First Friday Club, our monthly conversation with an industry professional, is a chance for our community to learn more about the writing and publishing industry.

It can be hard to feel resilient as a writer at the best of times, but with a global pandemic and time spent in lockdown, mental health can take a hit. In October we invite you to join our online event with Dr David Roland to discuss matters of mental health.

As a psychologist and award-winning author, David explores trauma and recovery, performance anxiety, and growth through adversity. David joins us to talk about the challenges we face in this new normal, how they are best navigated, and how to grow from them, creatively and personally.

This event starts online at 12:30pm, via Zoom, and will run for 60 minutes. If there is time, we will take audience questions at the end. Free and open to members and non-members, but RSVPs are essential.

Registered attendees will receive a link to access this event online immediately prior to the event start time on Friday 1 October.

**

Dr David Roland is a narrative non-fiction writer and psychologist whose work is informed by his lived experience and his professional training. The Power of Suffering: growing through life crises (Simon & Shuster, 2020) narrates the real-life stories of 11 incredible people who experienced posttraumatic growth following their life crises.

He is author of How I Rescued My Brain: a psychologist’s remarkable recovery from stroke and trauma (Scribe) and The Confident Performer (NewSouth). He is published in Best Australian Science Writing 2015 and featured in national and international publications, radio and television. In 2015, he was awarded the Stroke Foundation’s Creative Award. He has academic publications in the fields of performance anxiety and vicarious trauma.