Sir Sidney Kidman Public Lecture, Big Australians: Courage and the Public Sphere

The University of Adelaide is pleased to invite you to the Sir Sidney Kidman Public Lecture: Big Australians: Courage and the Public Sphere. by Prof. Anne Pender.

The 2019 Sir Sidney Kidman Public Lecture examines the idea of courage as a defining feature in the life and work of three prominent Australians, focusing on the engagement with the public sphere that each of the individuals has achieved, and their development as artists over the course of their lives.

Professor Pender discusses the significance of the life and work of Geraldine Brooks, Pulitzer-prize winning journalist and author, the late John Clarke, much loved actor and writer, and Wesley Enoch, distinguished playwright and director.

Professor Anne Pender

The Kidman Chair in Australian Studies, University of Adelaide

Professor Anne Pender is a graduate of the Australian National University, Harvard University and the University of New South Wales and is a leading authority on Australian modern and contemporary literature and theatre, and an internationally recognised biographer.

She has significant professional standing in literary and theatre studies, biography, Australian cultural history, and in Australian Studies generally. Anne’s recent appointments include that of Professor, English and Theatre Studies, University of New England (2016-2019), Fulbright Senior Scholar at Harvard University, 2018, Australian Research Council Future Fellow (2012-16) at UNE, and Visiting Distinguished Professor of Australian Studies, University of Copenhagen (2011-2012).

Professor Pender has published on a wide range of topics in Australian Studies, including six books: Seven Big Australians: Adventures with Comic Actors (2019), Players: Australian Actors on Stage, Television and Film (2016), From a Distant Shore (2013, with Bruce Bennett), One Man Show: The Stages of Barry Humphries (2010), Nick Enright: An Actor's Playwright (2008, with Susan Lever), and Christina Stead: Satirist (2002). She has extensive experience in curriculum development for undergraduate and postgraduate courses in English, Theatre Studies and Australian Studies at four institutions: the Australian National University, the University of New England, King’s College London and the University of Copenhagen. Anne was a member of a team that won a national (ALTC) Award for Theatre teaching and she has also been awarded the UNE Vice-Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Research. Professor Pender has delivered invited addresses and public conversations at Harvard University, King’s College London, the University of Copenhagen, the University of Barcelona, the National Film and Sound Archive in Canberra, as well as the prestigious Keith Cameron Lecture in Australian Studies at University College Dublin.