When : Wednesday 30th of September
Time : 6.30-7.30 PM
Zoom Livestream Event Tickets : Reserve Your Spot
Details
This event will be streamed via Zoom
Join Kylie Maslen, Jacinta Parsons and Sam Twyford-Moore for an inspirational, moving and deeply insightful conversation that will change lives for the better. Invisible illnesses represent the experience of those who have too long been ignored, gaslighted or diminished by medical professionals and the wider community. An eye-opening conversation not to be missed!
About the Books
Show Me Where it Hurts by Kylie Maslen is out 1 September.
Unseen by Jacinta Parsons is out 29 September.
The Rapids: Ways of Looking at Mania by Sam Twyford-Moore is out now.
About the Speakers
Kylie Maslen has been living with invisible illness for twenty years—more than half her life. Its impact is felt in every aspect of her day-to-day existence: from work to dating; from her fears for what the future holds to her difficulty getting out of bed some mornings.
Through pop music, art, literature, TV, film and online culture, Maslen explores the lived experience of invisible illness with sensitivity and wit, drawing back the veil on a reality many struggle—or refuse—to recognise. Show Me Where it Hurts is a powerful collection of essays that speak to those who have encountered the brush-off from doctors, faced endless tests and treatments, and endured chronic pain and suffering. But it is also a bridge reaching out to partners, families, friends, colleagues, doctors: all those who want to better understand what life looks like when you cannot simply show others where it hurts.
Kylie Maslen is a writer and critic. Her work has appeared in the Guardian, Meanjin, Kill Your Darlings, Adelaide Review, Crikey and Junkee, among other outlets. In 2018 she was the recipient of the Kill Your Darlings New Critics Award, and her essay ‘I’m Trying to Tell You I’m Not Okay’ was longlisted for the Lifted Brow & RMIT non/fictionLab Prize for Experimental Non-fiction. She lives in Adelaide on Kaurna Country.
Jacinta Parsons was in her twenties when she first began to feel unwell – the kind of unwell that didn’t go away. Doctors couldn’t explain why, and Jacinta wondered if it might be in her head. She could barely function, was frequently unable to eat or get out of bed for days, and gradually turned into a shadow of herself. Eventually she got a diagnosis: Crohn’s disease. But knowing this wouldn’t stop her life from spiralling into a big mess of doctors, hospitals and medical disasters. What is most extraordinary about Jacinta’s story is how common it is. Nearly half of Australians live with a chronic illness, but most of these conditions are not obvious, often endured in secrecy and little understood. They are unseen.
Jacinta Parsons is a broadcaster, radio maker, writer, and public speaker. She currently hosts Afternoons on ABC Melbourne delivering a popular mix of art, culture and ideas. Jacinta has lived with Crohn’s disease for over 20 years and is an ambassador for the Crohn’s and Colitis Association and speaks and writes about the impact of living with chronic illness. She is also an active member of the arts & music community and is a board member for Melbourne disability theatre company, Rollercoaster. Unseen is her first book.
Sam Twyford-Moore is a writer and the founding host of The Rereaders, a fortnightly literary and cultural podcast. From 2012 until 2015, he was the Festival Director and CEO of the Emerging Writers’ Festival, during which time he directed three Melbourne-based festivals, launched the Digital Writers’ Festival and toured the festival to Hobart, Sydney, Canberra, Adelaide and across Indonesia. As a writer he has contributed to the Monthly, the Los Angeles Review of Books, the Australian, Meanjin, the Guardian, the Lifted Brow and others. He is the author of The Rapids: Ways of Looking at Mania published in August 2018.