Nadia Wheatley at the Manly Writers’ Festival

In very different places and circumstances, Clever Men by Martin Thomas and Strange New World by Nadia Wheatley begin at moments of supposed benevolence: a grand scientific expedition to Arnhem Land, and the liberation of a Nazi concentration camp. Yet in both cases, what followed was far more complex, marked by disillusionment, control, and the struggle of ordinary people to reclaim agency in the face of overwhelming power. Together, Thomas and Wheatley explore what happens after power intervenes in the name of progress or rescue. This is a conversation about aftermath rather than event, about the limits of authority, and about the quiet, determined ways people reclaim control over their own lives and stories. Drawing on archives, museums, and hidden histories, the session reflects on how institutions preserve — and sometimes obscure — the truths they claim to protect.