Unfortunately, we don’t have Anna writing our newsletter this week. Many of you have written to say how much you enjoy her reflections, and we hope to publish them all on a blog soon. In the meantime, if you’d like to access any of the past newsletters, we’ve put them all in one easily accessible place.

For a summary of our recent and upcoming activities, read on!

Recent Event

At the Indooroopilly Library last Wednesday evening (March 27), Dr Simon Kennedy, who is a Senior Research Fellow at UQ, non-Resident Fellow at the Danube Institute in Budapest, and the Managing Editor at Quadrant, gave a talk entitled ‘Family Politics’. In a very engaging talk, he examined how political thinkers have understood the relationship between politics and the household through the centuries. In doing so, he sought to address the question of why the family – which is both politically pivotal and politically vulnerable – matters for politics today. As usual, the lively conversation it generated continued downstairs at the Pig ‘n’ Whistle.

Future Events

Autumn School in Albury, NSW

As many of you already know, on April 19 and 20, we are running a TMC Autumn School in Albury. Entitled ‘Truth and Beauty of the Human Person and Vocations’, it will explore, as Anna has put it, “what we might call the theological and philosophical anthropology that lies at the heart, implicitly or explicitly, of any society or culture”. It is a catered event aimed at those aged 18 and above, and speakers will include Fr Peter Murphy, Fr Sean Byrnes, Fr Bradley Rafter, Anthony Gordon, Anna Krohn & Stina Constantine. You can book your place here. Early bird pricing ($130) ends this Sunday, April 7, after which a ticket costs $150.

Jane Austen talk in Brisbane, QLD

On Wednesday, April 24, Gary Furnell will be returning to Brisbane to give his second TMC Talk. It will be on Jane Austen and her views on courtship and children. As usual, we meet at Indooroopilly Library at 6pm for a 6:30pm start (please note that the library closes at 6pm, so entry to the meeting room will be via the back entrance, near the ‘after hours’ returns slots).

Three YouTube interviews, online

Mark is in the process of recording some more interviews for our YouTube channel. Upcoming guests include:

1. Tim Kirk - The Spirituality of Wine. Tim is the Chief Winemaker and CEO at Clonakilla Wines, located in Murrumbateman, just north of Canberra. A winemaker for almost 28 years, he was the Gourmet Traveller Winemaker of the Year in 2013. Tim holds a bachelor's degree in Theology and is a member of the Disciples of Jesus community. He is married to Lara, with whom he has five children.

2. Professor Robert Alter – The Literary Art of the Bible. Robert is a Professor in the Graduate School and Emeritus Professor of Hebrew and Comparative Literature at the University of California at Berkeley, where he has taught since 1967. He is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and a past president of the Association of Literary Scholars and Critics. He has written extensively on literary aspects of the Bible and his twenty-four published books include two prize-winning volumes on biblical narrative and poetry, as well as award-winning translations of Genesis and of the Five Books of Moses.

3. Dr Brian Coman – The Myth of Progress as a Permanent Condition. Brian is a former research biologist who worked for the Department of Natural Resources and Environment in Victoria. In his retirement, he returned to the academy to pursue a long-held interest in the humanities. Besides writing scientific papers, book chapters, and articles for Quadrant and News Weekly, he has published several books, among which are Tooth and Nail – a history of the rabbit in Australia, as well as Against the Spirit of the Age, in which he tackles the idea that progress is a permanent condition of the modern West. Brian’s many interests include literature, philosophy, bird-watching, boat-building and book-binding.

We hope to be publishing these and other interviews on a weekly, sometimes fortnightly, basis. If you’d like to keep up, please subscribe to our channel, while liking and sharing helps to get the word out!

Until next week,

The Thomas More Centre team