More-than-human Histories Talk with Taylor Coyne & Dr Emily O’Gorman

Wednesday 16th October

I had the pleasure of seeing my good friend and collaborator Taylor Coyne, speak with Dr Emily O’Gorman and Warwick Anderson to discuss more-than-human histories as part of the NSW State Libraries ‘History Now’ series.

O’Gorman’s new book ‘Wetlands in a Dry Land’ is one of my key readings at the moment, and Coyne’s depth and breadth of knowledge on both the local waterways but also the history of the eel – yes! – as both an actor in and a metaphor for colonisation in the city was invaluable.

I asked the question, “how can we view anthropomorphism in more-than-human stories? Is speaking for in this way an ethical concern?”. Both Coyne and O’Gorman reflected that when appropriate, and when made clear, anthropomorphism can be a useful tool in more-than-human history making.

You can hear the talks here, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Afterwards, we headed to a PhD dinner and, even though Taylor had been talking all things water, he couldn’t help himself but to take me on a detour to ‘Stream Street’. Once a water nerd, always a water nerd.