Animal Conversations: Laura Jean McKay & Joni Murphy

Laura Jean McKay, Joni Murphy and Jessica Johnson

Animal Conversations: Laura Jean McKay & Joni Murphy

Laura Jean McKay, Joni Murphy and Jessica Johnson

7:30pm

Monday, October 26, 2020

45 mins

What if animals could talk? What would they tell us about our society? Australian author and lecturer Laura Jean McKay (The Animals in That Country) and American writer and artist Joni Murphy (Talking Animals) take us into the minds of wildlife in their latest works of speculative fiction. Discover what sparked the imagination of these two writers, and explore the ways these warm and wild stories demonstrate the unique bond between humans and animals, as well as the complexities we share as living creatures.

Interviewer: Jessica Johnson

English captioning is available for this video. Please click the ‘CC’ button in the video toolbar to turn it on.

What if animals could talk? What would they tell us about our society? Australian author and lecturer Laura Jean McKay (The Animals in That Country) and American writer and artist Joni Murphy (Talking Animals) take us into the minds of wildlife in their latest works of speculative fiction. Discover what sparked the imagination of these two writers, and explore the ways these warm and wild stories demonstrate the unique bond between humans and animals, as well as the complexities we share as living creatures.

Interviewer: Jessica Johnson

English captioning is available for this video. Please click the ‘CC’ button in the video toolbar to turn it on.

Featured Authors

Laura Jean McKay
Laura Jean McKay holds a PhD focusing on literary animal studies and she is currently the "animal expert" presenter on ABC Listen’s Animal Sound Safari. Her work has been published in numerous outlets and has been shortlisted for several awards. The Animals in that Country is McKay's debut novel.

Read more about Laura Jean McKay

Joni Murphy
Joni Murphy is a writer from New Mexico who lives in New York. Her debut novel, Double Teenage, was published by Book*hug Press in 2016. It was named one of The Globe and Mail’s 100 Best Books of the Year. Her latest novel is Talking Animals.

Read more about Joni Murphy

Jessica Johnson
Jessica Johnson is executive editor and creative director of the Walrus, Canada’s leading general interest magazine. She is the former books editor of Saturday Night and National Post, and a former reporter and editor at The Globe and Mail. A national magazine award-winning writer, she has contributed essays and criticism to a range of publications in Canada and the US. 

Read more about Jessica Johnson

7:30pm

Monday, October 26

45 mins

What to read

Talking Animals by , The Animals in That Country by ,
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