Broadside is the new feminist ideas festival from the Wheeler Centre. Over the weekend of 9 and 10 November at Melbourne Town Hall, Broadside will present two days of unabashedly feminist programming, spotlighting a remarkable line-up of international and local speakers, and delivering a powerfully feminist agenda. It’s about smart, funny people sharing their expertise and their stories.
Saturday Pass – Save 15% on all single ticketed events on Saturday.*
- All sessions in Melbourne Town Hall on Saturday.
* Excludes Up Late.
Featuring
Featuring
Distinguished Professor Aileen Moreton-Robinson is a Goenpul woman of the Quandamooka people (Moreton Bay) and is Professor of Indigenous Research at RMIT University. She was appointed as Australia’s first Indigenous Distinguished Professor in 2016 and was a founding member of the Native American ... Read more
In 2017, Aretha Brown delivered an impassioned speech at the Invasion Day Rally in Melbourne, fighting to make Indigenous history education mainstream. Her delivery and ideas led her to be elected as Prime Minister of the National Indigenous Youth Parliament, the youngest ever person — and the fir... Read more
‘I wanted what we all want: everything. We want a mate who feels like family and a lover who is exotic, surprising. We want to be youthful adventurers and middle-aged mothers. We want intimacy and autonomy, safety and stimulation, reassurance and novelty, coziness and thrills. But we can’t have... Read more
‘I think if we’re talking about popular feminism’s inclusion of trans and gender-diverse people, non-binary people, we’re not even scratching the surface.’ Bhenji Ra is an interdisciplinary artist. Her practice combines dance, choreography, video, installation and club events. She is th... Read more
Professor Clare Wright OAM is an award-winning historian, author, broadcaster, podcaster and public commentator who has worked in politics, academia and the media. Clare is currently Professor of History and Professor of Public Engagement at La Trobe University. She is the author of four works of hi... Read more
‘I’m not your mother, I’m not your bitch.’ Since her debut album Sometimes I Sit And Think, And Sometimes I Just Sit, Courtney Barnett has been celebrated as one of the most distinctive and compelling voices in rock, an artist who mixes insightful observations with devastating self-assessme... Read more
‘Sometimes, there can be a slightly condescending assumption that anything unlikable about a female character is a mistake, as if they’re a contestant in a beauty pageant and have to seem charming and upbeat all the time.’ Curtis Sittenfeld is the bestselling author of five novels – ... Read more
Fatima Bhutto was born in Kabul, Afghanistan and grew up between Syria and Pakistan. She is the author of several books, both fiction and nonfiction. Her debut novel, The Shadow of the Crescent Moon, was long listed for the Bailey’s Women’s Prize for Fiction and the memoir about her father’s... Read more
‘Let me remind any women of any generation still worried by the tag … feminism is about equality, political equality, economic equality, cultural equality, personal equality, social equality. That’s it, it’s as simple as that.’ Fran Kelly is one of Australia’s leading politic... Read more
Helen Garner writes novels, stories, screenplays and works of non-fiction. In 2006 she received the inaugural Melbourne Prize for Literature, and in 2016 she won the prestigious Windham–Campbell Prize for non-fiction. In 2019 she was honoured with the Australia Council Award for Lifetime Achievem... Read more
‘Identifying myself as a feminist writer is still important and still a political stance, but I need to be constantly aware of the implications, power relations, and more importantly, the responsibility that comes with it.’ Intan Paramaditha is a fiction writer and an academic. She holds a PhD ... Read more
Jamila Rizvi is a diversity, equity and inclusion expert, best-selling author, and sought-after public speaker. She is Deputy Managing Director of Future Women, an organisation that helps women who face barriers to employment return to work and advises employers on gender equality. Jamila is an aut... Read more
Maria Tumarkin writes books, essays, reviews, and pieces for performance and radio; she collaborates with sound and visual artists and has had her work carved into dockside tiles. She is the author of four books of ideas. Her fourth (and latest) book Axiomatic won the 2018 Melbourne Prize for Lit... Read more
‘I see an unashamedly feminist country where the patriarchy is dismantled, where access to abortion is unambiguously legal, where the safety of women is of the utmost importance and violence against women is confronted as the crisis that it is.’ Mehreen Faruqi is the Greens’ Senator for New S... Read more
Michelle Law is a writer and actor working across print, theatre and screen. Her work includes the play Single Asian Female and the SBS show Homecoming Queens, which she co-created, co-wrote and starred in. Her latest play, Miss Peony, will be staged at Belvoir St Theatre. ... Read more
Nayuka Gorrie is a Gunnai/Kurnai, Gunditjmara, Wiradjuri and Yorta Yorta essayist and screenwriter.
‘We can’t get away from the fact that women with disabilities are vulnerable. Society is slowly changing, but as much as people hate hearing it women are already on the back foot and then you add a disability … we’re so much further behind.’ Nicole Lee is a family violence survivor an... Read more
Patricia Cornelius is a founding member of Melbourne Workers Theatre. She’s a playwright, novelist and film writer. She’s the recipient of the Windham-Campbell Literature Prize and the 2019 Green Room award for Life Achievement. She’s been awarded the Victorian, NSW and Queensland PremiersR... Read more
‘As we commit to each other to build this movement of resistance and liberation, no one can be an afterthought.’ Raquel Willis is a Black queer transgender activist, writer and speaker dedicated to inspiring and elevating marginalized individuals, particularly transgender women of color. She is... Read more
‘That the voices of Women of Colour are getting louder and more influential is a testament less to the accommodations made by the dominant white culture and more to their own grit in a society that implicitly – and sometimes explicitly – wants them to fail.’ Ruby Hamad is an author and PhD ... Read more
Sarah Krasnostein is a multi-award winning writer. She is the best-selling author of The Trauma Cleaner, The Believer , the Quarterly Essay, Not Waving, Drowning and On Peter Carey. She holds a PhD in criminal law and is admitted to legal practice in Australia and America. Her awards includ... Read more
‘The very reason I write is so that I might not sleepwalk through my entire life.’ With five novels – White Teeth, The Autograph Man, On Beauty, NW and Swing Time – and two collections of essays – Changing My Mind and Feel Free – Zadie Smith has attracted countless awards, critical accl... Read more
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