Special September event with Chanel Contos

Newcastle Writers Festival is hosting a special event on Saturday, 16 September, at 7.30pm with consent activist Chanel Contos at the University of Newcastle Conservatorium of Music. She will speak about her new book Consent Laid Bare: Sex, entitlement and the distortion of desire.

In February 2021, Chanel asked on Instagram if anyone had been sexually assaulted while at school. Within 24 hours, more than 200 people had replied ‘yes’. She then launched an online petition to make consent education mandatory in Australian schools. It attracted 45,000 signatures. One year later, education ministers from around the country unanimously agreed.

Chanel’s actions spurred a movement to end rape culture in Australia.

Tickets are $30/$23 concession and are on sale now.

There will be a book signing after the event thanks to MacLean’s Booksellers. 

This event is supported by the University of Newcastle’s School of Humanities, Creative Industries and Social Sciences, Pan Macmillan, and Crystalbrook Kingsley.