In conversation with Melissa Fagan

Expo 88: We'll Show The World

Fri 7 Sep 2018

Jackie Ryan

QAG Lecture Theatre

201

#Performances

#About the event

Duration: 60 minutes

How did one long and expensive party change a city forever? How did this shiny 1980s amalgam of cultural precinct, shopping mall, theme park, travelogue, and rock concert change Brisbane’s place in the world? Over 15 million locals and visitors participated in this event, but how did it all come about and how has the site evolved since?

On the 30^th anniversary of Expo 88, join historian and political scientist Dr Jackie Ryan as she lifts the lid on this extraordinary event, exploring our local social history, the controversies and characters surrounding the event and revealing surprisingly chilling stories of political intrigue linked to the Joh Bjelke-Peterson years and the Fitzgerald Inquiry. Connecting past and present, and looking at the future of the South Bank site, Jackie shows how Expo 88 has shaped how we see and experience our city and how to Brisbane, Expo was personal.

The book has been shortlisted for a Queensland Literary Award. People Choice voting is underway. http://www.qldliteraryawards.org.au/peoples-choice

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#Artist

Jackie Ryan

Jackie Ryan has an abiding interest in culture that connects her work across forms and genres. She is the author of We'll Show the World: Expo 88 (UQP), which won two 2018 Queensland Literary Awards and was shortlisted for a third. She also makes the Aurealis and Ledger Award-winning Burger Force comic book series and is the founding editor of comedy writing collective the Fanciful Fiction Auxiliary. She holds a PhD in history and political science from The University of Queensland.

#Moderator

Melissa Fagan

Melissa Fagan is the author of a memoir, What Will Be Worn: A McWhirters Story, and a freelance writer and editor, currently based in Coolangatta, in Yugambeh–Bundjalung country, on the border of Queensland and New South Wales. Her fiction and nonfiction has been published in Overland, Kill Your Darlings, Meanjin, QWeekend and others. She also teaches and lectures in creative writing courses at a number of universities. At various times throughout her life (but mostly pre-21st century) she has worked as a receptionist, data entry clerk, call centre operator, market research interviewer and editorial assistant. She has also taught swimming and horse-riding, and led tours through South East Asia. In 2018 she started a practice-led PhD in travel writing with Curtin University and the University of Aberdeen.