Events Upstairs @ 49 - Launches                   February 2010 Tuesday, February 16, 2010 / 6.00 for 6.30pm Launch Michele Harris (Ed.) This is What We Said: Australian Aboriginal people give their views on the NT Intervention To be launched by Jason Glanville Venue: gleebooks, 49 Glebe Point Rd, Glebe Cost: Free RSVP: gleebooks - 9660 2333 or Request a place This Is What We Said follows a recent report Will They Be Heard? which was released in November 2009. The report examined footage from three consultations undertaken by the Federal Government in three Aboriginal communities in the Northern Territory. It also looked at other community reports and five government regional reports from the same consultative process which sought the views of representatives from all Territory prescribed communities. The Federal Government spent large sums of money engaging in the process of extensive consultations across the Territory and those who wrote the report were genuine in asking the question ‘will Aboriginal people’s views be heard?’ Sadly, the new legislation recently tabled in Parliament leads us to believe that the majority of Aboriginal people were not heard. This Is What We Said is one way of ensuring that some of the views that were expressed during the consultation process are put on record. Using photographs and quotations taken from footage of the consultations at Bagot, Ampilatwatja, Utopia and Yirrkala, it provides a graphic account of the depth of despair and anguish of many Aboriginal people in the Northern Territory regarding the Intervention. Quotes from other well-known Australians and UN representatives are also included. Michele Harris is convenor of the group known as Concerned Australians, whose aim in publishing the book is to garner public attention for the sense of despair and betrayal many NT communities are feeling over the Federal Government’s flawed consultation process. The group is backed by eminent Australians such as Alastair Nicholson and Malcolm Fraser. Jason Glanville is a member of the Wiradjuri people from south-western New South Wales. He is the inaugural CEO of the National Centre of Indigenous Excellence (NCIE) based in Redfern. Prior to joining the NCIE Jason was Director of Programs and Strategy at Reconciliation Australia. Jason is on the board of the Australian Indigenous Leadership Centre, co-director of the Ngiya Institute of Indigenous Policy, Law and Practice, a member of the National NAIDOC Committee and a member of the Steering Committee for the creation of the new National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Representative Body. Thursday, February 18, 2010 / 6.30 for 7pm Launch/ In conversation Max Lane Unfinished Nation: Indonesia Before and after Suharto Published by: Palgrave Macmillan In conversation with Adrian Vickers Venue: gleebooks, 49 Glebe Point Rd, Glebe Cost: Free RSVP: gleebooks - 9660 2333 or Request a place Buy Unfinished Nation: Indonesia Before and after Suharto Indonesia in 2010: what kind of neighbourhood? Ten years after Suharto, the Indonesian government is still banning political films, such as Balibo. The police, prosecutor's office and the courts are revealed as implicated in plots to frame rivals, including in the anti-corruption agencies, but nobody is arrested and tried. Books are still banned and even burned in public. Ministers claim that natural disasters are God's response to moral decadence. Raising a flag in Papua still means gaol. Are these anamolies in a new democratising Indonesia, or the results of unfinished business in an unfinished nation? What is going to happen politically in Australia's largest Asian neighbour, Indonesia - the fourth most populous nation in the world? Max Lane is translator of 6 books by Indonesia's greatest novelist, the late Pramoedya Ananta Toer. He is author many monographs and other works on Indonesia, East Timor, the Philippines and Australia. He was founding editor of INSIDE INDONESIA in the 1980s and National Convenor of Action in Solidarity with Indonesia and East Timor in the 1990s. Between 1991 and 2007 he wrote hundreds of articles on Indonesia (and other topics) for Green Left Weekly. He now writes for Direct Action monthly newspaper, The Jakarta Post and Jakarta Globe. see www.maxlaneonline.com Max has just returned to Australia aftrer being based in Singapore and Jakarta for three years. Adrian Vickers is Professor of Southeast Asian Studies at the University of Sydney. He is author of A History of Modern Indonesia. and Bali: A Paradise Created. Tuesday, February 23, 2010 / 6.00 for 6.30pm Launch Peter Kennedy: The Man who Threatened Rome Published by: One Day Hill Press To be launched by Philip Adams Venue: gleebooks, 49 Glebe Point Rd, Glebe Cost: Free RSVP: gleebooks - 9660 2333 or Request a place On February 21, 2009, Father Peter Kennedy, of Saint Mary’s Catholic Church in South Brisbane, was sacked by his Archbishop for contravening aspects of Catholic doctrine. This book is an assembly of voices looking at Peter Kennedy the man, the priest and the maverick. There are a variety of viewpoints on Kennedy and the Church today, what he has done and what the Roman Catholic church has done in banning him from his church. With an introduction by former Catholic priest and media commentator Paul Collins, Peter Kennedy – The Man Who Threatened Rome, contains essays by international theologian Hans King, singer/songwriter Shane Howard and Frances Devlin-Glass, Michael Morwood, Brian Doyle, Sr Veronica Brady, John Shelby Spong, Fr Roy Bourgeois, Sr Joan Chittester, Fr Peter Norden, Tom Uren and others. There is a secular portrait of Kennedy as a man by journalist Martin Flanagan who asks, not so much what has Kennedy done, but who is he? Who is this man who threatens Rome? And is Christianity, as Kennedy claims, dying in Australia? Wednesday, February 24, 2010 / 6.00 for 6.30pm Launch Willa McDonald Warrior for Peace Published by: ASP In conversation with Humphrey McQueen Venue: gleebooks, 49 Glebe Point Rd, Glebe Cost: Free RSVP: gleebooks - 9660 2333 or Request a place Buy Warrior for Peace In 1975, a tiny, grey-haired woman took the microphone at a protest rally following Prime Minister Whitlam's Dismissal, and blasted the audience with an impassioned speech about the importance of the democratic process. Dorothy Auchterlonie Green was a passionate teacher, literary critic and poet. Together with her husband H M Green, she is best known for her unstinting work to promote the field of Australian literature. But in her later years, she also established herself as a defender of the power of the word, using her writing and speeches to expose those power structures in our society which misuse language for exploitation and greed. How did this small conservative academic become a warrior for peace? Willa McDonald traces Dorothy Green's path to political activism, from her childhood and early working years as a wartime radio journalist in Brisbane, through to the 1980s and her role in the founding of the Australian Association for Armed Neutrality, the Nuclear Disarmament Party and the lobby group, Writers Against Nuclear Arms. Saturday, February 27, 2010 / 3.30 for 4pm Launch Dr. Cathy Kezelman Innocence Revisited: A Tale In Parts Published by: Jojo Publishing To be launched by Mark Tedeschi Venue: gleebooks, 49 Glebe Point Rd, Glebe Cost: Free RSVP: gleebooks - 9660 2333 or Request a place Buy Innocence Revisited: A Tale In Parts Compelling, shocking and enlightening, this is a true story of human resilience. From a childhood filled with abuse and betrayal, a woman struggles to come to terms with having no memory of her childhood. Cathy was a busy, successful GP when her life fell apart after her 18 year-old niece died in a car accident. This news sends Cathy into a downward spiral of depression and panic attacks and she seeks help from a clinical psychologist. Terrifying 'flashbacks' emerge which reveal a string of horrific memories involving a number of family members as well as her mother's revered doctor friend. As a little girl Cathy had been subjected to unimaginable acts over many years including those perpetrated by an evil and brutal cult. As a result of her trauma Cathy is left grappling with a severe depression and a dissociated personality. The story ends with a quiet sense of hope as Cathy embraces not only her remarkable survival and recovery but a great enthusiasm for the next phase of her life. Dr. Cathy Kezelman is a qualified medical practitioner and the mother of four adult children. She is the current chairperson of ASCA (Adults Surviving Child Abuse) a national Australian organisation that supports adults dealing with the devastating long term impacts of child abuse, and a director of the Mental Health Coordinating Council. Mark Tedeschi has been a passionate photographer since 1988. He has had ten solo exhibitions and participated in over 20 joint exhibitions in Australia, Italy and France. His images are included in the collections of the New South Wales Art Gallery, the National Library in Canberra, the Museum of Sydney, the Justice and Police Museum, and the State Library of NSW which has over 150 of his images. His images have been published extensively in books and journals, including the definitive text on Australian photography “Eye for photography” (2005) by Alan Davies and Lucy Turnbull’s iconic “Sydney: a Biography” (1999). Mark has won numerous photographic awards and prizes in Australia, North America and Europe. He has been a finalist in the National Photographic Portrait Prize at the National Portrait Gallery in Canberra (three times), the Moran Contemporary Photographic Prize, the “Head On” Photographic Portrait Prize at the Australian Centre for Photography in Sydney, and the Photographic Portrait Prize at the National Portrait Gallery in London. Mark has been NSW's most Senior Crown Prosecutor since 1997, he is the lawyer who has represented NSW citizens to prosecute some of the state's highest-profile killers: Ivan Milat, Bruce Burrell, Kathleen Folbigg, Arthur "Neddy" Smith, Sef Gonzales and Phuong Ngo among them. Mark is a member of the Board of Directors of the National Art School in Sydney. He has been awarded the honour of Cavaliere della Repubblica Italiana, one of the orders of merit of the Italian Republic, for his services to photography and the law.     March 2010 Friday, March 12, 2010 / 6.00 for 6.30pm Launch Anita Heiss Manhattan Dreaming Published by: RHA To be launched by Terri Janke Venue: gleebooks, 49 Glebe Point Rd, Glebe Cost: Free RSVP: gleebooks - 9660 2333 or Request a place Lauren is a curator at the National Aboriginal Gallery in Canberra. She's good at her job, passionate about the Arts, and takes work seriously. It's easy for Lauren to focus on work, that is, when she's not focussing on Adam. Lauren is smitten with, or as her friends say, obsessed with Adam - the halfback for the Canberra Cockatoos. But Adam is a player, on and off the field. To everyone other than Lauren, it is clear that Adam doesn't want to be in a relationship at all, even though he likes being with Lauren. In a few short months Adam is involved in one too many scandals that make the press. She is shattered and breaks it off though she can't quite let go… When she tries to convince her friends that she is waiting for Adam to have his epiphany and realise they are meant to be together, her friends decide to do an intervention on her. Under pressure from them, Lauren successfully applies for her dream job at the Smithsonian in New York. She leaves for the Big Apple, telling herself, that Adam will miss her so much he will see the light and eventually come begging. Once landing in NYC, Lauren's life goes into overdrive with the preparation of the exhibition, finding her way around the city and marvelling at the city that never sleeps. There are a lot of men in New York who flirt with Lauren, in fact, there are men everywhere. In the street, on the subway, in cafes and restaurants, in Central Park and even in her apartment building .They really like her, and they LOVE her accent. They fuss over her and just like being around her. Adam had never really been like that with her at all. She goes on dates trying to get Adam out of her system and eventually starts to think that she might never have another boyfriend again, because it is much more fun, and better for her self-esteem to be single in New York. But when Adam appears on her doorstep six months later, having apparently had the epiphany she was waiting for, Lauren is confused. Adam says he wants her back. He catches Lauren at a weak moment - the exhibition she has been working on is complete and she has to make some big decisions: The Man or Manhattan? Anita Heiss is a writer, poet, activist, social commentator and academic. She is the author of Yirra and her deadly dog, Demon; I’m not racist, but... as well as many other books. She is a member of the Wiradjuri nation of central New South Wales, but grew up in Matraville, Sydney. Anita describes herself as a concrete Koori with a Westfield dreaming - a city chick whose idea of Survivor is a night in a caravan. Monday, March 15, 2010 / 6.30 for 7pm Launch Jacqui Vittles Dyslexia: An Amazing Discovery Published by: Eloquent Books To be launched by David Ryding, Director of NSW Writer's Centre Venue: gleebooks, 49 Glebe Point Rd, Glebe Cost: Free RSVP: gleebooks - 9660 2333 or Request a place Jacqui Vittles was constantly told she was lazy and stupid. But always a fighter, she battled on, gained an impressive track record of high-powered management jobs, an MBA and ran her own business. What she didn’t know she had, however, was dyslexia. This book chronicles her astonishing discovery at age 46, how she coped prior to this amazing revelation, and her passion to help others understand the true nature of dyslexia. Jacqui’s personal revelations and life stories about living with a condition she did not know she had will serve as an inspirational and powerful life lesson. “I feel so passionate about helping non-dyslexics to get an insight into this strange but all too common world that dyslexics experience, through vivid description rather than just a dry listing of symptoms. We're intelligent but we’re often treated like dunces. We have to work a hundred times harder, just to reprocess life's information into a form we can deal with – and then we’re called slow and lazy for our pains!” Dyslexia – An Amazing Discovery should be required reading for parents, carers, teachers, employers and anyone who has been labelled lazy or stupid. Here at last is a book that shines a light on the nuances, frustrations and misunderstandings of this all too common condition. David Ryding recently joined the Writers' Centre from Melbourne where he was the Director of the highly successful Emerging Writers' Festival, a festival championing the cause of emerging writers of all styles of writing, types of writing and all ages of writer. Throughout his career, David has consistently worked with new Australian writing and Australian writers including stints as the Artistic Director of South Australian Theatre Company Mainstreet Theatre Company and Associate Director for Western Australian Children's theatre Company Barking Gecko.           gleebooks pty ltd - ABN: 87 000 357 317        © 1996-2010 gleebooks & MetaForm.   All rights reserved.