A conversation with Dr Theodore Ell - 2021 Calibre Essay Prize Winner

Presented by ANU College of Arts & Social Sciences

The Australian National University and Australian Book Review invite you to an evening with Theodore Ell, winner of the 2021 Calibre Essay Prize. Dr Ell (an honorary lecturer in literature at ANU) will be in conversation with Beejay Silcox, another Canberra writer and a past ABR Fellow.

The subject of Theodore Ell's award-winning essay, 'Façades of Lebanon', is the massive explosion on 4 August 2020 when a port explosion devastated Beirut and shook a nation already teetering on the brink of economic collapse.

Dr Ell was living there at the time with his diplomat partner. 'Façades of Lebanon', represents reportage at its very best. The Calibre judges - Sheila Fitzpatrick, Billy Griffiths, and Peter Rose, Editor of ABR - chose the essay from a record field of 638 essays from 28 different countries.

This was the fifteenth time that ABR has presented the Calibre Prize, now one of the world's major prizes for an original essay.

Watch Online: You can also stream this event online via YouTube. There's no need to register, just follow this link at 6pm on July 27 to tune in: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZJ9VjPN4cjA