Join author and journalist Santilla Chingaipe, author of Black Convicts: How slavery shaped colonised Australia, in an insightful conversation exploring race, identity and belonging in modern Australia.

Through history, personal stories and hard truths, Chingaipe offers a powerful, urgent perspective on reconciliation, community and what Harmony Week really means today. Light lunch provided.

Discover the range of events for 2026 Brimbank Writers & Readers Festival events online at brimbanklibraries.vic.gov.au

The 2026 Brimbank Writers & Readers Festival is proudly supported by Brimbank City Council, Victoria University, Creative Brimbank and Vision Australia Radio.

https://events.brimbank.vic.gov.au/bwrf-harmony-week-talk-santilla-chingaipe-in-conversation/

She Carried On: Women’s Power, Erasure, and Legacy in Victoria’s History brings together Dr Scarlette Nhi Do, Professor Zoë Laidlaw and PhD candidate Kacey Sinclair for a timely conversation about women’s influence in shaping Victoria’s past. From Lady Gladys Nicholls’ overlooked Indian-Australian heritage and activism, to Janet Biddlecombe’s pastoral wealth and philanthropic power rooted in colonial dispossession, to Fanny Finch’s resistance as a woman of colour in gold-rush Victoria, this event interrogates how women’s labour, leadership and legacies are remembered. Together, these historians ask: whose histories endure, whose are erased and how should we reckon with them today?

Hosted by Santilla Chingaipe

Doors open at 5:30pm with drinks and light refreshments. The talk starts at 6pm. Join us online or at the Victorian Archives Centre.

This event is part of Public Record Office Victoria's Cabinet-in-Confidence campaign, celebrating the first ever opening of closed Victorian cabinet papers. They include records from 1990-1992, when Victoria saw its first female Premier, Joan Kirner.

https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/she-carried-on-womens-power-erasure-and-legacy-in-victorias-history-tickets-1981811535652

A project 45-plus years in the making, Newcastle Art Gallery’s limited-edition publication celebrates iconic works, audience favourites, and unexpected gems. Inviting perspectives from interdisciplinary writers, Iconic Loved Unexpected provides a refreshed exploration of one of the nation’s most significant collections. Hear from key contributors Santilla Chingaipe, Jazz Money and Ana Tiquia.

https://www.newcastlewritersfestival.org.au/events/book-launch-iconic-loved-unexpected/