In conversation with Matthew Condon
Shell
Queensland Terrace, State Library of Queensland
History/War Stories
437
#Performances
#About the event
Duration: 60 minutes
A big, bold and hauntingly beautiful story that captures a defining moment in Australia's history.
Everywhere he looked he saw what Utzon saw. The drama of harbour and horizon, and at night, the star-clotted sky. It held the shape of the possible, of a promise made and waiting to be kept …
In 1965 as Danish architect Jørn Utzon’s striking vision for the Sydney Opera House transforms the skyline and unleashes a storm of controversy, the shadow of the Vietnam War and a deadly lottery threaten to tear the country apart.
Journalist Pearl Keogh, exiled to the women’s pages after being photographed at an anti-war protest, is desperate to find her two missing brothers and save them from the draft. Axel Lindquist, a visionary young glass artist from Sweden, is obsessed with creating a unique work that will do justice to Utzon’s towering masterpiece.
In this big, bold and hauntingly beautiful portrait of art and life, Shell captures a world on the brink of seismic change though the eyes of two unforgettable characters caught in the eye of the storm.
And reminds us why taking a side matters.
#Artist
Kristina Olsson
Kristina Olsson is an award-winning writer of fiction, non-fiction and journalism. Her 2009 novel The China Garden won the Barbara Jefferis Award and was shortlisted for the Kibble Prize. Her 2013 memoir, Boy, Lost, garnered multiple awards including the Queensland, New South Wales and West Australian Premiers awards for non-fiction and the Kibble Prize. Her most recent novel, Shell, launched the legendary Scribner Australia literary imprint and was shortlisted in several major literary awards.
#Moderator
Matthew Condon
Matthew Condon is an award-winning journalist, writer and podcaster. His novels include The Motorcycle Café, The Pillow Fight and The Trout Opera. He is also the author of the bestselling Three Crooked Kings trilogy, an investigation into Queensland police and political corruption. In 2019 he was awarded an OAM for services to the community. He is a senior writer for The Australian.
