Stephanie Convery - After the Count

Stephanie Convery's After the Count is a masterwork of narrative non-fiction encompassing courtroom drama and engaging procedural. It’s the story of a young man gone too soon, and systems of power that have kept turning a blind eye. It's a story written by someone with 'skin in the game'. 

Stephanie will be joined in-conversation by Greg Callaghan, Associate Editor of Good Weekend. 

This is a FREE event. Drinks and nibbles provided.  

About the Book

Journalist Stephanie Convery was shocked at reports of a fatal knockout blow to professional boxer Davey Browne Jr in 2015 at Ingleburn, Western Sydney. When he hit the mat that night, he never woke up again.

There were many reasons this was incomprehensible. Davey was the stronger fighter; he came from boxing pedigree; he left behind a young wife and two sons. But most compelling for Stephanie: she was also training for her first boxing bout.

To Stephanie, a death via punch to the head brought the dangers of boxing into sharp focus. In After the Count she uses her trademark journalistic rigour to find out what happened the night Davey died.

In this clear-eyed investigation, Stephanie writes a first-hand account of the inquest into his death. Was Davey’s broken hand to blame? Were there answers to be found from his trainer, the umpires, the doctor, the slow first responders? Did the rapid pre-fight ‘shred’ ensure he would never wake up again? Stephanie also seeks further testimony from Davey’s dad, his partner Amy, and the wider boxing community.

But then, she goes deeper. Why are Australians hooked on violent sport? What happens to athletes (like Muhammad Ali and players from St Kilda Football Club and The Rabbitohs) after they sustain a knock to the head; and how widespread is the incidence of concussion and chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE)?

Stephanie also finds herself at the strange intersection of class, feminism and boxing – a sport designed for working class men, yet one which gave her physical body immense power and improved her confidence as she practiced.

After the Count is a masterwork of narrative non-fiction encompassing courtroom drama and engaging procedural. It’s the story of a young man gone too soon, and systems of power that have kept turning a blind eye.

Praise

"With the empathy of an insider and the acuity of an outsider, Stephanie Convery’s investigation into the morally ambiguous world of boxing is a gripping read. Convery approaches the gnarly intersection between law, medicine, sport and the culture of  violence with intelligence, insight and a lightness of touch that belies the brutal subject of her masterful account. A total knockout of a book!”  - Clare Wright 

"Convery has a lot to teach. She had me think more deeply about ideas I’ve been turning over for years and offered new ways of looking at behaviour I’ve been watching all my life. She even made me want to read Foucault. There’s not much more you can ask of a book.”  - Mark Dapin. 

About the Author

Stephanie Convery is the deputy culture editor of Guardian Australia. She was previously the deputy editor at Overland magazine and a freelance writer and arts worker.