IN CONVERSATION
Brenda Matthews at National Library of Australia
12:00—1:30pm Sunday 22 October
National Library of Australia, Parkes Canberra ACT
Tickets: Free (bookings essential)
Join Brenda Matthews as she talks about her story and the process of turning it into a documentary and a published book, both titled The Last Daughter.
Entry is free to this event but bookings are essential.
Following the discussion in the Theatre, Brenda Matthews will be available for book signings in the Foyer.
Please also join us on Thursday 24 August at 6pm for a special screening of the award-winning documentary, The Last Daughter (2022, 87 mins, PG). Bookings for the screening are essential and need to be made separately to author talk bookings.
When she was two years old, Brenda and her siblings were taken from their parents. For the next five years she was a much-loved daughter in a white family, a happy child in a country town on the outskirts of Sydney, unaware of the existence of her Aboriginal family or how hard her parents were fighting for her return—unaware of her Aboriginal identity. Then, suddenly, she was reunited with her birth family, the last daughter to come home.
Decades later, Brenda searches for her foster family and her beloved white sister. Along the way she uncovers long-buried secrets and government bungling, and finds a deep connection to her Aboriginal culture. The Last Daughter is an account of Brenda’s journey to discover the truth about her past—and to unite her two families.
Brenda Matthews is a proud Wiradjuri woman living with her husband Mark, in Bundjalung country, Queensland. Since 2012 they’ve been hosting cultural camps together, taking teenagers on Country.
Brenda is a mother, a grandmother, a storyteller, a writer, a speaker, an Indigenous Director and Co-Founder for Learning Circle Australia and a film director, making her feature film debut with The Last Daughter, a documentary about Brenda’s life. As part of her journey, Brenda penned her first book, also titled The Last Daughter. Brenda also shares her story through public speaking engagements.
Venue
National Library of Australia,
Parkes Canberra ACT