Powerful Stories

Writing against - and beyond - settler colonial genocide

About

The Powerful Stories Network (PSN) was established in 2024 at the University of Sydney to present research, support community organisations, and publish on Indigenous and refugee stories in settler colonies across the world. PSN was the product of many conversations and reflections following the Powerful Stories Workshop that brought together researchers and Indigenous and refugee communities to discuss diverse forms, practices, and outcomes of storytelling. PSN has become a lively space to showcase cutting edge research and have critical conversations about Indigenous and refugee struggles both locally and internationally. It seeks to interrogate and subvert settler colonial violence through the voices of the most marginalised in society.

If you would like to connect with us, and/or join the network, please click here.

Upcoming Events

Reading Periyar Now

Title: Reading Periyar Now May 1, 2026 06:00 PM - online only - please register at the link below. Abstract: This talk will discuss the Introduction and the chapter "Periyar's Anti-Aryanism" from The Cambridge Companion to Periyar. The discussion will revolve around Periyar's Self-Respect thought and his anti-caste praxis. Bio: Karthick Ram Manoharan is Smuts Visiting Research Fellow at the University of Cambridge. He is faculty of social sciences at National Law School of I

Songwriting as History

History on Wednesday | April 1 Songwriting as History A History on Wednesday/Powerful Stories Network co-sponsored event. Associate Professor Toby Martin (Sydney) 12.10pm - 1.30pm | VGCC Boardroom (and Zoom) Through techniques such as imagery, rhyme, repetition (ie choruses) and a narrative strategy that often blurs memory and fiction, songs tell history differently. Embodiment (through singing) and the ‘emotional pull’ of songs can also engage listeners in particular way

Offshoring Architecture: Asylum's Counter Archives

History on Wednesday | March 25 Offshoring Architecture: Asylum's Counter Archives. A History on Wednesday/Powerful Stories Network co-sponsored event. Associate Professor Jennifer Ferng (Sydney) 12.10pm - 1.30pm | VGCC Boardroom (and Zoom) Based upon her recent book Corporate Ethics and the Architecture of Asylum (2025), this talk by Jennifer Ferng argues that offshore processing centres in Manus Island and Nauru are deeply connected to historical and contemporary discou