Speaking Engagements

August 2019

Blue Mountains Writers’ Festival

• Sunday, August 25, Bridge Of Clay – Marcus Zusak in conversation with Roanna Gonsalves 4:30 to 5:30 pm.Venue:  The Grand Dining Room, Carrington Hotel, 15 – 47 Katoomba St, Katoomba. Book here.

Edinburgh International Book Festival

• Sunday, August 11, Let’s Talk About Memory and Forgetting. Laura Cumming and Roanna Gonsalves with Tom Pow, 10:15 to 11:15, The Spiegeltent, Edinburgh International Book Festival 2019. Book here: https://www.edbookfest.co.uk/the-festival/whats-on/laura-cumming-roanna-gonsalves-with-tom-pow
• Saturday, August 10, Masterclass: Rewilding the Short Story, 2:00 to 4:30 pm,  Kimpton Charlotte Square Hotel. Edinburgh International Book Festival 2019. Book here: https://www.edbookfest.co.uk/the-festival/whats-on/masterclass-rewilding-the-short-story
• Saturday, August 10, When Inequality Breeds Anger, Fatima Bhutto in conversation with Roanna Gonsalves. 10:15 to 11:15, The Spiegeltent, Edinburgh International Book Festival 2019. Book here: https://www.edbookfest.co.uk/the-festival/whats-on/fatima-bhutto-1-13316

July 2019

• Tuesday, July 16, The New Essay: Illness, Place and Reinvention, Fiona Wright and Jessica Friedmann in conversation with Roanna Gonsalves. 6:30 to 7:30 pm, IO Myers Studio, UNSW.

June 2019

• June 19, a reading, along with other contributors to The Lives of Others 78.2, a special edition of Southerly guest edited by UNSW’s George Kouvaros, at the UNSW Bookshop. Register here.

May 2019

Northern Territory Writers’ Festival, Alice Springs, 2019

• May 19, Rewilding the short story. Workshop with Roanna Gonsalves. 2:30 to 4:30, Gallery, Olive Pink Botanic Gardens, Northern Territory Writers’ Festival, Alice Springs. Book here
• May 19, Author talk, Alice Bishop and Roanna Gonsalves. Facilitator: Yash Srivastava. 11:30 am to 12:30 pm, Marquee, Olive Pink Botanic Gardens, Northern Territory Writers’ Festival, Alice Springs
• May 19, This book changed my life, with Morris Gleitzman, Roanna Gonsalves, Declan Furber-Gillick. Facilitator: Emma Sleath 9 am to 9:45 am, Marquee, Olive Pink Botanic Gardens, Northern Territory Writers’ Festival, Alice Springs. Book here.
• May 18, Campfire Stories, 6 pm to 9:30 pm, Olive Pink Botanic Gardens, Northern Territory Writers’ Festival, Alice Springs
• May 18, Restoring and re-storying the literary landscape, with Noëlle Janaczewska, Charmaine Papertalk Green, Roanna Gonsalves, Leni Shilton, Facilitator: Kate Rendell. 3:45 to 5 pm, Marquee, Olive Pink Botanic Gardens, Northern Territory Writers’ Festival, Alice Springs

Sydney Writers’ Festival

• Friday May 3, Know Your Place: The Politics of Identity, Sydney Writers’ Festival, Fatima Bhutto and Elaine Castillo in conversation with Roanna Gonsalves. 11:30 am to 12:30 pm, Carriageworks Bay 20.  Book tickets here.
• Friday May 3, Launch of Sweatshop Women, Sydney Writers’ Festival, 3 to 4 pm, Carriageworks, The Studio.

April 2019

• Sunday, Aril 28, 2019, Citizen Writes Project launch, 3 to 5 pm at 107 Projects Redfern. Free but bookings required. Book here.
• Wednesday, April 24, 2019, Them Heavy People: Brown Parents and Kids, by The Brown Council. SOLD OUT.

March 2019

• Thursday, March 28, Writing Contemporary Australia: Michelle de Kretser and Roanna Gonsalves in conversation with Suneeta Peres da Costa, UNSWriting, IO Myers Studio, UNSW, Sydney.  Book here: https://sam.arts.unsw.edu.au/events/Writing-Contemporary-Australia/

• Thursday, March 21, Keynote speaker, Between the Covers, Emerging Writers’ Festival + Macquarie University, Dixon Room, State Library of New South Wales, Sydney. Book here: http://www.emergingwritersfestival.org.au/event/between-the-covers/http://www.emergingwritersfestival.org.au/event/between-the-covers/

• Friday, March 8, Special Guest Speaker at Senator Mehreen Faruqi’s International Women’s Day Breakfast 2019, The Tea Room, Queen Victoria Building, Sydney.

February 2019

• Wednesday, Feb 13, Keynote speaker, Literary Luncheon, Society of Women Writers NSW, State Library of NSW.

November 2018

Wollongong Writers’ Festival

• Saturday Nov 24, What Feeds You: Certainly Not Fiction. Writers across the world live what the French sociologist calls a “double life”, with one foot in the world of their creative practice, and the other foot in the world of day jobs in order to feed themselves and their families. This often leads to a precarious existence both economically and creatively.  Join Jackie Bailey, Yen Yang, and Roanna Gonsalves as they dream up alternative ways to sustain a writing practice in Australia today. Wollongong Writers’ Festival. Book here: https://www.wollongongwritersfestival.com/event/what-feeds-you-certainly-not-fiction/?instance_id=57

October 2018

Bangalore Literature Festival

Program: http://bangaloreliteraturefestival.org/about/

Australian Short Story Festival

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• Friday, Oct 5, Voice, Agency and Integrity, the launch of the report on the outcomes of Diversity Arts Australia’s Beyond Tick Boxes symposium, Riverside Theatre, Parramatta.
• Wednesday, Oct 3, Rewriting the Nation: Minority women authors make history. Roanna Gonsalves, Paula Abood and Maryam Azam in a conversation facilitated by historian and ABC journalist Kate Evans (The Bookshelf). Book here: https://sam.arts.unsw.edu.au/events/roanna-gonsalves/?mc_cid=f92d670c3c&mc_eid=%5bUNIQID%5d
• Tuesday Oct 2, Chair/ moderator of the UNSW Gandhi Dialogue, Tyree Room, The Scientia, UNSW.

August 2018

• Saturday August 18, Finding George Jarvis. Historian Robin Walsh and author Roanna Gonsalves will explore different approaches to finding the elusive figure of George Jarvis, Governor Macquarie’s Indian manservant. Parramatta Lecture Series, Tales From The East, a public exhibition exploring the historical and contemporary links between India and New South Wales. UNE Parramatta Campus Lecture Theatre, Level 1, 232 Church Street, Parramatta.

Bookings: Old Government House 02 9635 8149, or online here: https://www.nationaltrust.org.au/event/tales-from-the-east/

June 2018

• Wednesday, June 27, 6:30 pm, Suneeta Peres da Costa & Roanna Gonsalves In-Conversation, Upstairs at Better Read Than Dead Bookshop, King Street, Newtown, Sydney.

Emerging Writers’ Festival

• Sunday, June 24, 4:30 to 5 pm Keynote: Literary Selfies National Writers’ Conference, Emerging Writers’ Festival, State Library of Victoria Conference Centre, Melbourne.
• Saturday, June 23, 3:45 to 4:30 pm The Writing Life, Tony Birch and Roanna Gonsalves discuss where the writer sits within our national and cultural landscape, and why literature matters. National Writers’ Conference, Emerging Writers’ Festival, State Library of Victoria Conference Centre, Melbourne.

• Thursday, June 21, 6pm to 7:30 pm, Launch of Diverse Screens Parramatta, Roanna Gonsalves in conversation with Rashmi Ravindran, Gary Paramanathan and Vonne Patiag who launch their short films exploring themes of cultural diversity in the creative sector. Through documentary, these Parramatta filmmakers tackle themes of inclusion, exclusion and cultural diversity in the arts and screen sectors.Diversity Arts Australia, Information & Cultural Exchange, 8 Victoria Road, Parramatta, NSW 2150. Free but Registrations essential. Book Here: https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/launch-of-diverse-screens-parramatta-tickets-46492881460

May 2018

• Saturday, May 26, Guest speaker at G.O.A. NSW 41st Anniversary function, Club Marconi, Bossley Park, Sydney.

Sydney Writers’ Festival

• Sunday, May 6, in conversation with Jennifer Down, Glen Street Theatre
• Thursday, May 3, 1:30 – 2:30 pm, And the Award Goes To, Be the first to hear from some of the just-announced winners of the 2018 New South Wales Premier’s Literary Awards, including Kim Scott, Bram Pesser and Roanna Gonsalves in conversation with senior judge Suzanne Leal. Carriageworks, Track 12. Sydney Writers’ Festival.
• Thursday, May 3, Facilitator of Family Ties panel, and Curiosity Lecture Series,  Sydney Writers’ Festival

April 2018

• Friday, April 27, play reading of The Queen’s English first draft new work by Roanna Gonsalves, as part of Nautanki Theatre’s Drama Sutra Project, which also includes new work by Kevin Bathman and Sonal Moore. 6:45 pm Rafferty’s Theatre, Riverside, Parramatta. BOOKED OUT.
• Monday April 16, guest facilitator at Sweatshop’s Diverse Women Writers’ Workshop, 6-8 pm, Room 01.6.21, Western Sydney University, Macquarie Street, Parramatta.
• Friday April 13, discussant at the launch of Australia’s New Migrants: International Students’ History of Affective Encounters With The Border, by Maria Elena Indelicato, 6-8 pm Western Sydney University, 169 Macquarie Street, Parramatta.

Newcastle Writers’ Festival

• Sunday April 8, ‘Politics of Identity’ with Mehreen Faruqi, Roanna Gonsalves and Amal Awad, hosted by Saba Vasefi with a special musical performance by Minerva Khodabande. 1:30 – 2:30 pm, Mulubinba Room, City Hall, Newcastle Writers’ Festival

March 2018

National Play Festival

• Thursday, March 22, ‘On Whiteness’ with Jada Alberts, Lee Lewis, John Romeril, facilitated by Roanna Gonsalves, Playwriting Australia’s National Play Festival 2018, 4:15 pm, at Darlinghurst Theatre Company, Eternity Playhouse, 39 Burton Street, Darlinghurst NSW 2010.

Parramasala

• Saturday March 10, ‘How South-Asians are Shaping the next great city’ – Nautanki Theatre Company’s Annual Panel Discussion, Parramasala 2018. With Azal Khan, Bali Padda, Ishani Das, Kersherka Sivakumaran, Osman Faruqi, facilitated by Roanna Gonsalves. 4:30 to 6 pm,  ICE (Information & Cultural Exchange) 8 Victoria Road, opp. Prince Alfred Park, Parramatta, NSW 2150 (Free, but registration essential via this link)

December 2017

• Tue Dec 5, ‘Writing gendered violence in The Permanent Resident’, at the Gendered Violence in the Global South workshop, UNSW, Sydney.
• Friday, Dec 1, 3-4:30 pm, ‘Race, Class, and Gender in the Creative Writing Workshop’, at the ‘Diversity in Workshops & Residencies’ panel, annual conference of the Australasian Association of Writing Programs, Room 1.1, Flinders University, Victoria Square campus, Adelaide. See full program here.

November 2017

• Wednesday, Nov 29, 6:30 pm, Reading at The Hearth Collective’s What Lost What Lingers, The Wheatsheaf Hotel, 39 George Street, Thebarton, Adelaide. See program here.

Australian Short Story Festival, Adelaide, South Australia

• Saturday, November 4, 11:50 to 12:40 pm,  Closure in short fiction: how do you walk that all-too-thin tightrope between tying things up and not tying the bow too tight? Join Roanna Gonsalves and Susan Midalia as they unwrap this most complex question. Moderator: Rachael Mead. Hawke Building H6.03, University of South Australia. See full program here.
• Sunday, November 5, 10:30 to 11:20 am, Join Roanna as she talks about The Permanent Resident. Moderator: Dr Steve Cramer. Hawke Building H6.03, University of South Australia. See full program here.

October 2017

Boundless: A Festival of Diverse Writers

• Saturday, October 28, 1 to 2 pm, What needs to be said: What fires you up? How do you write about difficult, uncomfortable issues? Sarah Ayoub, Helen Chebatte, and Roanna Gonsalves discuss these questions in relationship to their work and what people expect them to write about and deal with. Convened by Irini Savvides. Age range: 12-16. Presented by WestWords.

 India Illuminated, UNSW

• Thursday, October 26, 5.00pm – 7.30pm, India-Australia Relations: Where does the future lie? With Neville Roach, Monika Barthwal-Datta, Vinayak Dixit, Varun Grover, Lori Youmshajekian, and Roanna Gonsalves.

Asia Pacific Writers & Translators conference

See Full Program Here

• Sunday, October 22, 2:45 to 3:15 pm,  Keynote Address, ‘On Writing Through Cultures, Canons and Rushdiefication’, Theatre Room, Faculty of Languages and Arts, Ganesha University of Education, Bali, Indonesia.
• Sunday, October 22, 3:30 to 4:45 pm, On Craft: The Short Story, Voice and Point of View. Moderator: Julia Prendergast. Panellists: Roanna Gonsalves, Shinie Antony, Tim Tomlinson and Darryl Whetter. Seminar Room 2, Faculty of Languages and Arts, Ganesha University of Education, Bali, Indonesia.
• Sunday, October 22, 11 am to 12:30 pm, On Identity: Australia and the World. Moderator: Brentley Frazer. Panellists: Roanna Gonsalves, Marie Munkara, Osamah Sami and Eugenia Flynn. Seminar Room 2, Faculty of Languages and Arts, Ganesha University of Education, Bali, Indonesia.

Sydney International Women’s Poetry & Arts Festival

• Friday, October 20, Gender and Racism, Roanna Gonsalves in conversation with Hon. Linda Burney MP, Professor Catherine Lumby. New South Wales Parliament House. Book Here.

September 2017

At St Albans Writers Festival

• Saturday, September 9, 9 to 10 pm, Festival Campfire short story readings with Roanna Gonsalves and others
• Saturday, September 9, 5 to 6 pm, Snapshots of Life, with Roanna Gonsalves, Isabelle Li, and Fiona McFarlane

August 2017

Library talks in Sydney

• Monday, August 21, 10:30-12 noon, The Permanent Resident – Roanna Gonsalves Author talk, Liverpool City Library, NSW. Free event but bookings essential. Book here

At the Australia India Institute, University of Melbourne

• Friday, August 18, 2 pm to 3 pm, Selfie of a Country (South Asia Research Seminar)

  Upstairs Seminar Room, Australia India Institute, 147-149 Barry Street, Carlton VIC (Melbourne). This talk was livestreamed on Facebook.

  Click here or on the link below to watch the live-streamed video.

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At Mudgee Readers’ Festival

• Sunday, August 13, 11 am to 12 pm, Global Stories, with Roanna Gonsalves, Felicity Castagna, Ali Alizadeh, in conversation with Alice Grundy, Town Hall Theatre, Mudgee Readers’ Festival. Book here.
• Saturday, August 12, 7 to 10 pm, Rant!, with Luke Carman, Matthew Thompson, Summer Land, Ailsa Piper, Roanna Gonsalves, Mudgee Brewing Company,  Mudgee Readers’ Festival. Book here.
• Saturday, August 12, 1:30 to 2:30 pm, On Being A Modern Outsider, Roanna Gonsalves in conversation with Sharell Fellows, Town Hall Theatre, Mudgee Readers’ Festival. Book here.

At Byron Writers Festival

• Sunday, August 6, When Race and Class Collide, Anita Heiss and Alice Pung in conversation with Roanna Gonsalves, 2:45-3:45 pm, Banksia Room,  Byron Writers Festival.
• Sunday, August 6, Short Stories, Jennifer Down, Roanna Gonsalves, Kim Mahood, chaired by Zachary Jane, 1:15-2:15 pm, Belongil Room,  Byron Writers Festival.
• Saturday, August 5, 2017, Midnight’s Children: Contemporary Indian Literature, Kunal Basu, Roanna Gonsalves, Vayu Naidu, Venkat Shyam, chaired by Wendy Were, 1:15-2:15 pm, Greenstone Partners Marquee.  Byron Writers Festival
• Friday, August 4, Gond Art: Finding My Way Venkat Shyam in conversation with Roanna Gonsalves, 2:15-3 pm Belongil Room,  Byron Writers Festival.
• Friday, August 4, Making Art About Country, 11:15 am – 12:15 pm, Banksia Room, Kim Mahood, Venkat Shyam, Joshua Yeldham, Roanna Gonsalves, Byron Writers Festival.
• Thursday, August 3, 10 am – 4 pm all-day workshop: Rewilding the Short Story, Byron Community College room, Byron Writers Festival. Book Here

July 2017

At Maleny Celebration of Books

• Sunday, July 16, 2017, 10 am to 12 pm, Sunday Morning Talking Writing with Kate Evans, Michael Robotham, and Melissa Ashley, Maleny Community Centre Hall, Maleny Celebration of Books. Book Here.

May 2017

At Sydney Writers’ Festival

• Saturday, May 27, 2017, 9:30 AM – 4:30 PM, all-day workshop Rewilding your short story, at Science House, NYU Sydney, Sydney Writers’ Festival. Sold OUT.
• Friday, May 26, 2017, 4:30 PM – 5:30 PM, moderator of Writing Race, with Man Booker Prize winner Paul Beatty, Anuk Arudpragasam, Maxine Beneba Clarke, Ellen van Neerven, Roslyn Packer Theatre, Sydney Writers’ Festival.
• Friday, May 26, 2017, 1:30 PM – 2:30 PM: Human Baggage: The Hate Politics of Immigration, in conversation with Mona Chalabi, Samah Sabawi and Stephen Orlov, at Sydney Dance 1, Sydney Writers’ Festival.
• Thursday, May 25, 2017, 2:30 PM – 3:10 PM: On Literature As Selfie, Author Talk, Curiosity Stage at the Sydney Writers’ Festival

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• Saturday, May 20, 2017: The long and the short of short stories, SAFAL, Macquarie University.
• Sunday, May 7, 2017: In conversation with Zoya Patel about The Permanent Resident, Muse Canberra http://www.musecanberra.com.au/events/2017/5/7/the-permanent-resident-roanna-gonsalves

April 2017

• Sunday, April 9, 2017: Two Worlds, in conversation with Alice Pung and Deng Adut, hosted by Ruby Hamad, Newcastle Writers’ Festival. http://www.newcastlewritersfestival.org.au/session/two-worlds/
• Wednesday, April 5, 2017: Talking Writing: India, in conversation with Manisha Jolie Amin and Bem Le Hunte, facilitated by Zoya Patel, NSW Writers’ Centre http://www.nswwc.org.au/whats-on/talking-writing/talking-writing-india/

March 2017

• Thursday, March 16, 2017: Author Talk at Waverley Library, Waverley Library Theatrette, 48 Denison Street, 32-48 , Bondi Junction, NSW 2022 https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/author-talk-roanna-gonsalves-on-the-permanent-resident-tickets-31139381729

• Wednesday, March 15, Author talk at  NSW Writers’ Centre ‘Write To The End’ writing group.

• Saturday, March 11, 2017: Invited to launch Vatsalyam, a film about South Asian parenting in Australia,  screening as part of Cinema Thali, Parramasala http://www.parramasala.com

• Saturday, March 11, 2017: Panellist, Vatsalyam and South Asian parenting, Parramasala http://www.parramasala.com

• Saturday, March 11, 2017: Panellist, South Asian Diaspora: Perception and Reality, organised by Nautanki Theatre at Parramasala http://www.parramasala.com/events/south-asian-diaspora-perception-and-reality-panel-discussion

February 2017

• February 27, 2017: Rockdale Library Author Talk, Sydney https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/author-talk-roanna-gonsalves-tickets-31111806250

• February 12, 2017: Panellist, From the Margins to the Mainland in conversation with Tony Birch, Sudeep Chakravarti, & Benjamin Law, moderated by Jamila Rizvi,  Jaipur Literature Festival at Melbourne Writers’ Festival, Melbourne http://mwf.com.au/jlf-melbourne/

• February 12, 2017: Panellist,  JLF Reading Salon, Jaipur Literature Festival at Melbourne Writers’ Festival, Melbourne http://mwf.com.au/jlf-melbourne/

• February 4, 2017: Author talk, Women’s Empowerment in Indian Villages (WEIV), Northern NSW http://www.ard-india.org

December 2016

• December 17, In-conversation with Mridula Nath Chakraborty at Eltham Bookshop, supported by UWAP and SADIRN Monash Asia.
• December 8, Launch of The Permanent Resident, in conversation with Jerry Pinto, at the inauguration of the Goa Arts and Literature Festival, India. Launch speech published by Australian Women Writers’ Challenge here
• December 9-12, Panelist on Ways of Belonging: The Goan Diaspora, with Jorge Barreto Xavier (former Secretary of State for Culture, Portugal, artists and writer); Chair of the panel Finding a Voice: Persistence; Chair of the panel Cultural Extinction; Facilitator of the session Starfish Pickle, a preview of an illustrated novel by Bina Nayak; Facilitator of the session Encyclopedia of Vintage Songs by Michael Lobo, Goa Arts and Literature Festival http://www.goaartlitfest.com
• December 8, Outreach talk to students at Rosary College, Navelim, Goa as part of Goa Arts and Literature Festival, India.
• December 6, Outreach talk to students at Goa College of Home Science, as part of Goa Arts and Literature Festival, India

November 2016

• November 25, 2016, Panellist: South Asian Australian Stories, Wollongong Writers Festival

• November 9, 2016, Launch of The Permanent Resident, by Michelle De Kretser at the UNSW Bookshop, Sydney.

September 2016

• Chair / In Conversation, Foreignness, UNSWriting, School of the Arts and Media, UNSW, 21 Sep, 2016

Before September 2016

• Panelist, Post-show discussion, Disgraced, Riverside Theatre, Parramatta, June 18, 2016
• Panel moderator, and Roundtable participant, Literary Commons!, Melbourne, April 1-3, 2016
• Panelist, Roundtable discussion, Lotus Program, Play Writing Australia, Jan 29, 2016
• Panelist, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Gandhi Jayanti,  Sep 30, 2015
• Chair of Keeping Languages Alive, Sydney Writers’ Festival, May 24, 2015
• Chair of A Pack of Lies: Narration in Fiction, Sydney Writers’ Festival, May 21, 2015
• ‘Joyful Strains’ panel, Sydney Writers Festival, Varuna, Katoomba, 18 May 2013
• Moderator of the panel discussion held after the screening of the opening night film Sunshine and Shade, Parramasala, , 2012
• Panelist, Forum on Displacement, Parramasala 2011
• Indian Perspectives on Australia: Roanna Gonsalves in conversation with Sarah MacDonald, Australian Festival of Travel Writing, Melbourne, October 30, 2010
• Bollywood Stories and Contemporary Indian Cool: Chair of the session, Australian Festival of Travel Writing, Melbourne, October 29, 2010