October 23, 2014
Hugh Mackay launches new book in Wollongong
One of Australia’s best-known social researchers to launch new book, ‘The Art of Belonging’, at UOW on 31 Oct.
One of Australia’s best-known social researchers, Hugh Mackay, will launch his new book, ‘The Art of Belonging’ at a free community event at UOW on Friday 31 October.
UOW’s Faculty of Social Sciences and the Wollongong City Council will host the event. Wollongong Lord Mayor Councillor Gordon Bradbery OAM will also be in attendance.
Hugh Mackay, an honorary professor of social science at UOW, is the author of 16 books, including the 2013 bestseller ‘The Good Life’. He is a fellow of the Australian Psychological Society in recognition of his pioneering work in social research and he has been a newspaper columnist for more than 25 years.
‘The Art of Belonging’ advances the argument put forward in Mackay's ‘The Good Life’: a 'good life' is not lived in isolation or in the pursuit of independent goals; a good life is lived at the heart of a thriving community, among people we trust, and within an environment of mutual respect.
Drawing on 50 years' experience as a social researcher, Mackay creates a fictional suburb, Southwood, and populates it with characters who – like most of us – struggle to reconcile their need to belong with their desire to live life on their own terms. He chronicles the numerous human interactions and inevitable conflicts that arise in a community when characters assert their own needs at the expense of others.
Through a series of interconnected stories, Mackay reveals the beautiful symmetry of the human condition: we need communities, but communities also need us.
Through ‘The Art of Belonging’, Mackay encourages readers to take responsibility for the places where they live by engaging, volunteering, joining up and joining in. The premise being it’s not where you live, but how you live that makes us belong.
Light refreshments will be served at the event and Hugh Mackay will be available for book signings after a Q&A session.
Event details:
Hugh Mackay book launch
Friday 31 October, 6-8.30pm
University Hall, University of Wollongong
RSVP: soc-events@uow.edu.au.
Note to media: High-resolution portrait shot and cover art available on request.
Media contacts: For interviews with Professor Hugh Mackay, please contact Jace Armstrong, Publicity Manager at Pan Macmillan Australia, +61 2 9285 9114, +61 414 832 454 or Jace.Armstrong@macmillan.com.au. For general media enquires, please contact Elise Pitt, Media & PR Officer, UOW, +61 4221 3079, +61 422 959 953 or epitt@uow.edu.au.