Canberra, Wednesday 29 May 2002

John Ralston Saul

Internationally acclaimed writer and thinker, John Ralston Saul, will be at The Australian National University today to deliver the National Institute of Humanities' Showcase Lecture and discuss his latest book, On Equilibrium.

Canadian High Commissioner Jean Fournier said Mr Saul was a thought-provoking, lively and often controversial speaker and one of Canada's most respected writers and thinkers.

"One of my greatest pleasures as Canadian High Commissioner is to bring together Australians and Canadians in dialogue to extend the close, enduring and productive relationship we have forged over the course of the last century," Mr Fournier said.

"I am delighted to be able to add Mr Saul to a growing list of distinguished speakers who have been part of our Dialogue Canada program."

John Ralston Saul is best known for his internationally best-selling philosophy trilogy, Voltaire's Bastards: The Dictatorship of Reason in the West, The Doubter's Companion: A Dictionary of Aggressive Common Sense, and The Unconscious Civilization, which won the 1996 Canadian Governor General's Literary Award for Non-Fiction.

In his new book, Saul explains how different qualities give people the intelligence, self-confidence and practical ability to think and act as responsible individuals. He argues, however, that when certain human qualities are worshipped in isolation they become weaknesses.

John Ralston Saul was named Canadian Humanist of the Year in 1995.

When: 11.30am TODAY (Wednesday 29 May 2002)
Where: Lecture Theatre 1, Manning Clark Centre, ANU

For more information contact:
Danielle Roller, Penguin Books Australia on (03) 9871 2498 or 0418 384 159
Genevieve Turville, ANU Public Affairs on (02) 6125 6125 or 0416 249 245
Inge Rumble, Canadian Embassy on (02) 6270 4022.

No 62/2002

© 2000 Marketing & Communications Division,
The Australian National University.
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Last Modified Tue, July 16, 2002