The Way of the Kind Rebel: A First Readers' Evening (Maribyrnong)

The Way of the Kind Rebel
A First Readers' Evening with Donna Sherwani

A gathering in Maribyrnong. A reading, a conversation with Kon Karapanagiotidis OAM, pomegranate tea and dates, and a signed advance copy to take home.

Twenty-six years ago I got off a boat and arrived in this country as a teenager with little English and no idea what I was supposed to become.

I have been walking towards this book ever since. It started properly after a TEDx talk, and it took three years to put on paper, written in the hours between the kids, work, grief, and everything else that doesn't stop while you write.

What if kindness is the most rebellious act of all?

The Way of the Kind Rebel argues that kindness and rebellion are the same act. That the people who actually shift things are the ones who defied with purpose, led without a map, and acted even when others considered them small.

It moves between my own life, from the mountains of Kurdistan to the pilgrim roads of Spain and Japan, and the lives of refugees, revolutionaries and everyday people who changed something without permission. It is written for everyone who has been told they are too small, too new, too quiet or too much to change anything. One of the questions of the book being: how do we resist a broken world without losing our humanity?

The world does not need more spectators.

What the evening is

I'll read from the book. Then Kon Karapanagiotidis OAM and I will talk. Kon has spent his life on the side of refugees and people seeking asylum, and he is one of the few people I would want asking me questions in front of a room.

Then there's time. To ask me something, to have your copy signed with your name in it, to meet whoever is sitting next to you. This gathering is most of why I'm doing this with friends, tea, and dates.

5:45pm — Doors open. Tea, dates and your copy.
6:15pm — Welcome and Acknowledgement of Country.
6:25pm — I read from the book.
6:45pm — In conversation with Kon Karapanagiotidis OAM.
7:15pm — Signing, photos, and time to talk.
8:00pm — Close.

Your copy

Your ticket includes a signed advance copy of the book, waiting for you at the welcome table.

The book reaches bookshops across Australia and New Zealand in April 2027. Fewer than 250 advance copies exist before then, and 100 are available for this evening. Each copy is hand-numbered and signed. If you'd like a second copy for someone else, you can add one when you book.

Tea and dates

No alcohol, and not for want of hospitality.

Tea is how my ancestors welcomed people. It is what brings community together. Dates are what you carry when you are crossing a journey. A neighbour once handed me pomegranate tea and said kindness is still here, and that is more or less what this book is about.

Thank you

The venue is provided by Maribyrnong City Council. Kon is giving his evening. The tea, refreshments and dates are on me.

The details

Wednesday 29 October, 6pm to 8pm.
Forum Room, Civic Precinct and Community Hub, Maribyrnong.
Doors from 5:45pm. The reading starts at 6:15pm
Bring your partner or a friend at no extra cost.
Refunds up to seven days before. After that your ticket is transferable, or email me and we'll sort it out.

This ticket gives you entry to the evening, with a signed advance copy of The Way of the Kind Rebel. Tickets will be available on a first-come, first-served basis.

We'll be gathering on the lands of the Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung and Bunurong peoples of the Kulin Nation, whose sovereignty was never ceded.