During COVID-19 reading was central to soothing for so many of us. It was a pleasure to share with Jacqueline Lang the book that I turn to for company and comfort, read our conversation here
Book Review
‘Willoughby’s wide-ranging, intelligent narrative directly captures the reader’s attention … The biography covers more thematic territory than many similar life narratives of Australian women artists, partly due to Willoughby’s skill, but ultimately drawn from Nora Heysen’s multilayered, acutely-felt experience of the world.’ - Juliette Peers.
The Sheila Foundation is a national foundation with a goal to paint women artists back into art history and support contemporary women artists into the future. I am very proud to have my biography of Nora Heysen associated with Sheila and very much appreciate the extended review by Dr Juliette Peers which you can read here featured on the Sheila website.
The Heysen family at The Cedars
INTERVIEW
Great to be featured in The Starfish my hometown online journal with the catchphrase written locally read globally . Publishers Jacqui Lang and Peter Rigby travel worldwide to bring a plethora of great subjects to your table. I am very pleased to be included. You can read the article here
Nora Heysen after receiving the news she was the first woman to win the Archibald Prize, painting the winning entry when she was just 27.
BOOK REVIEW
Thank you to Artist’s Chronicle editor Lyn di Ciero for the review of Nora Heysen: A Portrait. Artist’s Chronicle is a bi-monthly publication featuring Western Australian visual arts and is the longest running independent visual arts publication in WA history, preparing to celebrate its 30th year in 2021. I am very pleased to be included in its pages. To read the review access the March/April 2019 edition at Artist’s Chronicle .
Spring flowers 1938 Collection of Art Gallery of NSW
BOOK REVIEW
Thank you to WRITING WA for reviewing Nora. It’s great to be acknowledged at home! You can read the review here.
Nora Heysen with her friend Australian painter Jeffrey Smart
INTERVIEW AT HOME
Emma Pegrum, writer and photographer, came to my place to talk about Nora, writing, and the spaces that matter. You can read the article here.
INTERVIEW
After my talk at the Australian War Memorial on 10 July I was interviewed by an SBS News team - it was so satisfying to know that Nora Heysen’s name would be beamed into many households that night and more Australians would learn about her great contribution. You can view the SBS segment here.
PUBLIC TALK: War and love →
On 10 July it was an honour to speak at the Australian War Memorial BAE Systems Theatre about Nora Heysen’s commission as Australia’s first woman OWA. Thank you to AWM curator Alex Torrens for assistance throughout the writing of my book and for the invitation to speak at the AWM. Nora’s significant contribution is pivotal in our remembering the women and men who served in the Pacific in WWII, many often paying the ultimate price. These men and women are immortalised in Nora’s work which underscores the important role of the war artist. You can view the YouTube recording here.
Interview →
In the lead up to my public talk at the Australian War Memorial, staff writer Claire Hunter interviewed me about my subject. You can read her article here. I am proud that my biography of Nora Heysen underscores the important role of the war artist in remembering those who served their country. You can read the article here.
Nora Heysen in uniform, 1943.
YOUTUBE RECORDING
It was a great evening at the National Library in Canberra on July 9 when I spoke abut Nora Heysen to a wonderful audience. If you would like to see how it all went take a look at this link to the NLA recording of the event. Nat Williams is the James and Bettison Treasures Curator at the NLA and he was a personal friend of Nora later in her life - his personal knowledge of this remarkable woman was a joy to share. You can view the presentation here.
Nat Williams and Anne-Louise Willougbhy
Book Review
Thank you to Patricia Anderson for her review in The Weekend Australian Review on Saturday May 18. As Nora Heysen is introduced to readers, her rightful position in Australia’s art collection is established.
The article is available here (if you are a subscriber to The Australian).
Book Review
The writing of a life is a complex and protracted process. I am grateful for Ruby J. Murray’s review of Nora Heysen: A Portrait, which elucidates the essence of the biographer’s dilemma that involves, as Murray observes, ‘a kind of necessary betrayal‘.
Read the full review here: https://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/books/nora-heysen-biography-skilfully-explores-the-brilliant-painter-s-complicated-life-20190503-p51jpf.html.
From Ruby J. Murray in The Sydney Morning Herald May 10, The Age Spectrum May 11, Brisbane Times May 10 and Canberra Times May 11, 2019.
Book Review
Last week, I was thrilled to read the first review of my book on Inside Story. And incredibly proud that it was written by Drusilla Modjeska, a highly accomplished and acclaimed writer, who has been an inspiration. Drusilla has biographed Australian painters Stella Bowen and Grace Cossington Smith, and her knowledge of Nora’s life and work is deep. Thank you, Drusilla, for your rigorous assessment.
I invite you to read the review!
The Fremantle Press Podcast
Captain Heysen, Melbourne, 1944. Image courtesy of the Australian War Memorial.
Nora Heysen was the first Australian woman to be appointed by the military as an official war artist.
In the lead-up to Anzac Day, I spoke with Holden Sheppard, award-winning author and host of The Fremantle Press Podcast, about Nora’s contribution to recording events of WWII in the Pacific, and about the process of writing her story.
Thanks for having me, Holden!
ABC Radio Interview
Interview on Evenings with Chris Bath on ABC Radio Sydney, for her segment Who Was Wednesday.
On a recent trip to Melbourne to promote my book and take in the wonderful exhibition at NGV, I popped into a recording booth at the ABC ‘Tardis’, Southbank, to have a chat with Chris Bath, who called Nora “probably the least known over-achiever in Australian art.” Well said, Chris!
If you’d like to listen, click the play button below.
On International Women's Day, Nora in WA Today →
Feature article by Emma Young for WA Today, since re-published in the Sydney Morning Herald and other Fairfax media outlets.
Self-portrait, 1954, oil on canvas, AGSA collection
A real honour, for both myself and my subject, to have our stories considered on such an important day. Thank you, Emma!
Read the article by clicking the heading above, or here: ‘Girl Painter also Good Cook': The story of a (female) artist.