Meet the Author series: Pamela Burton and Meredith Edwards
5:30pm - 6:30pm Thursday 8 December
National Library of Australia
Parkes Place, Canberra ACT
Join the Friends for the latest in our Meet the Author series, as sisters Pamela Burton and Meredith Edwards discuss their book about their parents, Persons of Interest: an Intimate Account of Cecily and John Burton. More than a deeply personal family memoir, the book is a fascinating account of public life and politics in mid-century Canberra.
Facilitating this discussion is Allen Mawer, local author and President of the Canberra and District Historical Society. Allen is an eclectic historian who has written well-received books on Canberra, Australian folklore, whaling and exploration. His best-known works in these genres are, respectively, Canberry Tales, Wild Colonial Boys, Ahab’s Trade and Incognita. His most recent work, a book on Magellan’s navigation, is currently in the press. In a former life he was a Senior Executive Service officer in the APS.
This event is in-person and will also be livestreamed via Zoom. Member price tickets are also available to members of the Canberra & District Historical Society.
A world in upheaval; two lives lived under stress … This story is set in the social and political landscape of pre– and post–World War II. It tells two vastly different tales of Cecily and John’s lives in Australia and overseas, as nations clashed, and governments and international organisations tried to remake the world.
Cecily Nixon knew that marrying John Burton would be bad for her. But she loved him and, impressed with this handsome, sullen young man and his belief that he could change the world for the better, saw her role in life as to serve the world through John.
Cecily’s story is a deeply personal and psychological one of love, duty and betrayal that explores the complexities of relationships. In a world that overwhelmed her, Cecily searched for ‘wholeness’ and delved deep into her psyche to find herself and emerge from John’s shadow.
John has been known as an influential and controversial young head of Australia’s Department of External Affairs – and as a would-be politician. It is less known that he was also an innovative farmer, bookseller, entrepreneur, arts patron and writer. He received international acclaim for his later work in conflict analysis and resolution.
These combined stories of courage and achievement unfold amid political intrigue and psychological trauma. ASIO surveillance, love triangles, loyalty, infidelity and tragedy all play their part in the Burtons’ lives.
“A remarkable memoir of a remarkable couple, exploring the fraught dynamic between the personal and political facets of their lives, the perspective lying at the core of modern feminism. Pamela Burton’s own insights are those of their youngest child, on whom the disruptions of the 1960s and 1970s had a heavy impact, but also that of her maturity, bringing her sharp forensic skills to the project. Assisted by Meredith Edwards, her eldest sister, Burton has given us an unflinchingly honest and utterly gripping record of our lives and times.”
Venue
Parkes Place
National Library of Australia