Literature, Gender and Politics in Australia:
Writing, Postcolonialism and Memory
5:15pm - 7:15 pm, Wednesday 23 September 2026
Building 1, Lecture Theatre 1A21
University of Canberra, 11 Kirinari St, Bruce ACT
Literature, Gender and Politics in Australia: A Launch and Panel Discussion on Writing, Postcolonialism and Memory
Coinciding with the release by Netflix of Miles Franklin’s My Brilliant Career as well as a campaign for a statue in Canberra to honour pioneering feminist writer and reformer Catherine Helen Spence, this event will reflect on the work of some of Australia’s most important writers of the colonial and post-Federation eras. It will be a launch of John Uhr’s latest book, Promoting Postcolonial Australia: New Readings of Miles Franklin and Joseph Furphy (Bloomsbury Academic, 2026) by CoPI Director Frank Bongiorno, followed by a panel discussion on the intersections of literature, politics, civics and memory in relation to Spence. Speakers are Professors John Uhr (ANU) and Kim Rubenstein (UC), and Dr Andrew Dillon (ANU), who will be in conversation with Dr Rachel Cunneen (UC).
The Vice-Chancellor’s Centre of Public Ideas (CoPI) explores how historical analysis can inform and develop the practice of contemporary politics, and restore long-term thinking to policymaking for the national good.