The guest speaker will be Dr Sarah Luke who specialises in Australian institutional histories and is currently Honorary Postdoctoral Associate Macquarie University.
Dr Sarah Luke will speak on her creative non-fiction novel, “Marion and the Forty Thieves” born out of her archival research into Sydney’s Nautical School Ships Vernon and Sobraon, which she published in 2020 as Like a Wicked Noah’s Ark (ASP). In this talk, Sarah will explore the history of this interesting boarding school, which educated and sheltered homeless and neglected boys in NSW between 1867 and 1911.
She will also discuss her approach to writing creative non-fiction for children, and how this offers opportunities to give voice to silenced figures from history.