Author Rosalie Ham wows ICPA conference

The keynote speaker grew up in Jerilderie in New South Wales, never thinking that one day she would have three best-selling novels published and one of them turned into a hit Australian movie.

Delegates were given a behind-the-scenes glimpse into the making of the darkly humorous The Dressmaker and heard from Rosalie about how it came to be written in her keynote speech.

“I put everything in – greed, gossip, jealousy, the seven deadly sins and more. I added every sinful event I could think of plus a football match, and it sold like you wouldn’t believe.

“I threw my hands up and said, go figure. I guess it says you’re all nasty and smutty too!”

Despite this, the elements of truth embedded in the story are what audiences, especially country ones, identify with.

Rosalie told the audience gathered from around Queensland that as a country girl living in a city, her pet topic was enlightening people on what really happens in the country.

“People don’t know that what they see on TV isn’t like that,” she said.

As she explained it, she ended up at writing class almost by accident, and being asked to write a novel came as quite a shock.

“I was born in Jerilderie so I can open any gate you put in front of me,” she said.

“I had no gender barrier or any other.

“When I was told to write a novel, I just gave it a go.”

Rosalie attributed the good things in her life to being raised in a small country town and its have-a-go attitude.

Digital crusader Tim Gentle wowed the crowd when he made potatoes play Happy Birthday, and transported delegates to Paris and Venice thanks to Google Cardboard.

As well as having his bus at conference as part of his aim to bring digital empowerment to rural communities, he showed people some of technology’s fun applications, which included turning mobile phones into satellite phones.