Stirling Gardens Perth
Bookings are closed for this event.
“Gripping, transcendent, tender and, at times, infuriating. With a daughter’s heart and a lawyer’s mind, Amani Haydar maps the territory that connects the wars we fight abroad to the wars we endure in our homes.” – Jess Hill
Join us for a special Law Week Book Club Forum event facilitated by Karess Dias, Solicitor on Wednesday, 18 May 2022.
Spend an evening with our panelists David Cain, Executive Director Strategy and Growth, Communicare; Rebecca Bunney, Head of Practice – Family Law, Cullen Macleod Lawyers; Dr Jennie Gray, CEO, Women’s Legal Service WA; Shadia Rahman, Assistant State Solicitor, State Solicitor’s Office; and Thomas Camp, Senior Associate, Butcher Paull & Calder to discuss and explore the themes of this must-read memoir by Amani Haydar. Read the book, join in the discussion, ask a question or simply immerse yourself in the conversation.
This special event is free to attend and will include the chance to network with colleagues and fellow book enthusiasts over light food and refreshments.
Please note: The reading of the book before the event is encouraged, although not essential. You can buy The Mother Wound from Dymocks, Angus and Robertson or Amazon Australia.
For enquiries and group bookings, please call Member Services on (08) 9324 8692 or email membership@lawsocietywa.asn.au.
*Cover design and illustration: Akiko Chan. Published by Pan Macmillan Australia
About the book
The Mother Wound gives a raw account of one of the most publicised domestic violence murders in Australia. Amani Haydar suffered the unimaginable when she lost her mother in a brutal act of domestic violence perpetrated by her father. This book outlines the raw trauma, emotions and reflections of gender related and intergenerational trauma triggered by this life changing tragedy and the years that followed. A lawyer by profession, she combines legal analysis with personal insight and social commentary to critique the response of the justice system, media outlets and the community to both her father’s crime and gendered violence more broadly. We see her frustration and disillusionment turn to passion, as she becomes a fierce advocate for an intersectional solution to domestic abuse.
*Photo credit: The State Library of New South Wales
About the author
Amani Haydar is a lawyer, artist, mother and advocate for women’s health and safety based in Western Sydney. In 2018 Amani’s self-portrait titled ‘Insert Headline Here’ was a finalist in the Archibald Prize. Since then, her writing and illustrations have been published in Arab Australian Other, Sweatshop Women Volume Two, SBS Voices and ABC News Online. In 2020 Amani was a Finalist for the NSW Premier’s Woman of the Year Award and was named Local Woman of the Year for Bankstown in recognition of her advocacy against domestic violence. Amani serves on the board of the Bankstown Women’s Health Centre and uses visual art and writing to explore the personal and political dimensions of abuse, loss, identity and resilience.
