Bright Shining: Julia Baird in-conversation

From the bestselling author of Phosphorescence comes a beautiful and timely exploration of that most mysterious but necessary of human qualities: grace.

Grace is both mysterious and hard to define. It can be found when we create ways to find meaning and dignity in connection with each other, building on our shared humanity, being kinder, bigger, better with each other. If, in its crudest interpretation, karma is getting what you deserve, then grace is the opposite: forgiving the unforgivable, favouring the undeserving, loving the unlovable.

But we live in an era when grace is an increasingly rare currency. The silos in which we consume information dot the media landscape like skyscrapers, and our growing distrust of the media, politicians and public figures has choked our ability to cut each other slack, to allow each other to stumble, to forgive one another.

So what does grace look like in our world, and how do we recognise it, nurture it in ourselves and express it, even in the darkest of times?

From award-winning journalist Julia Baird, author of the acclaimed national bestseller Phosphorescence, comes Bright Shining, a luminously beautiful, deeply insightful and most timely exploration of grace.

Julia Baird is a bestselling author and award-winning journalist. She hosts The Drum on ABC TV and writes columns for a range of publications including The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age and the New York Times. Her first book, Media Tarts (2004, revised edition 2021) was based on her history PhD about the portrayal of female politicians. Her biography of Queen Victoria was published in 2016 to critical acclaim and was one of the New York Times' top ten books of 2016. Her third book, Phosphorescence (Fourth Estate, 2020), was a critically acclaimed, multi-award-winning international bestseller. Julia lives near the sea with two children and an abnormally large dog.

Sarah Macdonald is currently the presenter for the Mornings program on ABC Radio Sydney. She was born in Crown Street Surry Hills, grew up in Sydney and studied Psychology at university. After a lot of travel Sarah won a cadetship at ABC Radio News and then worked as triple j's political correspondent in Canberra.  She lived in India for several years where her husband was working as an ABC foreign correspondent, and while there wrote the international bestseller Holy Cow about her experiences. Sarah currently co-presents The Full Catastrophe story-telling event and podcast with Rebeca Huntley and has a book out titled So You’re having a Teenager – the A to Z of Adolescence with Cathy Wilcox.