Family violence prevention campaigner and 2015 Australian of the Year Rosie Batty is so beloved and admired, she needs no introduction. But having won the sympathy and respect of a nation in the face of the most terrible violence, what next? How do you move forward and restore your faith in human nature? What does Hope (the title of her new book) even mean in the aftermath of tragedy? Rosie Batty shares her remarkable capacity for optimism with Jeremy Lasek.

About Rosie Batty

Rosie Batty is a British-Australian family violence campaigner and speaker. After her 11-year-old son, Luke, was  killed by his father in a violent incident in February 2014, Rosie became a passionate campaigner on the issue of family violence. She won the Pride of Australia Award in 2014 and was named Australian of the Year in January 2015. Her first memoir, A Mother’s Story, was published in 2016.

Following on from her runaway best-seller A Mother's Story, which detailed the lead up to her son's murder, Hope shares what happened to Rosie the day after the worst day of her life and how she reclaimed hope when all hope was lost. She shares her struggles with anxiety, PTSD, self-doubt and self-loathing and how she finally confronted her grief. She shares the stories of those who have inspired her to keep going, and given her hope when she needed it most. In this heartfelt, and at times heartbreaking memoir, Rosie tells how she found the light on her darkest days and how she found hope to carry on.

Buy Hope: https://www.angusrobertson.com.au/books/hope-rosie-batty/p/9781460760291

ⓘ True Story Festival info + tickets

True Story Festival 2025 is on November 15-16 at Coledale Community Hall. For more info go to ⁠https://southcoastwriters.org/true-story-festival⁠

Super Early Bird Tickets for True Story Festival 2025 are available now at: ⁠https://events.humanitix.com/true-story-festival-2025⁠

Credits

Recorded by Two Heads Media

Curated by Caroline Baum, Sarah Nicholson (South Coast Writers Centre) & Genevieve Swart

With thanks to The Illawarra Flame

The South Coast Writers Centre acknowledges the Wodi Wodi people of the Dharawal nation as the traditional custodians of the land on which we live and work, and we offer our respect to elders past, present and emerging.