Bushfire Stories: The Collective Power of Community

The Australian Black Summer of 2019-2020 saw devastation on an unimaginable scale and gave rise to stories of intense trauma and loss, but also of communities rallying together to overcome adversity. The voices from some of Australia’s worst-affected regional towns carry some of the strongest tales of cohesion, collaboration, and triumph.

Driven by a desire to amplify these inspiring stories and generate collective community healing, local filmmaker Clare Young, in collaboration with Braidwood FM, developed an original podcast series, ‘THE HEART OF THE STORM’, to highlight the essence of the Braidwood community’s strength in coming together to survive this historical event.

Bushfire Stories invites Braidwood locals – Braidwood FM’s Gordon Waters, podcast creator Clare Young, and bushfire survivor Hamish Hudson - to join ANU researchers Catherine Travis and Ksenia Gnevsheva for a heartfelt discussion of the events of that summer and what The Heart of the Storm podcast revealed about the value of community connection, and how we can harness the power of storytelling as a wellspring of information and healing.

Panel Discussion
Moderated by Dr Ksenia Gnevsheva, Senior Lecturer in Linguistics, ANU
Professor Catherine Travis, Chair of Modern European Languages, ANU 
Clare Young, award-winning filmmaker and creator of ‘The Heart of The Storm’ podcast 
Gordon Waters, local radio station manager at Braidwood FM and narrator of ‘The Heart of the Storm’ podcast 
Hamish Hudson, musical comedian and guest on ‘The Heart of The Storm’ podcast

Wellspring: Enquiry and Exchange Bringing campus to the community, Wellspring is an exciting series of immersive events that explores new depths of cultural enquiry and exchange. A collaboration between The Street Theatre and the ANU School of Literature, Languages and Linguistics, Wellspring invites Canberra’s curious to experience the inexhaustible source of human creativity and communication. Get ready for big bold ideas inviting curiosity and conversation.