Panel - Can the Pen Save the Natural World?

Can literature about the environment not just entertain but also engage people (including younger generations) when we are in a state of environmental crisis? If it can – how to write it?

Panellists:

Award-winning author Dr Sarah Pye is passionate about wildlife and storytelling. Her doctorate focused on how narratives can engage non-scientists in conservation and her biography Saving Sun Bears was the result. When she’s not teaching at the University of the Sunshine Coast (or working on her next book).

Phil Jarratt is the author or co-author of more than 40 books, written over nearly 50 years and ranging from best-selling bios (Evonne Goolagong Cawley, round-world yachtsman Ian Keirnan and surfers Jeff Hakman and Kelly Slater) to popular histories (Bali Heaven and Hell, Salts and Suits, Place of Shadows) and memoir (Life of Brine). He has worked in Australia, US, UK and France as a journalist, editor, publisher, marketing executive and events director, as well as in sports television and in independent documentary film production. Phil lives in Noosa.

Tony Wellington is a writer, photographer and artist. His written works include Freak Out: How a Musical Revolution Rocked the World in the Sixties, Vinyl Dreams: How the 1970s Changed Music, and Mixtapes and MTV: Triumphs and Tragedies in 1980s Music, all published by Monash University Publishing. He has also authored Happy? Exploding Cultural Myths about Happiness and a history of Noosa's environmental movement titled Noosa and Cooloola. His nature photography books include Wild About Noosa and The Nature of Noosa. For many years Tony worked in the film and television industry, and he lectured film studies. He also worked as a visual artist and book illustrator. Tony holds a degree in Media Studies from Macquarie University and is a former mayor of Noosa Shire.

Discover more about the Eumundi Writers Festival here: https://eumundiwritersfestival.com.au/