Meet the Author - Tracey Lee Holmes
6pm, Monday 15 September
Harry Hartog ANU Campus
University Avenue, Acton, ACT, 2601
Tracy Lee Holmes will be in conversation with Phil Coorey on The Eye of the Dragonfly, a candid, wide-ranging and passionate book, part memoir, part manifesto, in which she shares both her stories and her views on sport’s most dramatic issues.
The dragonfly sees in 360 degree perspective, and that’s what Tracey Lee Holmes has always done in her sports journalism. Over four decades, she has taken us beyond the scores and stats to the real stories of sport – the stories of human beings in exultation and defeat, and the bigger stories of money, power, and all too often, discrimination.
In both her life and work, Holmes has consistently broken barriers. The first female presenter of the ABC’s flagship sports programme, Grandstand, she has pioneered coverage of and by women in sport. Her longform style of interviewing and her reporting on world events like the Olympics and FIFA World Cups have introduced us to athletes from all backgrounds and nations
Anchor, reporter, podcaster and – for a rocky spell over the 2000 Sydney Olympics – media manager, Holmes has never sought to divorce sport and the politics of the world it’s played in. As well as recounting highlights (and a couple of lowlights) from her career, in this book she shares her views on drugs in sport, Sam Kerr, and what challenges face the Olympics before the 2032 Brisbane Games.
Holmes has also had a rich personal story. The child of itinerant surfers, she has lived in many different countries with her own children and husband, Stan Grant, seeing the world from many different perspectives. And her life has been full of surprises: only after numerous years living in China did she learn that she has Chinese heritage herself. Bracing, intimate and characteristically unconventional, The Eye of the Dragonfly gives us the full picture of a remarkable life in sport.
Tracey Lee Holmes is one of Australia’s most recognised and rewarded journalists . As Deputy Chair of the Oceania Australia Foundation, a Council Member of Indigenous Football Australia, a member of the IOC Press Committee, and a Mentor for the IOC Young Reporters program, Tracey is actively involved in promoting sport as a tool for social change and empowerment.
Phil Coorey has covered federal politics since 1998 and is currently the political editor of the Australian Financial Review based in Canberra. He is a two-time winner of the Paul Lyneham award for press gallery excellence. He is a regular commentator on political panel television programmes such the ABC’s Insiders.
About the Event
Registration is required for this event.
Accessible parking spaces directly below the Harry Hartog ANU Bookshop are available should you require them. Parking at ANU/Harry Hartog
If you do not feel well, please refrain from attending this event.
Disability Access available - please ask in-store.
A podcast will be made available after the event.
The vote of thanks will be given by Canberra writer, veterinarian and podcaster Karen Viggers.
Books are available for signing from 5.30 pm and again after the event.