In Conversation with Jane Rawson

Jane Rawson will be in conversation with Alice Grundy on Jane's latest book Human/Nature: On Life in a Wild World – NewSouth Publishing. An exquisite, contemplative book for anyone who has ever wondered where they fit in the natural world.

About The Book

Several years ago, Jane Rawson packed up her beloved inner-city home and moved to the bush. Scared about what climate change would do to the big city, and keen to meet more animals, she found a new home in a cottage in the Huon Valley. But in a place where nature never really leaves you alone, she had to confront her uncomfortable relationship with the outdoors.

A lyrical work of creative nonfiction, Human/Nature is an exploration of how and why we think about the natural world the way we do. If you’ve ever asked yourself whether humans are ruining nature, whether there’s a better way for us to belong, or whether it’s possible to love both the environment and your cat, you’re not alone.

‘In this funny, provocative and profoundly moving book, Jane Rawson brilliantly unravels the myths about the boundaries of the human and the non-human, the natural and the unnatural, and love and death that shape our thinking about not just the environment, but our history and the future that is already overtaking us. Read it: it’s utterly marvellous.’ – James Bradley, author of Deep Water

‘Idiosyncratic and wily, big-hearted and brave, Human/Nature is an exhilarating deep dive into what is deemed “nature”, what is worth saving, and who gets to decide. Part confessional, part philosophical inquiry, part lament, this book takes us on a rollicking ride.’ – Jessie Cole, author of Desire and Staying

‘A sense of possibility and connection can be elusive in these challenging days yet Jane Rawson offers them to us, using language that is beautiful, wise, clear and true.’ – Sophie Cunningham, author of City of Trees

‘I love this book. I love this writer – her brilliance, wit, tenderness, and keen eyes (and ears and mind). The pages of Human/Nature are threaded with delight and grief, wonder and questions, joy and love. Read this beautiful book and remember your nature.’ – Sarah Sentilles, author of Stranger Care

About Jane Rawson

Jane Rawson is the author of novels A History of Dreams, From the Wreck and A Wrong Turn at the Office of Unmade Lists, a novella, Formaldehyde, and, with James Whitmore, the non-fiction book The Handbook: Surviving & Living with Climate Change. You can read her essays in Living with the Anthropocene; Fire, Flood, Plague; and Reading Like an Australian Writer. She is the managing editor at Island magazine and lives in south-east Lutruwita/Tasmania.

About Alice Grundy

Dr Alice Grundy is an editor, researcher and teacher, with over 15 years’ experience working in book publishing, and a Visiting Fellow at ANU.

She has worked for the public service and has taught at the University of Technology Sydney, the University of Melbourne and Australian National University. She completed a PhD on editing and publishing history at ANU, the first half of which became Editing Fiction: Three case studies from postwar Australia, published by Cambridge University Press. 

Alice is currently Managing Editor of The Australia Institute Press and manages the Anne Kantor Fellows at the Australia Institute.

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.