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What’s on for International Women’s Day

Two women doing crafts together
24 March 2021

To celebrate International Women’s Day on Monday 8 March, the Library put together an inspiring and thought-provoking program of events recognising the achievements of women from the past to the present.

Explore the range of talks, showcases, videos and blogs below which embrace this year's theme to #ChooseToChallenge.

The future of … 

In a special International Women's Day episode, host Santilla Chingaipe is joined by data activist, gender advocate and researcher Zoë Condliffe for a conversation about the future of women's safety.

Zoë is the Founder and CEO of She’s a Crowd, a social enterprise committed to addressing and counteracting gender-based violence by looking at data from a feminist perspective. 

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Afternoon Tea & Talk

Watch as host Astrid Edwards and writer and critic Kylie Maslen discuss invisible illness in women.

Kylie’s debut essay collection Show me where it hurts: living with invisible illness is shortlisted for the Victorian Premier’s Literary Awards, and was named among the best books of 2020 by Guardian Australia and The Saturday Paper.

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Inventors & Innovators

Hear from a stellar line-up of female business founders who are shaking up our major industries with cutting edge ideas and innovative solutions.

On the panel is Kirsty Chong of Modibodi, Rona Glynn-McDonald of Common Ground and Jessica Christiansen-Franks of Neighbourlytics. The session is moderated by Shamila Gopalan of HerWit.

Watch now

Still kicking: a century of women in football

Celebrate the trail blazing women football players of the past and present by watching a live-streamed premiere screening of The Lucas Girls: A match to remember.

The viewing is followed by a panel discussion with the film's directors Belinda Ensor and Joel Checkley, writer and audio producer Kirby Fenwick, and AFLW player Akec Makur Chuot. The session is moderated by Rana Hussain.

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Publisher Showcase (30 March)

The first episode of our new look Publisher Showcase will focus on Women’s Fiction, taking a peek at preview book titles and new releases for the year ahead.

The discussion will include Text Publishing House, Spinifex Press, Ultimo Press, Allen & Unwin, Simon & Schuster and Mills and Boon. Author Emily Spurr will participate in an audience Q&A and the event will be hosted by Angie Hart.

Book now

More to explore

  • Read Senior Librarian Kate Monypenny’s blog post about the Library’s historic Ladies’ reading room
  • Watch our recent Ask a Librarian video ‘Dedicated to the ladies’
  • Meet the panel of our Inventors and Innovators female founders event on the StartSpace blog
  • Read a blog post about the 'ordinary great woman' Anna Vroland