Please join me for a great discussion at Ginsights on Thursday 10 April from 6-8pm. Thanks to Big River Distilling Co and Paperchain Bookstore for inviting me to come along to talk about my book “Stories My Grandmothers Didn’t Tell Me”. It reveals the incredible tales of how my two Latvian grandmothers lived through the terror of the Second World War and survived to immigrate to Australia.  Against the backdrop of our current uncertain world, this is a book that reminds us of why we need the stories of our grandmothers to understand the past and its impact on the present.  

I live in Canberra and have recently been appointed Creative Director of the Canberra Writers Festival. Our conversation will explore how I plucked up the courage to delve into my grandmothers' hidden stories and my fascination with how personal family tales intersect with major global upheavals.  It's also a chance for us to talk about what is inspiring programming for the 2025 Canberra Writers Festival to be held on 22-26 October and share your ideas!

Bookings required, tickets $10 per person: https://bigriverdistilling.com.au/collections/ginsights/products/ginsights-author-event

I can’t wait to head to Newcastle for the Writers Festival from 4-6 April 2025!

Saturday 5 April (11.30am-12:30pm): Uncovering your family history: Family history is so much more than births, deaths and marriages; it’s about discovering unique stories to help us understand our place in the world. Julie McIntyre hosts this conversation with Cassie Gilmartin and Shaun Gilmartin, authors of The Family History Book, and Andra Putnis, author of Stories My Grandmothers Didn’t Tell Me. They speak about the light and dark of digging into the past, and share their research tips.

Saturday 5 April (4.30pm–5.30pm): Writing Other People's Stories: As journalists, Jackie Dent and Sarah Gilbert are all too familiar with the often-extractive way in which the media uses people’s stories. As a writer and social researcher, Andra Putnis appreciates the power of storytelling to help us better understand ourselves and the world around us. All three have written powerful non-fiction books that engage with the complexities and ethics of telling other people’s stories. Hosted by Kylie Morris. 

Tickets and further details can be found here: https://www.newcastlewritersfestival.org.au/events/

I am looking forward to presenting the first workshop of MARION’s 2025 Hidden Nerve program on Saturday 29 March in a three part series on History & Memory with Lisa Fuller & Mirandi Riwoe. Come along as we explore the following questions and more:

• How do you weave research into storytelling? 

• How do you place your story in collective memory? 

• What stories reside in place? 

• How can history inspire fiction? 

For more information please visit: https://marion.ink/hidden-nerve-2025

I am excited to have the opportunity to work with the Canberra community, amazing local author Qin Qin and the Canberra Writers Festival team to bring an outstanding program of writers and speakers together for the Canberra Writers Festival from 22-25 October 2025.

Thank you so much to outgoing Artistic Director, Beejay Silcox, for her brilliant work taking the Festival to new heights over the past several years.

My conversation with Kate Evans (ABC The Bookshelf) and Tess Scholfield-Peters at The Canberra Writers Festival has been broadcast on ABC Radio Nationals ‘Best of the Festivals’ 2024 with Cassie McCullagh. 

Thanks to @cbrwritersfest and all who made this possible!

 Listen in to hear the journey we went on to write books honouring the lives of our grandparents.  Stories My Grandmothers Didn’t Tell Me and Dear Mutzi are available in bookstores and online. 

 You can find it here: https://www.abc.net.au/listen/programs/bestoffestivals/canberra-writers-festival-the-edge-of-forgetting/104462464

Thank you to Kanberas Latviešu Biedrība and Latvijas vēstniecība Austrālijā for a wonderful celebration of Latvia’s birthday - 18 November 2024 - in Canberra. It was an honour to meet Sandra Kalniete, distinguished Member of the European Parliament, Latvian politician, diplomat and author of many works including ‘With Dance Shoes in Siberian Snows’, and to receive a Latviešu Apvienība Austrālijā un Jaunzēlandē award for my work, Stories My Grandmothers Didn’t Tell Me. Liels Paldies!

Heartfelt thanks to Brett and the Spiral Group for hosting me and the wonderful Biff Ward to have a special conversation about Stories My Grandmothers Didn’t Tell Me. It was a privilege to speak with the group, have such a memorable discussion and share the best morning tea going!

It was an absolute pleasure to speak with Ilmars Gravis from beautiful Ōpōtiki in the Eastern Bay of Plenty (New Zealand) back in August about the process researching and writing Stories My Grandmothers Didn't Tell Me.  

I met Ilmars through the Latvian language classes we are both taking online through the Adelaides Latviešu Skola  (Latvian School of Adelaide).

In our conversation we share glimpses of both of our family stories and delve deeply into the power of knowing what came before us.

You can now find a vimeo recording of our conversation here:

https://vimeo.com/aotearoarocks/download/1020042090/af388c4ebb

Liels Paldies! A big thank you to Ilmars for recording and editing our conversation together.

Thank you for having me at the Discover Bonegilla Open Day on 16 November. It was wonderful to walk around the Heritage Listed Block 19 and learn so many of the poignant stories of migrants who came through the camp.

It was a pleasure to meet those who came along to my author talk and share a little of Stories My Grandmothers Didn’t Tell Me and the journey my family made through Australia’s various migrant camps, including Bonegilla.

It was brilliant to be in conversation with Alek Schulha, author of Beneath the shadows of Mount Molly Morgan: history & stories of Greta Camp 1939-1960 about my debut book, Stories My Grandmothers Didn’t Tell Me and the hard but wonderful experience of uncovering my grandmothers’ hidden lives.

Huge thanks to Alek, Lee, Namejs, the East Maitland Library and all those who came along! It was a heart-warming conversation and very moving to share family stories and reflect on the past together.

What debt do we owe the past and its secrets? It was brilliant speaking with Kate Evans, ABC’s The Bookshelf and Tess Scholfield-Peters about how we grappled with this question in our family memoirs: Dear Mutzi and Stories My Grandmothers Didn’t Tell Me - twin tales of extraordinary grandparents. It was an intimate discussion about family history, war, loss, resilience, secrecy, occupation, migration and the ethics of third-generation storytelling.

Thank you to the National Library of Australia and the Canberra Writer Festival for supporting this session!

It was a pleasure to attend the Association for the Advancement of Baltic Studies Australasian Chapter Conference at Edith Cowan University on 12-13 October 2024 and learn from the wonderful program of international researchers and speakers that came together for the event. Thank you to the organisers and all participants! My address covered the potency and perils of intergenerational storytelling and reflected on my experiences researching and seeking to understand my Latvian grandmothers’ life stories and then writing Stories My Grandmothers Didn’t Tell Me for a broad readership.

It was a pleasure to meet people at Melbourne Latvian House and the Sydney Baltic Markets in late September 2024! Thank you to Melbourne Latvian House, The Sydney Latvian Society and Nord Haus Shop for having me along to talk about Stories My Grandmothers Didn’t Tell Me. It was an honour to hear from Natalia Neiburga in Melbourne and have so many people in Sydney share their stories and reflections from those who came along.

Thank you to Inga Hanover and the Wagga Wagga Art Gallery for a great in-conversation event weaving together Latvian post-war immigration stories, histories and identities. It was a brilliant experience to talk about Inga Hanover’s exhibition sen mēs tev jau gaidījām – we have been waiting for you long ago and my book, Stories My Grandmothers Didn’t Tell Me.

Thank you to the Brisbane Latvian community for the opportunity to share Stories My Grandmothers Didn’t Tell Me with you all on Saturday 7 September. Huge thanks to Professor Peter Greste for the thoughtful conversation. It was a joy to also watch Kriv Stenders’ heartwarming film Motherland (1994) and honour our Latvian grandmothers together.

Photo courtesy of Garen Krumins

Thank you to Barbie Robinson and the RiotACT for these warm words. It's wonderful to be featured alongside these other great books!

https://the-riotact.com/the-canberra-bookshelf-family-love-and-relationships-and-some-very-noisy-animals/804235

Check out the this piece by Sally Pryor that goes to the heart of why I wrote Stories My Grandmothers Didn’t Tell Me. The special feelings evoked visiting our grandmothers’ houses when we are young are beautifully illustrated in the piece.

Huge thanks to Barbie Robinson and Living Arts Canberra for this interview and podcast. It was an honour to sit at your kitchen table. You can listen at https://www.livingartscanberra.com.au/andra-putnis-stories-my-grandmothers-didnt-tell-me/