Speaking from the South: Opening Panel
31st May, 2024
The University of Adelaide
Speaking from the South:
Opening Panel Discussion
What does it mean to speak from the South?
This opening panel will explore the profound perspectives emerging from the South on vital issues like inequality, climate change, and colonialism. Panellists include Fabián Martínez Siccardi, Intan Paramaditha, Kim Scott, and Grace Yee moderated by Nicholas Jose. Following the panel discussion, Nobel Literature Laureates Abdulrazak Gurnah and J. M. Coetzee and will read from their work.
Guiding us through this enlightening discussion will be Nicholas Jose, Emeritus Professor of English and Creative Writing, and author of The Idealist (2023).
After a brief interval, prepare to be transported by readings from Nobel Laureates John M. Coetzee and Abdulrazak Gurnah.
This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to engage with some of the most brilliant minds in literature and philosophy. Don’t miss the chance to grab your own signed copy of their works during the book sales and signing session after the event.
Abdulrazak Gurnah: a Tanzanian/British novelist, Nobel Prize in Literature 2021. Gurnah was born in Zanzibar and moved to the United Kingdom in the 1960s as a refugee. Consistent themes run through his writing, including exile, displacement, belonging, colonialism and broken promises by the state. Gurnah’s notable books include By the Sea (2001), Desertion (2005), Afterlives (2020).
Fabián Martínez Siccardi: Born in southern Patagonia, Argentina and author of Patagonia iluminada, Bestias afuera (Clarin Novel Prize 2013) and Perdidas en la noche. Fabián lives in Buenos Aires where he works as a writer, translator, and journalist on culture issues.
John Maxwell Coetzee is a South African and Australian novelist, essayist, linguist and translator. He is one of the most critically acclaimed and highly decorated authors in the English language, having been awarded the Booker Prize twice and the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2003. In recent years Coetzee has indicated a radical literary and cultural realignment, shifting the centre of attention in world literature, political philosophy and the creative arts toward the southern hemisphere.
Intan Paramaditha: Indonesian author and noted feminist academic. Wandering, her debut novel, won the Tempo Best Literary Work for Prose Fiction in 2017. She is the co-founder of the feminist collective Sekolah Pemikiran Perempuan.
Kim Scott: Kim Scott is an award-winning novelist. A proud Noongar man, Kim is also founder and chair of Wirlomin Noongar Language and Stories (www.wirlomin.com.au). He is currently Curtin University Distinguished Professor in the School of Media, Creative Arts and Social Inquiry at Curtin University. Scott’s notable books include Benang: From the Heart (1999), That Deadman Dance (2010), Taboo (2017).
Grace Yee:is a poet, writer and researcher based in Melbourne. In 2024, her debut collection Chinese Fish was awarded the Ockham New Zealand Book Award for Poetry and the Victorian Prize for Literature. Creating a new archival poetics for the Chinese trans-Tasman diaspora, Chinese Fish narrates a Hong Kong family’s assimilation into New Zealand life from the 1960s to the 1980s, interrogating ideas of citizenship and national identity.
Nicholas Jose has published eight novels, three short story collections and a range of essays and nonfiction including Chinese Whispers: Cultural Essays and the acclaimed memoir, Black Sheep: Journey to Borroloola. His most recent novel is The Idealist, published last year. He was Cultural Counsellor at the Australian Embassy Beijing from 1987-1990 and Chair of Australian Studies at Harvard University. He was also general editor of The Macquarie PEN Anthology of Australian Literature /The Literature of Australia (Allen & Unwin/Norton 2009). He is Adjunct Professor in the Writing and Society Research Centre, Western Sydney University and Emeritus Professor of English and Creative Writing at The University of Adelaide.
ABOUT SPEAKING FROM THE SOUTH:
An inspirational collection of writers and thinkers focused on the South
What does it mean to speak from the South? What unique perspectives does this vantage point offer on the pressing issues currently facing the world? These are questions which have driven a recent interest in ‘Southern Theory’ – an approach which critiques the dominance of Western models that centre on European and North American experiences and perspectives. It shows how Northern-produced theories, concepts and models are often unable to describe and respond appropriately to the Southern situations into which they have been introduced. Southern Theory seeks to empower thinkers beyond the traditional centres and focus on issues which affect them.
In recent years, Adelaide’s own Nobel Laureate John M. Coetzee has effected a radical realignment, shifting the centre of world literature, political philosophy, and the creative arts toward the South. Featured as part of the University of Adelaide’s 150th Year Celebrations in 2024, the University will be bringing together Coetzee alongside some of the most profound and exciting thinkers for Speaking from the South - a first of its kind, multi-day public event which will both celebrate and build upon Coetzee’s legacy as it generates conversations grounded in the unique environments of the South that have global importance and impact.
Speaking from the South will host writers and thinkers from across the Global South and the Southern Hemisphere to reflect on and propose pathways out of the difficult problems that confront the world today, such as inequality, the growing use technology in everyday life, climate change, and the mass displacement of people. While grappling with the ongoing impact of colonialism in shaping our current world, the speakers will draw on local knowledges and experiences to inform future visions and practices for sustaining life on earth.
Joining Coetzee for public readings will be Abdulrazak Gurnah – both of whom are part of a collection of only 15 writers from the South to be awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in its 120-year history. Speaking from the South will also feature an impressive rollcall of international and Australian writers, thinkers, and poets participating in a series of high-profile public panel discussions, talks,readings, and masterclasses, with a strong focus on featuring Indigenous voices from the South.