Four writers sit down together over coffee to talk trauma, tactlessness and the therapeutic power of writing to the person who hurt us the most. To send or not to send that is the question!
DATE: Wednesday 13th September
TIME: 9.30am BST - Find your timezone HERE
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: Come with your tears and tissues. And maybe a pen.
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Please note: Whilst the panellists will be recorded, your camera and audio will be turned off. If you are unable to attend the webinar live, you DO NOT need to register to watch the replay on the website.
PANELLISTS
Jessica Hepburn - UK
Jessica Hepburn is a London-based author, arts producer and adventure activist – and a World Childless Week Ambassador.
Over the last decade she has written a trilogy of books about her journey through 11 rounds of unsuccessful IVF and subsequent childlessness – The Pursuit of Motherhood (2014); 21 Miles (2018);
and Save Me From The Waves (which will be published by Quarto Books in March 2024) and is now on pre-sale.
Her first two books are currently being adapted for the screen by Erebus Pictures in association with the British Film Institute.
Jessica is the former Executive Director of the Lyric Theatre Hammersmith and the Founder of Fertility Fest – the world’s first arts festival dedicated to the science of making (and not making) babies.
In 2022 she became the first woman in the world to complete the ‘Sea, Street, Summit Challenge’ – which is to swim the English Channel, run the London Marathon and climb Mount Everest.
Robert Nurden - UK
Robert Nurden, 72, is an author and journalist, whose latest book, I Always Wanted To Be A Dad: Men Without Children, was published in August 2023 and will be launched at Storyhouse Childless in September.
It describes the experience of one’s man’s journey through the pain, regret and ultimate acceptance of
a life that is childless not by choice. Alongside Robert’s words are the testimonies of other childless men, most of them members of the Facebook group, The Childless Men’s Community.
Robert was a feature writer and sub-editor for the Guardian, Independent and Daily Telegraph, as well as many other national newspapers and magazines. He published his first book, Between Heaven and Earth: A Journey with My Grandfather, in 2021.
He teaches English and Journalism, lives in east London and finds himself frequently wondering when Tottenham Hotspur are going to get their hands on a trophy.
Tara Lal - Australia
Tara Lal is an award-winning fire fighter, mental health researcher, speaker and author. She is also childless.
Born in the UK she has lived and worked in Australia for nearly 30 years as a full time fire-fighter with
Fire & Rescue NSW in Sydney. She was recently awarded the Australian Fire Service Medal in the Australia Day Honours and was a finalist in the Rotary Inspirational Woman of the Year Award.
Tara’s first book Standing on My Brothers Shoulders was published in 2015. It explored the impact of a series of traumatic events that shaped her childhood including her brother’s suicide and has gone on to be published in multiple territories and languages.
She is currently completing a Phd exploring the impact of suicide. She is also a successful athlete and became a competitive surf boat rower winning multiple titles at National level.
In 2021 she also cycled 5000 kms across Australia racing thousands of dollars for the Australian charity Lifeline.
Chris North - UK
Chris North is a seventy seven year old intersex person. He’s an author, independent scholar, creative arts facilitator and storyteller.
His own powerful personal experiences provide much needed ‘Lived historical intersex testimony’. Born in 1946 doctors told his parents his ‘condition’ must remain a secret. Until five years ago secrecy remained a
significant thread throughout his life. In childhood, none of the four surgeries were ever explained, including major surgery at thirteen.
As an adolescent, drama became very important to him and he began teaching in 1968. The creative aspects of his life became a central thread. In 1993 following time in hospital he re-trained in social work, becoming a social worker in child health.
His own pathway has informed and influenced his life. He works hard for other minorities and those marginalised by society. His infertility is one of his bereavements but he believes his teaching, social work and creative arts have given him a larger but different family.
What is intersex? Intersex people have physical sex characteristics which don’t conform to the typical medical and social norms of binary male and female bodies, including chromosomes, genitals, gonads, hormones and other reproductive anatomy.
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