Whether she is poignantly articulating her experiences as a Black woman and self-described fat person in America in books like her hit memoir Hunger, or providing hilarious and insightful commentary on popular culture and trash television, Roxane Gay has a knack for getting you to hang off her every word. And now, Sydneysiders have a chance to see her speak in-person, with the renowned New York Times-bestselling author and social commentator being announced as the first guest in the 2024 line-up for the Festival of Dangerous Ideas (FODI). Running from August 24–25 at Carriageworks, the original disruptive ideas festival will exclusively host Gay for her only Sydney appearance this year.
Roxane will deliver a keynote address at FODI exploring what it takes to be a serial dissenter in the age of tribal warfare. Across her work, Gay has continued to urge audiences to embrace the danger and discomfort of dissent. But in an age of polarised opinion and dwindling nuance, this has come at a personal and professional price. In How to Have Dangerous Ideas, she will impart how she combats the tide of viral criticism to fight for complex and difficult ideas. Roxane will also join some of her fellow FODI guests in panel appearances over the course of the festival weekend – the full festival program is set to be launched next week.
Gay’s most recent book – Opinions: A Decade of Arguments, Criticism, and Minding Other People’s Business – brings together some of her best nonfiction writing from the past decade in a thought-provoking anthology covering culture, politics, and everything in between. Roxane’s visit to Australia this August also coincides with the 10th anniversary of the publication of her globally bestselling essay collection, Bad Feminist.
While she's Down Under, Roxane will also head over to Melbourne to share her Opinions in a one-off event at Melbourne Town Hall presented by The Wheeler Centre on Tuesday, August 27. Find out more about this over at wheelercentre.com.
Presented by The Ethics Centre (a not-for-profit that encourages people to examine all aspects of life) and supported by Destination NSW, this year marks the twelfth edition of FODI. Exploring a theme of Sanctuary, the new program “seeks to provide a haven for exploration and a harbour for the curious”. The weekend-long festival is an opportunity to hear from some of the world’s brightest experts, commentators, artists and thought leaders with guests taking part live.
The full FODI 2024 program will be announced on Tuesday, June 25, with pre-sale tickets available to subscribers that day. General release tickets on sale from Wednesday, June 26. You can subscribe to be first in line for presale tickets at festivalofdangerousideas.com.
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