The topic is Girls (no, not the TV show, though it might crop up) and I’ve assembled a kick-arse panel to talk us through some of the big issues swirling around being a girl, raising girl feminists, how we view girlhood, and what being a girl means in different parts of the world. We even have a guest flying in from interstate and I couldn’t be more thrilled about her first appearance on the CLF stage:
- Emily Maguire: commentator, novelist, youth educator, feminist and author of Princesses and Pornstars, Your Skirt’s Too Short and Fishing for Tigers, as well as many other novels, essays and features.
- Amy Gray: columnist, mother, advocate, feminist and activist who has spoken out on shaming survivors of sexual abuse and the importance of feminist education for girls (including her daughter, Aurora, 8).
- Anna Barnes: author, researcher, playwright, feminist and author of Girl! The Ultimate Guide to Being You, Penguin’s new book of feminism and culture for modern girls, partly written while volunteering with feminist political activists in Cambodia earlier this year.
- Lyrian Fleming: educator, blogger, activist and feminist who was worked around the world to improve the lives of women and girls through AYAD and now CARE Australia, a secular, non-political international humanitarian aid organisation.
There were so many more panelists I wanted to invite! But please feel secure in the knowledge that we’ll be expertly guided through some thorny issues and robust opinion by these four incredible women.