national library

It's impossible to overstate how completely blanketed by propaganda distortion the Ukraine war is. US spooks saying they're leaking disinfo to the press, Ukrainian war propaganda, the blackout on Ukrainian losses, the uncritical media acceptance of allegations against Russia, etc. This war is a propaganda campaign wrapped in a psyop.

Reading by Tim Foley

A Propaganda Campaign Wrapped In A Psyop

Hear Margaret Manion and Erika Persak discuss the stunning 16th Century Netherlandish illuminated manuscript, The Rothschild Prayer Book, recently acquired for the Kerry Stokes Collection.

The Rothschild Prayer Book

Chet Van Duzer reveals secrets uncovered by multispectral imaging of the Henricus Martellus World Map, thought to be one of the most important of the 15th century. Dr Martin Woods, Curator of Maps at the National Library and Denyl Cloughley, Manager of Preservation Services, lift the veil on the history and ongoing challenges of preserving the Blaeu wall map of New Holland.

The Secret of Early Maps

To mark the 400th anniversary of the Hartog voyage, Maps Curator Martin Woods and author Allen Mawer revisit the experiences of the Hartog expedition, and the events that followed.

Dirk Hartog 1616-2016

Award-winning author Bruce Pascoe delivers a call to care for our earth through agriculture. As detailed in his book Dark Emu, he provides compelling evidence from the diaries of early explorers which suggests that systems of food production and land management have been blatantly understated in modern retellings of early Aboriginal history, and that a new look at Australia’s past is required.

Bruce Pascoe is Bunurong/Tasmanian Yuin man and an award winning author and story teller. His book Dark Emu: Black Seeds: Agriculture or Accident, a history of Aboriginal agriculture, was published by Magabala in 2014 and won both the Book of Year and the Indigenous Writers Prize (joint winner) in the 2016 NSW Premier’s Literary Awards. In 2018 Dark Emu was transformed into compelling contemporary dance performance by Bangarra Dance Theatre, touring nationally. Other books include Night Animals, Shark, Ocean, Bloke, Cape Otway, Convincing Ground, Little Red Yellow and Black Book. Bloke, Chainsaw File, Fog a Dox, and most recently Mrs Whitlam. In 2018 Bruce Pascoe was awarded the Lifetime Achievement in Literature Award by the Australia Council. 

ERIC ROLLS MEMORIAL LECTURE
Eric Rolls was a poet, historian, environmentalist, farmer philosopher and prolific author, including a two-volume history of Chinese immigration, and his classic work A Million Wild Acres, a history of the conquest and destruction of Australia’s wilderness. Eric has been described as 'the finest historian of our natural landscape, who writes books about rabbits, forests, dingoes and turtles, yet can’t stand greenies.' He died in 2007. The Library holds the personal papers of Eric Rolls, as well as oral history recordings, photographs and publications.

The Eric Rolls Lecture was established in 2010 as a bi-annual lecture, organised by the Watermark Literary Society and funded by Elaine van Kempen, the widow of Eric Rolls and executor of his estate. The lecture aims to continue the work of Eric Rolls, highlighting the work of Australia’s environmental scientists and writers.

Image: Bruce Pascoe. Photo courtesy Linsey Rendell.

2018 Eric Rolls Memorial Lecture with Bruce Pascoe: Mother Earth

Victor Briggs will takes us on a navigational journey via the stars, sharing the essence of the connections with both land and sea people. 

Image: John Cleveley (c.1745-1786), Discovery and Resolution at an Island in the Pacific, 1777, 1780's, nla.cat-vn321742

Indigenous Seafarers with Victor Briggs

Readings of all Caitlin Johnstone's articles, usually by her co-writer Tim Foley.