Barbara Kingsolver

Barbara Kingsolver

Author: Sydney Opera House July 30, 2018 Duration: 45:18

How might literature change the world? American author Barbara Kingsolver has been asking this question through her best-selling novels and essays for years. After a self-described ‘curious childhood’ split between rural Appalachia and remote global locations where her doctor father was posted, she developed an independent spirit and an unshakeable love for the natural world. This passion manifested as activism during her biology degree, but despite becoming a scientist, it was literature than ultimately won out. Although she wrote several award-winning essays and novels through the late 90s and into the 2000s, it wasn’t until her novel The Poisonwood Bible was featured on Oprah Winfrey’s book club that Barbara skyrocketed to international fame. Barbara used her royalties to establish the Bellwether literary prize for socially engaged fiction, and she remains an activist at heart, with a body of work that is a testament to a belief in the power of the written word.

This episode of It's a Long Story is hosted by Edwina Throsby.

-

Show notes

The Bellwether Literary Prize Barbara Kingsolver at Sydney Opera House The Poisonwood Bible on Oprah's Book Club Barbara Kingsolver on #metoo and feminists today


Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.


Behind every significant idea, there is a rich and often winding narrative waiting to be told. It's a Long Story is where those narratives unfold, brought to life by the Sydney Opera House as a key part of its Talks and Ideas program. Host Edwina Throsby guides these explorations, sitting down for deep conversations with a fascinating array of global thinkers, artists, and culture creators. Each episode delves beyond the headlines and finished works, uncovering the personal journeys, creative struggles, and pivotal moments that shape groundbreaking contributions to the arts, commentary, and current affairs. This podcast offers a rare, intimate space to hear the nuanced stories behind the public personas, providing listeners with a deeper understanding of the forces that drive innovation and cultural dialogue. Tune in for thoughtful, extended dialogues that remind us that the most compelling concepts are rarely born in an instant, but are instead the product of a long, considered, and human process.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 62

It's a Long Story
Podcast Episodes
Mandy Len Catron [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 42:14
There’s a widespread assumption that we are all are better off in relationships, that you can and must find your soul mate, and that true love conquers all. Mandy Len Catron has been aware of the power of love stories, e…
CN Lester [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 38:35
There aren’t many places where we aren’t boxed in to strict categories. For English singer-songwriter CN Lester, music has always provided a safe space where these restrictions don’t apply. Raised in London by a family t…
Rebecca Walker [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 41:00
The daughter of Alice Walker, who wrote the African-American classic The Color Purple, and Melvyn Leventhal, a Jewish civil rights lawyer, Rebecca Walker’s intersecting and sometimes jarring identities were the foundatio…
Kate Bolick [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 40:35
As a middle-class girl from a happy family, Kate Bolick’s life was on track: go to college, get a job, and then, become a wife. But after losing her mother, Kate began to question this predictable trajectory. In 2011, wh…
Fran Lebowitz [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 42:34
Raised in small town New Jersey, lifelong bookworm Fran Lebowitz has always done things on her own terms. After getting expelled from highschool, she answered the call and moved to New York City to pursue her dream of be…
Zaachariaha Fielding (Electric Fields) [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 39:30
Growing up in the small community of Mimili in South Australia, Zaachariaha Fielding always knew he wanted to entertain. Moving to the city as a teenager, he quickly became a part of Adelaide’s music scene, before trying…
Irish Mythen [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 44:18
Irish Mythen has always had a love for the road. Moving as a kid from the south-east coast of Ireland to Africa and the Middle East, the sights, sounds and stories of these places inspired her. Like any good troubadour,…
Airileke Ingram [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 44:21
Raised between Darwin and his ancestral home of Gabagaba in Papua New Guinea, Airileke Ingram was drumming from a young age. His grandfather taught him traditional techniques, igniting a love for percussion that led to a…
Tamika Mallory [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 39:21
Tamika Mallory has been protesting pretty much her entire life. From joining Reverend Al Sharpton's National Action Network at the age of 15 to working with the Obama administration on gun control legislation. As the nat…
Shashi Tharoor [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 38:08
Author, politician, and former international civil servant, Shashi Tharoor is a man of many talents. He spent nearly 29 years at the United Nations as a peacekeeper and refugee worker culminating as undersecretary genera…