Borrowed Voice: Freedom of Expression vs Cultural Appropriation

Chris Taylor is a writer, broadcaster and performer who's best known as a member of The Chaser team, responsible for television programs such as The Chaser’s War on Everything, CNNNN and The Hamster Wheel on ABC-TV. For two years Chris co-hosted the drive-time radio show Today Today on triple j, and in 2007 he wrote the musical comedy Dead Caesar for the Sydney Theatre Company. In 2010 he returned to triple j to write and perform The Blow Parade comedy series, which won the 2010 ARIA Award for Best Comedy Release.

He has written and performed a number of live comedy shows, including The Taylor Lecture, One Man Show and In Conversation with Lionel Corn, and recently starred in the television comedy series Plonk. He's a regular contributor to The Chaser Quarterly, and is currently in rehearsals for the Ensemble Theatre's production of Neville's Island. At Vivid Ideas he'll be appearing at the debate event Borrowed Voice: Freedom of Expression vs Cultural Appropriation on June 7 at the Cell Block Theatre in Darlinghurst.

33-year-old South Sudanese child soldier-turned-Blacktown lawyer Deng Adut moved hearts in 2015 when a short video about his life went viral. The clip, which has attracted more than 2.5 million views to date, was produced by Adut’s alma mater, Western Sydney University. Deng, who was conscripted into the Sudan People’s Liberation Army at six years old, had never been to school. He came to Australia as a refugee aged 14, taught himself to read, write and speak English, and went on to win a scholarship to study law in 2005.

He now has his own law practice with offices in Sydney, Parramatta, Blacktown and Redfern, and he spends much of his free time working with disenfranchised youth and refugees. Deng gave the 2016 Australia Day address, was painted for the 2016 Archibald Prize by Nick Stathopoulos and won the People’s Choice award, and Deng was recently named NSW Australian of the Year for 2017. Deng’s book Songs of a War Boy  written with Ben Mckelvey was published in November 2016. Between his legal work and running the charity he established in 2016, the John Mac Foundation, Deng is somehow finding the time to appear at Borrowed Voice: Freedom of Expression vs Cultural Appropriation.

Caroline Marcus is a reporter and anchor at Sky News Australia and a columnist for The Daily Telegraph. She has previously worked as a reporter for Channel Nine, The Sunday Telegraph, The Sun-Herald and Singapore’s The Straits Times, and has been a columnist for Queensland’s The Sunday Mail.

Her commentary regularly explores what she considers the scourge of identity politics and political correctness, and often draws upon her own Jewish and Singaporean heritage. Caroline has done extensive reporting around refugee and asylum seeker issues, becoming the first television journalist to travel to and report from the controversial Nauru detention centres with Channel Nine’s A Current Affair last year. 

She looks forward to contributing her thoughts to Borrowed Voice: Freedom of Expression vs Cultural Appropriation. Caroline lives in Sydney with her husband Jake and their very spoilt rescue dog Alfie.

Daisy is a freelance journalist, political commentator, and (occasional) provocateur based in Sydney, Australia. She graduated from the University of Sydney in 2015 with a Master of Creative Writing; preceded by a Bachelor of Music at the Australian Institute of Music, and a Bachelor of Arts at Macquarie University. Soon after completing her Masters, Daisy became a chief contributor at online magazine SheSaid, and in 2016 began contributing to The Spectator Australia. Her focus is political ideology, culture and satire. She was also the Editorial Assistant at Quadrant magazine, and remains a continuing contributor for the Quadrant print edition.

Along with The Spectator and Quadrant, Daisy writes for deadcentrepolitics.com, with a focus on the conservative stance. She was a speaker at the Fifth ALS Annual Freidman Conference 2017, focussing on identity politics, the trials of being a feminist ‘apostate’, and how third-wave feminism is harmful to women. Daisy enjoys sports journalism, and has freelanced for The Roar, with a focus on tennis. She has also appeared on Q&A, ABC News24, Paul Murray Live, The Project, Jones and Co, The Bolt Report, and Mark Latham’s Outsiders. Daisy is delighted to be taking part in VIVID’s ‘Borrowed Voice: Freedom of Expression vs Cultural Appropriation’, and is looking forward to exploring the highly contested issue of cultural appropriation with a healthy dose of humour.

Thomas Keneally, the oldest of the debaters in Borrowed Voice: Freedom of Expression vs. Cultural Appropriation, was born in 1935 and his first novel was published in 1964. Since then he has written a considerable number of novels and non-fiction works. His novels include The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith, Schindler’s List, and The People’s Train. His latest novel, Napoleon’s Last Island, is about to be published in the UK and has been bought for a British TV series.  His history books include The Great Shame, Australians and The Commonwealth of Thieves.

He has won the Miles Franklin Award, the Booker Prize, the Los Angeles Times Prize, the Mondello International Prize, the Helmrich Award (US), and has been made a Literary Lion of the New York Public Library, is recipient of the University of California gold medal, and is now the subject of a 55 cent Australian stamp. In 2014 he received an Irish Presidential Distinguished Service Award for his services to Irish culture. He is a fellow of the Australian Academy of the Humanities, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the Royal Society of Literature.

He has honorary doctorates from the National University of Ireland; the University of Queensland; the Catholic University of Australia; the University of Western Sydney; Rollins College (US); Fairleigh Dickenson University (US); University of Technology, Sydney, the University of New South Wales, the University of Wollongong and the University of South Australia.. He has held academic posts at New York University and the University of California. A recent book, Napoleon’s Last Island, will be made into a British mini-series next year. His most recent book is Crimes of the Father. He has written two convict-era mysteries, The Soldier’s Curse, and The Unmourned, with his daughter Margaret. He lives with his wife. Judith, in Manly in Sydney. 

Bronwyn Bancroft is a Djanbun clan member of the Bundjalung Nation. In a career spanning over three decades, Bronwyn has participated in hundreds of exhibitions, both solo and group, within Australia and overseas. Overseas collections that have acquired her work are Newark Museum USA, Prime Minister of Turkey, The Kelton Foundation USA, Volkerkunde Museum, Germany and Westpac USA, and Victoria and Albert Museum, London. National and state collections include National Gallery of Australia, Macquarie University, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Art Gallery of Western Australia, State Library of New South Wales, State Library of Victoria, City of Sydney, Australian Museum and Artbank.

Bronwyn has a diverse artistic practice including public art commissions and imagery design for private commission. Examples include the Royal North Shore Hospital atrium shaft lift (2012), Tempe Reserve mural (2006) and promotional imagery for 2000 Olympics (IBM). Bronwyn illustrated her first children's book, The Fat and Juicy Place in 1992. Since then, Bronwyn has authored and/or illustrated 40 children’s books, which are constantly shortlisted in the Children’s Book Council of Australia Annual Awards for outstanding contribution to Australian children’s literature. Bronwyn was the Australian finalist for the Ezra Jack Keats Award for Excellence in Children’s Book Illustration in 1994.

In 2010 Bronwyn was shortlisted for the Prime Minister’s Literary Award for Children’s Fiction for her book Why I Love Australia and in the same year received the Dromkeen Medal for her contribution to Australian Literature. In 2016, Bronwyn was the Australian Finalist for the Hans Christian Andersen Award (Illustrator). Bronwyn currently holds board positions with Australian Indigenous Mentoring Experience (AIME), Commonwealth Bank RAP Committee, Arts Law, and Copyright Agency.

Bronwyn is constantly involved in activism for New South Wales Aboriginal Artists, particularly in her role at Boomalli Aboriginal Artists Co-operative. Bronwyn has a Diploma of Visual Arts; two master's degrees from the University of Sydney, one in studio practice and the other in visual art. She is currently a doctoral candidate at the University of Sydney. Bronwyn looks forward to contributing her thoughts to Borrowed Voice: Freedom of Expression vs Cultural Appropriation.