The Brennan Justice and Leadership Program presents an evening in conversation with Amani Haydar.

This evening we come together to talk with Amani Haydar about her memoir, The Mother Wound, and the use of art (writing and painting) to explore trauma and notions of justice.

Amani Haydar is an award-winning author, artist, and advocate – she is an alumna of the UTS Faculty of Law having completed her Bachelor of Arts in Communication (Social Inquiry)/ Bachelor of Laws in 2011. In 2021 she published her debut memoir, The Mother Wound, which explores the murder of her mother by her father and the death of her maternal grandmother as a result of the bombing of her village in Lebanon by Israeli forces. This is a complex and breath-taking book that explores domestic violence and abuse, patriarchy, the traumatic impact of war – and, significantly, resilience and hope. The UTS Faculty of Law awarded Amani the Law Alumni award in 2021.

The Mother Wound was published to immense acclaim and has won multiple awards (and been shortlisted for many others):

Winner of the 2021 Sydney Music, Arts & Culture (SMAC) Awards
Winner of the 2022 Victorian Premier's Literary Award For Non-Fiction
Winner of the 2022 Matt Richell Award For New Writer Of The Year

Amani’s painting has also been significant in exploring ideas about violence and abuse against women, justice and resilience. It too has also been greeted with acclaim. In 2018 her painting, Insert Headline Here, a portrait of three generations of her family (herself, her mother and her grandmother) was a finalist for the Archibald prize.

Optional pre-reading for the Brennan Community

Prior to the event you are encouraged to read The Mother Wound.
You may also like to listen to Amani’s interview with Rosie Batty on the ABC Show One Plus One.
You may also like to view the catalogues for some of Amani’s recent art exhibitions – at the MARS Gallery in Melbourne in 2021 and the Fairfield City Council in 2019.

Amani Haydar will be in conversation with Jane Wangmann and Monica Keech (2022 Co-Directors of the Brennan Justice and Leadership Program). There will be plenty of time for questions at the end of the conversation. The presentation will go for approximately one hour with an opportunity to network and chat afterwards over refreshments.

Note: This humanitix event is for registration for UTS Law alumni, UTS staff and UTS community members. If you are a current Brennan student please register via CareerHub.