Paul McDermott - Ghostbear

Paul McDermott is joined by Peter Fenton in conversation to talk about his new book, Ghostbear.  Written and stunningly illustrated by Paul, Ghostbear represents his evolving response to two incidents that encapsulated our human intrusions into the wild, and became a meditation on climate change, life, loss, death, and beyond.

This FREE event will take place on Zoom. The Zoom meeting details form part of your ticket, emailed to you after registration. You can also opt to pre-order a copy of Ghostbear which we'll happily ship anywhere in Australia for free. 

Paul McDermott’s multi-faceted career never fails to impress. Immediately recognizable as the host of Good News Week and as a member of the musical comedy group the Doug Anthony All Stars, Paul is also a visual artist who, on canvas and in film, has explored the meaningful, surreal, metaphysical, and nature’s dark beauty. 

The images for Ghostbear first appeared in ‘The Dark Garden’—an immersive visual art installation that Paul was invited to create and mount by the 2013 Adelaide Fringe Festival. And now, in his book, Paul tells a story of love, loss, loneliness, connection to kin and a journey of homecoming. It is profoundly moving and redemptive.

About the Speakers 

Paul McDermott first disgraced TV screens in the 1980s as a member of the Doug Anthony Allstars. He wrote and performed for The Big Gig and DAAS Kapital before moving on to write, perform and host a wide variety of popular TV shows: Good News Week, Good News Week Nite-Lite, Strictly Dancing, The Sideshow, Room 101 and, most recently, the ABC’s Think Tank. Paul is also a columnist, author, and a writer/director of award-winning short films.

In 2010, after being ignored for years, McDermott was nominated for the Gold Logie Award for Most Popular Personality on Australian Television. He lost.

Peter Fenton, musician, actor, filmmaker and writer, went from his successful band Crow to lead roles in the critically-acclaimed film Praise, adapted from the novel by Andrew McGahan, and the ABC series ‘Love is a Four Letter Word’. His short film as co-producer/actor, Bunny New Girl, has won 15 awards and is an online phenomenon with over 25 million views. His first novel, published in 2019, The Days of In Between has been honoured as a 2020 CBCA Notable.