Babes in Books is taking over the Round Table with a reading group convened by Catherine Connolly and Stephanie Van Schilt, with a reading by Jessica Knight. The reading group will focus on Nadja Spiegelman’s I’m supposed to protect you from all this (2016), a recent memoir about three generations of women. Spiegelman’s book, which embraces ideas around matriarchs, intimacy, intergenerational trauma, identity and sexuality, will be the starting point for both personal and political conversations on issues affecting contemporary feminism.
Writer Jessica Knight will give an and introduction to Nadja Spiegelman’s book, and perform a reading of a short piece of her own writing to spark conversations.
Babes in Books is a reading group dedicated to celebrating, discussing and critically engaging with the work of contemporary female identifying authors. It aims to increase awareness, conversation and engagement with contemporary feminist literature.
SPEAKER BIOS
Catherine Connolly is a Melbourne-based artist, curator and programmer. She is also the Co-Director of Girl Gang | Siteworks, a Brunswick-based project for female identifying creatives and socially invested practices, that will launch in 2018. She has curated, programmed and produced exhibitions, events and creative projects across festivals, galleries, community spaces and artist-run spaces nationally. Connolly has a particular interest in using creativity as a means of exploring gender equity and environmental justice.
Stephanie Van Schilt is host of Sisteria, a feminist podcast, and a freelance writer. She is the former Editor of The Lifted Brow and co-host of the Rereaders, her writing has been published in The Australian, Australian Book Review, The Saturday Paper and Junkee, among others.
Jessica Knight is a Melbourne-based feminist, writer, poet and artist. She was awarded a Creative Partnerships Australia grant in 2014. She is the author of a poetry collection Tongue Between Teeth. Her writing has been published in The Victorian Writer, and her artwork has been shown in Paper Dolls, D11 Docklands, 2014.
