“A dazzling collection of essays that unpacks our unruly bodies and minds and questions why we are taught to fear and punish them, from an exciting and award-winning new author.”
As part of Sydney Road Street Party 2024, join us for a conversation with Naarm/Melbourne-based writer, artist and photographer Sarah Walker to talk about her award-winning book, The First Time I Thought I Was Dying.
We live in a world that expects us to be constantly in control of ourselves. Our bodies and minds, though, have other ideas. In this striking debut, artist and writer Sarah Walker wrestles with the awkward spaces where anatomy meets society: body image and Photoshop, phobias and religion, sex scenes and onstage violence, death and grief. Her luminous writing is at once specific and universal as she mines the limits of anxiety, intimacy and control. Sharp-witted and poignant, this collection of essays explores our unruly bodies and asks how we might learn to embrace our own chaos.
—Overview, The First Time I Thought I Was Dying UQP
Bio
Sarah Walker is a Naarm/Melbourne-based writer, artist and photographer who makes work about anxiety, control and intimacy. Her first book, The First Time I Thought I Was Dying, a collection of non-fiction essays about the unruly body in late capitalism, won the 2021 Quentin Bryce Award. Her writing has been published widely and recognised in awards in Australia and internationally. Her art practice encompasses immersive binaural sound works, video and text-based installation, and collaborations across live art, participatory performance and theatre. She is a current PhD candidate at RMIT University.
Publisher: UQP 2021 © Sarah Walker
Note:—
—1) We stock limited copies of the book in-store. Head to our online shop to pre-purchase your copy and collect it on the day.
—2) Please select a ticket with a drink if you would like a refreshment.
—3) Our Writers In Conversation events are $10. These funds help us to subsidise our next writer-in-conversation event. We thank you for your support. We offer limited free tickets for those in need.
Acknowledgements & Credits
We respectfully acknowledge the Sovereign Custodians of the land and waters upon which we live and work, the Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung peoples of the Kulin Nation. We pay our respect to their Elders past, present and emerging. We extend this respect to all First Peoples.