Please join Daniel Oakman and Dr Adele Chynoweth OAM at the launch of Daniel's latest book Fire in the Head – (Melbourne Books)

About the Book

Part crime drama, part coming-of-age tale, part modern psychological odyssey, Oakman's novel is a gripping, unsettling and powerful story about self-discovery, the importance of friendship and the transcendent power of words. Fire in the Head addresses a deep taboo in Australian society- the legacy of child sexual abuse and what victims must endure to bring perpetrators to justice.

In March 1999, twenty-seven-year-old James Harper, a shy public servant living in Canberra, is called to a police station to provide evidence on the suicide of his youngest sister nine years earlier. As the investigation gets underway, James confesses that he had been abused by his stepfather, Martin Jenkins, when he was a child. Could the two events be connected? But as he dives headfirst into the legal system in a quest for justice, James must face some disturbing truths about himself and the past he thought he had left behind.

About Daniel Oakman

Daniel Oakman, a writer and historian, comes from Melbourne/Narrm and completed his PhD at the Australian National University. Daniel was also senior curator at the National Museum of Australia in Canberra for a fifteen-year period.

In 2005, his ground-breaking history of Australia and the Colombo Plan, Facing Asia (published by Pandanus Books), was shortlisted for the NSW History Awards. With Melbourne Books he has published Oppy (2018), an acclaimed biography of the sporting icon and politician Hubert Opperman, and Wild Ride (2020), an immersive exploration of how the bicycle has long shaped understandings of the Australian continent and its people.

Daniel's other writing has appeared in diverse publications, including Mountain Biking Australia, VeloNews, Australian Historical Studies, The Big Issue and Meanjin

About Dr Adele Chynoweth

Dr Adele Chynoweth OAM was the co-curator of the National Museum of Australia’s touring exhibition Inside: Life in Children’s Homes and Institutions.

Adele then undertook research and lectured at the Australian National University. In 2015, Adele appeared before a private hearing of the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse where she presented her research findings. In 2018, at ANU, she was awarded the Vice-Chancellor’s Award for Public Policy and Outreach.

Adele’s book Goodna Girls was shortlisted for the 2021 Scholarly Nonfiction Book of the Year (Educational Publishing Awards Australia). Her documentary film Eighty Twenty: Mark Opitz Remembers, is currently streaming on Binge and On Demand FOXTEL.

About the Event

Books will be available for purchase and signing at the event.
Registration is required for this event.
Accessible parking spaces directly below the Harry Hartog ANU Bookshop are available should you require them. Kambri ANU / Parking
If you do not feel well, please refrain from attending this event.
Disability Access available - please ask in-store.