When Professor Lesley Head takes to the KMI stage at the Kyogle Literary Allsorts Festival on Saturday, May 16, the audience will have the opportunity to hear from one of Australia’s most thoughtful and influential voices on the increasingly complicated relationships between people and the natural world.
Her latest book Beyond Green: The Social Life of Australian Nature provides the inspiration for what promises to be a fascinating conversation with University of Newcastle environmental historian Dr Nancy Cushing.
In Beyond Green, Lesley challenges the familiar idea that nature exists separately from human life. Instead, she explores how Australian landscapes are shaped by culture, history, politics, and everyday practices.
From suburban backyards and farming landscapes to national parks and Indigenous-managed lands, her session will reveal the many ways Australians actively create and reshape the environments around them.
Lesley argues that environmental challenges are not simply scientific or technical problems.
They are also deeply social questions – about how communities value land, how people imagine sustainability, and how different knowledge systems, including Indigenous knowledge, can guide more thoughtful relationships with Country.
Her appearance at Kyogle’s Literary Allsorts offers a rare chance to hear these ideas discussed in person.
It is Lesley’s firm belief that we have the nous, the resources and the lessons from Indigenous, settle-descendant and immigration cultures to shape the future with optimism and hope.
For anyone interested in Australia’s landscapes, environmental futures, or the ways culture shapes our understanding of nature, this session will be a highlight of the festival.
Buy a festival ticket here. It is $40 for a festival pass or individual event tickets can be purchased at the door on the day.
IndyNR.com is a media partner with Kyogle Readers and Writers Festival.