Eirene Mort studied art in London, returning to Sydney in 1903. Three years later, she met Nora Kate Weston, whose skills complemented her own. These dynamic ‘New Women’ shared their lives as artist and artisan for sixty years. To their families, they were known simply as ‘The Aunts’.

In their twenties, Nora and Eirene opened a professional studio in the city, where they worked and mentored students, held exhibitions and sold their artefacts. Eirene was better known, as a designer and etcher whose work is held in Australia’s leading collecting institutions, but she regarded their work as a collaboration, with Nora a skilled carpenter, woodcarver and metalworker.

In this illustrated joint biography, Margarey-Medal-award-winning biographer Dr Sylvia Martin, in-conversation with historian Frank Bongiorno, combines elements of memoir and meta-biography to paint a rich portrait of the shared lives of Eirene Mort and Nora Kate Weston.

Attend in person

Entry to this event is free but bookings are essential.

Sylvia will be signing books in the Library foyer following the discussion.

Watch online

The presentation will also be available online. Please make a booking and we will send you a direct link to the livestream event via email. Or you can join anytime through the Library's YouTube channel.  

About the speakers

Dr Sylvia Martin

Dr Sylvia Martin is a former actor and author of three biographies of Australian women and a book of memoir essays. She holds a PhD in Women’s studies from Griffith University’s School of Historical and Cultural Studies. Her works have been shortlisted for the ISAA Book Prize, the NSW Premier’s Literature Award and the Kibble Award. She was the recipient of the Magarey Medal for Biography in 2008. Dr Martin writes about the private lives of often under-recognised, immensely talented women, who may by modern standards be considered queer.

Frank Bongiorno AM

Frank Bongiorno AM is the author of three acclaimed histories: Dreamers and Schemers, The Eighties and The Sex Lives of Australians. He is Donald Horne Professor of History and Public Ideas, and Director of the Vice-Chancellor’s Centre of Public Ideas at the University of Canberra. He is also President of the Council for the Humanities Arts and Social Sciences and Immediate Past President of the Australian Historical Association.