ESU Upcoming Events
Sunday 17 November – ESU (Qld) AGM, followed by
a seasonally celebratory dinner (times and venues to be advised)
Past 2024 ESU Events
ESU High Tea at Miegunyah
On Saturday 7 September, members and friends attended the historic Miegunyah House Museum for a sumptuous High Tea to celebrate this year’s statewide winners of our Secondary School Public Speaking Competition. An atmosphere of camaraderie was enjoyed by all present on a glorious spring day. This was followed by thought-provoking speeches presented by our Intermediate winner, Ting Liu, and our Senior winner, Eli Gearing.
Prior to the High Tea there was a wonderful opportunity to view the exclusive exhibition “Feminism and Flappers”, curated by the Queensland Women’s Historical Association.
ESU’s Annual Churchill Lecture
Sir Winston Churchill played an active part in the English-Speaking Union, UK, and was chairman from 1921 to 1925. After his death, Lady Spencer Churchill gave her warm approval to ESU to use the Churchill name for a commemorative event. Since 1974 this has taken the form of the Churchill Lecture. Originally, the theme of each lecture was based on an extract from the preface to Volume 1 of Churchill’s A History of the English-Speaking Peoples. In recent years this has broadened to cover topics centred around the mission of the international English-Speaking Union and the role of English speakers in the world.
2024 Churchill Lecture
On Friday 26 July members and friends of the ESU gathered at the historic United Service Club for the 2024 Churchill Lecture. Titled “The Emblematic Aussie? Australian Emblems in Counterpoint”, Emeritus Professor Roland Sussex and Professor John Pearn addressed a related question prompted by the Churchill emblem: What are the aspects, qualities and words that evoke and stand for an Australian?
President Caroline Hatcher concluded that “the counterpoint framework gave us a chance to gradually deepen and widen our reflections on being Australian”. An evening of friendship, fine dining and a scholarly celebration of our Australian values and culture was enjoyed by all present.
ESU 2024 Literary Event
Held on Friday 17 May, our Annual Literary Event showcased the similarities and differences between Australian and British humour. Members of the Communication Speech & Performance Teachers Inc. staged a night of wit and whimsy in a wonderfully devised performance to the delight of the 40-strong audience of members and guests. Their repertoire included renditions of “Printer’s Error” by P. G. Wodehouse and The Loaded Dog by Henry Lawson, as well as extracts from French and Saunders, Kath and Kim and Rowan Atkinson Live. Performers were Aidan Annis-Wade, Isaac Burton, Caitlin Forbes Patsy McCarthy, Ruby-Summer Peat and Kathy Wilson, with thanks to creatives David Cockburn, Pam Greatorix, Annette Stoddart and Kathy Wilson. A light meal and drinks at the historic Miegunyah House Museum was enjoyed by all.
ESU Awards Ceremony
Government House was the prestigious venue for the English-Speaking Union (Queensland Branch) awards ceremony hosted by Her Excellency the Governor, the Honourable Dr Jeanette Young AC PSM, on 11 April 2024. The ceremony, attended by 72 ESU members and friends, honoured the 2023 winners of the ESU’s Roly Sussex Short Story Competition and the Secondary School Public Speaking
Competition. Congratulations to all.
• 2nd Row: Her Excellency the Governor of Queensland, the Honourable Dr Jeanette Young AC PSM;
Emeritus Professor Roly Sussex and ESU President Emeritus Professor Caroline Hatcher.
• 3rd Row: ESU President Emeritus Professor Caroline Hatcher addresses the reception;
David Fagan, Chair of the Short Story Competition judging panel,
chats with 2023 Open Division winner Melanie Wild and 2022 winner
Erica Fryberg, now an ESU director and 2024 competition coordinator.
• Bottom Row: ESU winners with (centre) Roly Sussex, the Honourable Dr Jeanette Young and Caroline Hatcher:
o Roly Sussex Short Story Competition, left to right:
Thomas Mallet (Highly Commended, School Division),
Christopher Hernik (Second Prize, School Division),
Jacob Gillam (First Prize, School Division),
Penny Carroll (Highly Commended, Open Division),
Melanie Wild (First Prize, Open Division)
and, far right, Daniel Wright (Highly Commended, School Division)
o Secondary School Public Speaking Competition, left to right:
Eli Gearing (Second Prize, Senior Division),
Sidney Marshall (First Prize, Senior Division),
Samuel Kennedy (Second Prize, Intermediate Division),
Lucas Lu (First Prize, Intermediate Division)
• Top Row: Melanie Wild (First Prize, Short Story Open Division) and
Jacob Gillam (First Prize, Short Story School Division)
• 2nd Row: Sidney Marshall (First Prize, Public Speaking Senior Division) and Lucas
Lu (First Prize, Public Speaking Intermediate Division)
ESU 2024 Twilight Evening
Our Twilight Evening on Friday 23 February brought together members and guests to hear a special presentation by Major General Professor John Pearn, who took the audience on a whirlwind journey through architecture, history and some of the origins of the English language. John reflected on the source of the names of our months, with two-headed Janus looking back to the old year and forward to the new, and explored some everyday English phrases, with their origins in Latin, German and Scandinavian languages. After the presentation, members and guests had a chance to mingle on the Miegunyah deck on a clear and breezy night.
