Back After the Break/Defying the Enemy Within/No Point in Stopping

Healing - Addressing Men's Mental Health

Fri 7 Sep 2018

Samuel Maguire + Osher Günsberg + Joe Williams

The Edge, State Library of Queensland

Biography / Health

223

#Performances

#About the event

Duration: 60 minutes

Uniquely familiar stories of three extraordinary men who have experienced deep mental anguish and now reach out to talk about it.

Osher talks about memories of growing up in suburban Australia, dealing with bullying, and his childhood forays into the wonderful world of psychiatry. As he was establishing himself as one of Australia’s most recognisable media personalities, Osher was also coping with living with mental illness, and alcohol addiction. Learn how Osher pulled himself out of the depths of psychosis to meet his wife, and to live each day working at getting better.

Joe Williams is a proud Wiradjuri, 1st Nations Aboriginal man born in Cowra, raised in Wagga NSW, Australia. Joe played in the National Rugby League for South Sydney Rabbitohs, Penrith Panthers and Canterbury Bulldogs before switching very successfully to professional boxing in 2009. Although forging a successful professional sporting career, Joe battled the majority of his life with suicidal ideation and Bi Polar Disorder. After a suicide attempt in 2012, Joe felt his purpose was to help people who struggle with mental illness.

Samuel Maguire brings a close personal experience of Bi Polar Disorder, opening up about the daily experience of the illness. No Point in Stopping is a tale of family, and one young man’s journey to find himself in a haze of bipolar, meds, weed, magic and backstreet Brisbane share-house parties.

Chair: David Burton

Copies of Osher Günsberg's book Back, After the Break are available for purchase HERE.

#Artists

Samuel Maguire

Samuel Maguire is a Brisbane based author. Samuel was diagnosed with Bipolar Type 1 at 19 and often uses his experiences with it as inspiration for stories.

His debut novel No Point in Stopping is a memoir about dabbling with magic to deal with mental illness and the places where imagination and real life blur.

Osher Günsberg

Osher Günsberg is one of Australia's most recognisable media personalities. From his work on Channel [V] in the early 2000's to seven seasons on Australian Idol, Osher was the first Australian to host live network prime time TV in the USA on CBS Live to Dance and is now back in Australia hosting hit shows The Bachelor/Bachelorette for Channel Ten.

Commencing his radio career in 1994 at Brisbane's B105 on the overnight shot, he rapidly moved to a national audience with Take 40 Australia and The Hot Hits Live from LA.

2016 saw Osher return to commercial radio and is now live fro Brisbane, weekdays from 6am on Hit105's Stav, Abby, Matt and Osher.

Joe Williams

Joe Williams is a Wiradjuri, 1st Nations Aboriginal man born in Cowra, raised in Wagga NSW having lived a 15 year span as a professional sports person. Joe played in the National Rugby League for South Sydney Rabbitohs, Penrith Panthers and Canterbury Bulldogs before switching to professional Boxing in 2009. As a boxer Joe was a 2x WBF World Jnr Welterweight champion and also won the WBC Asia Continental Title.

Although forging a successful professional sporting career, Joe battled the majority of his life with suicidal ideation and Bi Polar Disorder. After a suicide attempt in 2012, Joe felt his purpose was to help people who struggle with mental illness. Joe is also an author having contributed to the book Transformation; Turning Tragedy Into Triumph & his very own autobiography titled Defying The Enemy Within released January 2018.

In 2017 Joe was named as finalist in the National Indigenous Human Rights Awards for his work with suicide prevention and fighting for equality for Australia’s First Nations people. Joe lists, becoming a father as his greatest achievement.

#Moderator

David Burton

David Burton is an author, playwright, blogger and podcaster. He has written more than 25 plays, including April's Fool, which toured nationally and is studied in schools nationwide. His newest play, St Mary's In Exile, premieres in September at the Queensland Theatre Company and tells the controversial true story of two rebel Catholic priests in Brisbane. His 2015 memoir, How to Be Happy, won the Text Prize in Young Adult and Children's Writing. He spends a lot of time blogging about food, teaching young people and advocating for mental health.