In Conversation with Fernanda Dahlstrom
Description
Step into the quiet beauty of The Convent Daylesford for an afternoon of intimate reflection and dialogue.
Fernanda Dahlstrom’s 2026 memoir, The Framing, is a heart-breaking exploration of love, betrayal and the justice system. When Fernanda was eight, her mother went to jail and their idyllic life in rural Victoria was shattered. As a young lawyer in Darwin, she set out to prove her mother was framed. The Framing was shortlisted for the Glendower Award for an Emerging Queensland Writer in 2023 and highly commended in the Next Chapter 2024.
Fernanda will be in conversation with local lawyer Tony Kelly, co-author of Growing Pineapples in the Outback, former park ranger and youth worker, now native title lawyer, Chair of Environmental Justice Australia and occasional writer.
Tony, drawing on his experiences working in the justice system and living in remote and regional Australia, will invite Fernanda to talk about her memoir, justice, growing up in rural Victoria, and the messy, human reality of legal systems. Expect a warm, smart, deeply felt conversation between two people who care about getting it right.
Settle in with a glass of bubbles (or non-alcoholic fizz) on arrival. Stay afterwards for a book signing with Fernanda.
Lineup
Meet Fernanda
Fernanda Dahlstrom is a writer, editor and lawyer based in Darwin. Her memoir, The Framing, is about childhood, truth and lies, and the justice system. The manuscript was shortlisted for the Glendower Award for an Emerging Queensland Writer in 2023 and highly commended in the Next Chapter 2024. Fernanda’s essay, ‘Children’s Rights Theory’ has been shortlisted for the Calibre Essay Prize 2026.Her work has appeared in Sydney Review of Books, Kill Your Darlings, Overland Literary Journal, Mascara Literary Review, Art Guide Australia and The Guardian.
Meet Tony
Tony is the co-author of Growing Pineapples in the Outback, with Rebecca Lister. Formerly a park ranger and youth worker, Tony is now a lawyer and CEO of First Nations Legal & Research Services and Chair of Environmental Justice Australia. Tony has written for The Big Issue and The Monthly. Tony is a keen swimmer, rain, hail or shine, and is currently writing a book about swimming.
Books
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