Manning Clark House Weekend of Ideas 2010

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Fair suck of the sauce bottle: a celebration of Australian language

• Saturday 20th and Sunday 21st March
  
  This year's Weekend of Ideas is structured in two parts:
  
  Day 1: Saturday, March 20, 9.30am-4.30pm at the National Museum of Australia is SOLD OUT
  
  

  9.30 Welcome - Louise Douglas, Assistant Director of the National Museum of Australia

  9.35 Introductory words - Sebastian Clark, President of Manning Clark House
  9.40 Welcome to country - Agnes Shea
  9.45 Opening remarks - Jon Stanhope, ACT Chief Minister
  9.55 Bendable Learnings: Don Watson looks at the triumph of modern management-speak and the way that those who favour the deliberately obscure and the falsely scientific are driving us all nuts.
  
  9.50 Morning tea – provided by the National Museum of Australia
  11.15 David Malouf talks to John Harms about his love of language.
  Noon The Language of Power and Persuasion: Julian Burnside talks reflects on the importance of words in his life: as a barrister, an activist, and a writer.
  
  12.45 Lunch
  1.45 Panel: Language and Identity.
  Jeanie Bell, Senior Lecturer Centre for Australia Languages and Linguistics Batchelor Institute for Indigenous Tertiary Education explains the importance of language to Indigenous identities.
  Bruce Moore is director of the Australian National Dictionary Centre at ANU.
  
  3.00 Afternoon tea
  3.20 Panel: Living Language
  Susan Butler, editor of the Macquarie Dictionary, and Roly Sussex, Professor of Applied Language Studies at the University of Queensland, discuss the idea that a living Australian language is all about change.
  4.30 Closing remarks – Sebastian Clark.

  
  
  Day 2: Sunday, March 21 at Manning Clark House 11am-3pm
  Entry is FREE
  There will be a small stage where there will be interviews, readings, contributions from audience members, panels, and a game or two.
  Speakers include:
  Jeanie Bell – on the language of Fraser Island, and blackfella English
  Susan Butler
  Anson Cameron – novelist, columnist
  Lawrie Zion – writer, film-maker, critic, academic
  Jack Waterford – on dictionaries in particular and words in general
  Julian Burnside
  Genevieve Jacobs
  
  As well as other guests talking about:
  Great Australian expressions
  Rhyming slang
  Words from your native tongue that just don’t translate
  Favourite words
  Family words
  Neologisms
  Euphemisms
  Tautologies
  Badly misused words and phrases
  The language of the schoolyard
  The language of sms-ing
  
  Food/drinks available
  
  Watch this page for updates.
  
  Call for Volunteers: Gabrielle Hyslop and Geoff McPherson have done a great job organising the event, and have put together a support team which will have the show going like clockwork.
  If you would like to help in any way please feel free to call John Harms at MCH on 62951808 or drop a note to: director@manningclark.org.au.

Manning Clark House Contact Details

For bookings and information on Manning Clark House events and activities contact Manning Clark House by

telephone: +61 (02) 6295 9433
fax: +61 (02) 6295 6029
email: info@manningclark.org.au
post: PO Box 3096, Manuka, ACT 2603, Australia

or please drop in to see us at the Manning Clark House 11 Tasmania Circle, Forrest in Canberra.