and is acknowledged as an expert in cybersafety by her peers and wider community.
» Read more about Robyn Treyvaud
David Nyuol Vincent
Author, Inspirational Speaker, Social Commentator
David Nyuol Vincent is one of the Lost Boys of Sudan. He was trained as a child soldier in Ethiopia and lived as a refugee in Kenya until he was twenty-six. Since rebuilding his life here in Australia, David has become an advocate for refugees and the Sudanese community and he is a Victorian Human Rights Youth Ambassador and a People of Australia Ambassador. He also helped to set up an all-Sudanese refugee football team, the Western Tigers, in the Brimbank soccer league. David is a true humanitarian and is committed to achieving peace for his people in Sudan.
» Read more about David Nyuol Vincent
Maya Ward
Author, Storyteller/Performer, Social Commentator
Maya Ward walked the length of the Yarra River from the sea to the source and wrote the book The Comfort of Water: A River Pilgrimage to share her tale. She is passionate about education in creative environmental problem-solving and works as an eco-urban design consultant and writer when not planting trees and growing vegies.
» Read more about Maya Ward
Randa Abdel-Fattah
Author, Social Commentator
Randa Abdel-Fattah is the award-winning author of young adult novels and has extensive experience speaking at schools, writer’s festivals, universities and conferences in Australia and overseas. She is also a human rights activist and practicing lawyer and enjoys a public profile, appearing on television programs such as the ABC’s Q & A, First Tuesday Book Club, SBS’s Insight and Channel Seven’s Sunrise.
» Read more about Randa Abdel-FattahAudiences
Location
New South Wales