Monica Tan's Stranger Country

Join us at for the launch of Monica Tan's remarkable Stranger Country. Officially launching the book is federal senator Mehreen Faruqi. This will be followed by a panel discussion on what it means to be Australian in 2019, hosted by Stranger Country author Monica Tan, and joined by author and Guardian editor Bridie Jabour (The Way Things Should Be), academic and assistant museum curator Mariko Smith, and filmmaker Tyson Mowarin (Connection to Country).

About The Book

What happens when a 32-year-old first-generation Australian woman decides to chuck in a dream job, pack a sleeping bag and tent, and hit the long, dusty road for six months? Thirty thousand kilometres later, Monica Tan has the answer, and it completely surprises her. Tracks meets Wild in this account of Chinese Australian journalist Monica Tan's six month odyssey though outback Australia.

"Will I ever really belong to this country? As a Chinese Australian? As a non-Indigenous Australian? . . . I was 32 years old and barely knew the country of my birth. It was time to change that."

In mid-2016, Monica left Sydney, unsure of her place in Australia. As a Chinese Australian city slicker, she couldn't have felt more distant from powerful mythologies like the Digger, the Drover's Wife and Clancy of the Overflow. And more importantly, Monica wondered, how could she ever feel she truly belonged to a land that has been the spiritual domain of Indigenous Australians for over 60,000 years?

Stranger Country is the riveting account of the six months Monica drove and camped her way through some of Australia's most beautiful and remote landscapes. She shared meals, beers and conversations with miners, grey nomads, artists, farmers, community workers and small business owners from across the nation: some Aboriginal, some white, some Asian, and even a few who managed to be all three. The result is an enthralling and entertaining celebration of the spirit of adventure, a thoughtful quest for understanding and a unique portrait of Australia and all it means to those who live here.

For more on Monica's epic journey, check out her Facebook video.

About the Author

Monica Tan is the former deputy culture editor of Guardian Australia and co-host of the Token podcast. Stranger Country is her first book.

A Note on the Venue:

This event will be held in The Vanguard (previously known as Leadbelly), which is a strictly adults only venue.