How to Dress for Old Age - Use it or Lose it

Use it or lose it is one of the mantras for ageing well. But how does this apply to the contents of our wardrobes?

Join host Emilie Collyer, with Peta Murray and David Carlin, authors of the new braided memoir How to Dress for Old Age, to unpack the big questions: what to pack for our future selves? What do we want to bring with us as we age, what new costumes would we like to try, and what would we like to shed?

Peta and David will entertain with some readings from their funny, moving book. Emilie will peer into their bookish wardrobes.

And you, the audience, are invited to join in with some community show-and-tell! Bring along an item of clothing or an accessory you can’t let go of or one you wish you could. Something you’ve never been brave enough to wear, or something you’ll never wear again.

Low key, low pressure. High enjoyment. With a prize for the best show-and-tell story of the night.

With How to Dress for Old Age, Peta Murray and David Carlin perform a wondrous duet, evoking all the warmth, richness and beauty of their parents’ lives, and revealing the style in which they approach their own coda.

-       Rajith Savanadasa

About Emilie: Emilie Collyer lives and writes on unceded Wurundjeri Country. She has two poetry collections published by Vagabond Press: Do you have anything less domestic? (winner Five Islands Prize) and As If I’m Really There. Her poetry has been recognised in Gwen Harwood, Judith Wright and Newcastle poetry prizes. She recently won the Victorian Premier’s Literary Award for her play Super.

About David:  David Carlin is a writer and director, who has worked in nonfiction, theatre, film, circus, academia, and, lately, ceramics. He has written or co-written five books of narrative nonfiction and his essays have appeared in Overland, Meanjin, Griffith REVIEW, Hunger Mountain, Westerly and Sydney Review of Books. Emeritus Professor at RMIT University, his first job was dressing up as Santa Claus in a department store. Davidxcarlin.com

About Peta: Peta Murray is a playwright, writer-performer, librettist and essayist. Best known for Wallflowering, she has written more than 15 plays including the AWGIE-winning The Keys to the Animal Room, and Salt, winner of the Victorian Premier’s Award for Drama. A Senior Lecturer at RMIT University, current projects include two works-in-progress, a co-authored scholarly text on Diarology, and, in the shape of a novel, Other Peoples’ Bodies. Peta is a faux Scot with a thing for tartan.  petamurray.com