In Conversation with Sarah Cochrane Ridout and Kristina Olsson - Telling the WHOLE Story

Telling the Whole Story. How to take your readers closer to the truth through the use of historical characters and narrative.

The 1967 Referendum was the most successful in Australia’s history. Sisters in Arms is a work of creative non-fiction about the friendship between Oodgeroo Noonuccal and Kathie Cochrane, and their part in this pivotal campaign. Kathie Cochrane’s granddaughter, Sarah Cochrane Ridout, tells the story of two remarkable women whose friendship, shared struggle and refusal to yield helped build the momentum for one of the great turning points in Australian history: the landslide YES vote. A powerful story of a friendship that changed history. Sisters in Arms reveals how this crucible of change also birthed Oodgeroo’s ground-breaking literary career. The story was written with close support and permissions of both families, and includes extracts from Vivian (Kabul) Walker’s unpublished biography of his mother.

If you would like a signed copy of this book please come to the event with a copy as this event is immediately followed by the festival Opening Party.

Sarah Cochrane Ridout’s first novel Le Chateau, was published after selection for the QWC/Hachette Australia Manuscript Development Program. A Katherine Susannah Prichard Fellow, Sarah has a First-Class Honours Masters in Creative Writing from University College Dublin (UCD). Her Creative Australia grant for Sisters in Arms included First Nations Cultural Sensitivity Report and editing by Barkindji woman Dr Allanah Hunt. Sarah always wanted to write about her grandmother’s activism in the 1967 Referendum and lifelong friendship with Oodgeroo Noonuccal (Kath Walker). Sisters in Arms is that book. It was written with the full permission of her grandfather, Bob Cochrane, and Denis Walker, Oodgeroo Noonuccal’s son.

Kristina Olsson is an award-winning writer of fiction, non-fiction and journalism. Her 2009 novel The China Garden won the Barbara Jefferis Award and was shortlisted for the Kibble Prize. Her 2013 memoir, Boy, Lost, garnered multiple awards including the Queensland, New South Wales and West Australian Premiers awards for non-fiction and the Kibble Prize. Her most recent novel, Shell, launched the legendary Scribner Australia literary imprint and was shortlisted in several major literary awards. She is currently working on a memoir set in Sweden and northern Norway that tracks the life of another lost child.

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