Writers on Campus: Writing Past Lives

Many of the stories we love to read (and write) are those that help us understand the lives of people in the past, and to reflect on the present.

But writing about real historical figures – whether they lived thirty years ago or three hundred – brings with it a range of challenges, risks and joys. It’s particularly true of the lives of women that may not have been as well-documented or researched as those of the men in their world.

This month’s Writers on Campus conversation features La Trobe authors of fiction and nonfiction, to talk about the processes, opportunities and discoveries involved in writing about women who achieved extraordinary things in their lives, but whose stories had to be investigated and reimagined or re-examined be told for a modern audience.

Author and creative writing lecturer Dr Catherine Padmore talks with two of La Trobe’s researchers and writers, novelist Dr Christine Balint, and literary scholar Dr Claire Knowles, about the incredible women’s lives they have researched and written.

Dr Christine Balint’s new book, A Single Witness, (based on a trial record from the Venetian archives), will be available for sale on the day.