Salon After D’Arc: Letters and Diaries

What secrets lie hidden in a letter or diary? These personal writings champion the raw and unfiltered, giving voice to the deepest thoughts and emotions as we try to make sense of the world.

Join us for Salon After D’Arc: Letters and Diaries with Jacinta Parsons, as we glimpse the private lives and minds of creatives. Hear everything from hilarious anecdotes to deeply moving confessions as storytellers Ra Chapman, Julie Peters, Elyssia Wilson-Heti and Victorian Indigenous Elder in Residence Maxine Briggs revisit the moments that inspired, transformed and stirred them.

Throughout the evening, our guest storytellers will reveal the formative letters and diary entries of their lives, whether these words flowed from their own mind or from those who inspire them.

There will also be an opportunity to get up close and personal with rare Library collection items from the women-writers-fund,">span>, including a first edition of Virginia Woolf’s A Writer's Diary, and letters and diaries of Mirka Mora and Vali Myers.

Doors will open from 6.30pm. Cheese boxes are available for pre-purchase with a ticket (not available for purchase on the night).

Book your tickets now.

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About Salon After D'Arc

Salon After D'Arc celebrates two strong female forces and is proudly funded by the Helen Macpherson Smith Trust. Named after the legendary heroine Jeanne D'Arc, whose statue has been anchored on the Library's forecourt since 1906, and honouring the legacy of philanthropist Helen Macpherson Smith, the series celebrates boldness, innovation and the courage to live according to your own values.

Salon After D’Arc welcomes the next chapter of Library supporters from the professional, creative, education and public sectors into conversation with today’s artists and thought leaders.

About Ra Chapman

Ra is a Korean-Australian writer and actor whose work spans across film, television, and theatre. She is an adoptee and works closely with intercountry adoptees and diverse artists. Ra was featured on IF’s 2024 Rising Talent list, is an alumnus of the Besen Writers Group (Malthouse Theatre) and was awarded the 2018 Hot Desk Fellowship (Wheeler Centre). Her play, K-Box, won the 2021 Patrick White Playwright Award and debuted at Malthouse Theatre in 2022. Ra created and starred in TV comedy series White Fever, which is currently streaming on ABC iview, and she also recently wrote and acted in horror series Night Bloomers for SBS, for which she received an AWGIE nomination.

About Julie Peters

Throughout her early life, everyone insisted Julie Peters was male. Julie was convinced she would be much happier if the world saw her as female, but when she affirmed her gender in 1990, she soon discovered others were not happy. Now in her 70s, Julie Peters is still naïve enough to believe the world can be a better place.

Julie has worked as a doctoral researcher, teacher, sessional academic, cabaret performer, writer, Australian Democrats parliamentary candidate, practical environmentalist and media professional as one of the ABC’s longest serving employees, with a focus on demythologising and promoting social justice for trans and gender diverse individuals. She has created a personal archive of trans and queer related material which was the feature of an ABC program The Accidental Archivist and is the author of A Feminist Post-transsexual Autoethnography.

About Elyssia Wilson-Heti

Elyssia Wilson-Heti is an independent producer, arts manager, interdisciplinary artist, advocate, community leader and one of the founding members of Arts Laureate recipients and critically acclaimed Pasifika queer arts collective FAFSWAG. She is of mixed Niuean and European heritage. She has been a practicing producer and artist for over a decade.

She has a dynamic portfolio of work to show for her contribution to both the local and international arts ecosystem. Elyssia has excelled at strategic advisory, cultural advisory, planning and advocacy working in collaboration with a variety of stakeholders including local and central government in New-Zealand. She has been dedicated to community development for the duration of her career and has mentored many emerging practitioners.

About Jacinta Parsons

Jacinta Parsons is a broadcaster, writer and public speaker who currently hosts programs on ABC Local Radio Melbourne. She released her debut memoir, Unseen: The Secret Life of Chronic Illness in 2020 and in 2022 released her second book A Question of Age: Women, Ageing and the Forever Self.