Difficult Art Is Like Spinach for the Brain August 21, 2009

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Complete video at: http://fora.tv/2009/06/09/Melbourne_Festival_of_Ideas_Kate_Grenville

Kate Grenville discusses the crucial role of art in teaching people to deal with difficult issues. She draws upon Shelley and Cicero in lamenting the obsessive labeling and watering down of works of art in today's culture.

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We all know what we could be doing to help the environment. We could install solar panels, or drive hybrid cars, or use fewer plastic bags. But there's often a big gap between what we know we should do, and how we actually behave.

Delivering this keynote address at the Melbourne Festival of Ideas, novelist Kate Grenville argues that it is the role of artists and writers to inspire and move people to act on important issues like climate change.

Kate Grenville is one of Australia's best-known novelists. Her books include Lilian's Story, The Idea of Perfection and, in 2008, The Lieutenant. Her 2006 novel The Secret River won the Commonwealth Writers' Prize and two NSW Premier's Literary Awards.