This public program in conjunction with the exhibition The Most Gaoled Race on Earth and in partnership with Newcastle Writers Festival will be facilitated by Jakelin Troy an academic specialising in Aboriginal languages, anthropology and visual arts. Panelists will include artists Blak Douglas and Adam Geczy, emerging writer Ellen van Neervan and writer and academic Dr Joe Perry from the Wollotuka Institute, University of Newcastle.

This is a FREE EVENT. There is no need to buy a ticket. The event is a based on a ‘first in, first served basis.’

On the day of this panel, The Olive Tree Markets will also be taking place in the City of Newcastle. You are strongly encouraged to park outside of the city as securing a park will be extremely difficult.

More information on getting into Newcastle using public transport can be found HERE.

FACILITATOR – PROFESSOR JAKELIN TROY

Jakelin is a Ngarigu woman of the Snowy Mountains South Eastern Australia and is Director Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Research within the Office of the Deputy Vice-Chancellor Indigenous Strategy and Services at the University of Sydney. Her interest and expertise includes the fields of Australian languages and linguistics, anthropology, visual arts and education.

PANELISTS
ADAM GECZY

Adam is an artist, writer and academic who works at the University of Sydney as a Senior Lecturer in Sculpture and Art Theory at Sydney College of The Arts and in conjunction with the ATSI Research unit. Geczy’s works have been exhibited throughout Australia, Asia and Europe.

BLAK DOUGLAS

Blak Douglas is an artist, classically trained Yidaki (Didgeridoo) player and youth educator. Born Adam Douglas Hill on Dharug Country (Blacktown) to an Aboriginal father and Australian mother, Douglas uses graphic design and pop art aesthetics in his highly politicised works. His work is widely collected nationally and internationally.

ELLEN VAN NEERVEN

Born in 1990, Ellen van Neerven is a writer of Mununjali and Dutch heritage. She belongs to the Yugambeh people of the Gold Coast and Scenic Rim. She won the David Unaipon Award for an Unpublished Indigenous Writer in the 2013 Queensland Literary Awards for Heat and Light, which has been shortlisted for a number of Australian awards. Ellen’s short fiction, poetry and memoir have featured in numerous publications, including McSweeney’s, Voiceworks and Mascara Literary Review. She lives in Brisbane.

DR JOE PERRY

Dr Joe (Lawrence) Perry is a Worimi man who has worked for 25 years in higher education, is a well-established academic and has previously worked within local Aboriginal communities.  Dr Perry completed a Bachelor of Adult Education at University Technology, Sydney and also a Doctor of Philosophy (Aboriginal History/Studies).