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Seize the Fire: Three Speeches
Australia is not a fixed entity, a collection of outdated bigotries and reactionary credos, but rather an invitation to dream, and this country—our country—belongs to its dreamers . . . if we are finally to once more go forward as a people it’s time our dreamers were brought in from the cold.
Richard Flanagan’s speeches have become unique literary events attended by sellout crowds, reported in national and international media, and a spur to widespread debate and discussion.
Gathered here are three of his recent speeches in which he interweaves topics as diverse as troubadour poetry, love stories and the murder of the refugee Reza Barati; his top ten Tasmanian novels and the Australian Pacific solution; and his much-celebrated National Press Club address where he questioned the militarisation of Australian memory and argued for the need for formal Indigenous recognition.
Comic, illuminating and deeply moving, this is writing speaking to the great questions of our time and our country.
Richard Flanagan’s speeches have become unique literary events attended by sellout crowds, reported in national and international media, and a spur to widespread debate and discussion.
Gathered here are three of his recent speeches in which he interweaves topics as diverse as troubadour poetry, love stories and the murder of the refugee Reza Barati; his top ten Tasmanian novels and the Australian Pacific solution; and his much-celebrated National Press Club address where he questioned the militarisation of Australian memory and argued for the need for formal Indigenous recognition.
Comic, illuminating and deeply moving, this is writing speaking to the great questions of our time and our country.
- GenresNonfictionAudiobook
96 pages, Paperback
First published October 29, 2018
2 people are currently reading
66 people want to read
About the author
Richard Flanagan
33 books1,690 followersRichard Flanagan (born 1961) is an author, historian and film director from Tasmania, Australia. He was president of the Tasmania University Union and a Rhodes Scholar. Each of his novels has attracted major praise. His first, Death of a River Guide (1994), was short-listed for the Miles Franklin Award, as were his next two, The Sound of One Hand Clapping (1997) and Gould's Book of Fish (2001). His earlier, non-fiction titles include books about the Gordon River, student issues, and the story of conman John Friedrich.
Two of his novels are set on the West Coast of Tasmania; where he lived in the township of Rosebery as a child. Death of a River Guide relates to the Franklin River, Gould's Book of Fish to the Macquarie Harbour Penal Station, and The Sound of One Hand Clapping to the Hydro settlements in the Central Highlands of Tasmania.
Two of his novels are set on the West Coast of Tasmania; where he lived in the township of Rosebery as a child. Death of a River Guide relates to the Franklin River, Gould's Book of Fish to the Macquarie Harbour Penal Station, and The Sound of One Hand Clapping to the Hydro settlements in the Central Highlands of Tasmania.
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
December 31, 2019
I recognise the portent of having read these essays on the last day of the decade. Richard Flanagan’s fiction has always been hit and miss for me, but here we are comfortably on the same wavelength. Seize the Fire: Three Speeches is a klaxon.
We have to accept that no Australian is innocent, that these crimes are committed in Australia’s name, which is our name, and Australia has to answer to them, and so we must answer for them to the world, to the future, to our own souls.
We have to accept that no Australian is innocent, that these crimes are committed in Australia’s name, which is our name, and Australia has to answer to them, and so we must answer for them to the world, to the future, to our own souls.
December 12, 2018
"For in the end all human life aspires to hope, the highest expression of which is love. Without hope, there is no future."
Moving speeches on the depressing truths of important topics, including asylum seekers and indigenous Australia. I found myself most emotionally connected with the first speech "On Love Stories and Reza Barati", for its exploration of what is love, what are love stories and how they help us define life. I was deeply fascinated with the unexpected subject of courts of love, which did exist in twelfth- and thirteenth-century Provence. Unfortunately, this speech did include spoilers for some classics (most which I haven't read yet): Don Quixote, Madame Bovary, Anna Karenina, Lady with Lapdog by Anton Chekhov, Spring in Fialta by Vladimir Nabokov, Dr Zhivago, The Devil by Leo Tolstoy, Too Loud a Solitude by Bohumil Hrabal, 1984.
Moving speeches on the depressing truths of important topics, including asylum seekers and indigenous Australia. I found myself most emotionally connected with the first speech "On Love Stories and Reza Barati", for its exploration of what is love, what are love stories and how they help us define life. I was deeply fascinated with the unexpected subject of courts of love, which did exist in twelfth- and thirteenth-century Provence. Unfortunately, this speech did include spoilers for some classics (most which I haven't read yet): Don Quixote, Madame Bovary, Anna Karenina, Lady with Lapdog by Anton Chekhov, Spring in Fialta by Vladimir Nabokov, Dr Zhivago, The Devil by Leo Tolstoy, Too Loud a Solitude by Bohumil Hrabal, 1984.
August 9, 2019
These speeches are challenging and inspirational. Flanagan writes well and with passion, his speeches are informed, inspired and clearly a reflection of his beliefs.
These speeches cover a wide territory and provide an insight into the dilemmas which are changing the face of Australia, and not in a positive direction. Worthy of attention.
These speeches cover a wide territory and provide an insight into the dilemmas which are changing the face of Australia, and not in a positive direction. Worthy of attention.
July 29, 2021
Short but no easy read for an Australian. The first chapter was 'academic' to me. The second and third chapters were another wake-up call to Australians about 'illegal' immigration, aboriginal genocide and poor investments in 'history'. One must agree.
April 1, 2019
Essays that provoke thinking about modern Australian, who we are and what our identity will grow into. Highly recommend
February 15, 2020
Crucial, essential reading for all Australians.
March 7, 2022
I listened to the audio book, read by Richard Flanagan. Highly recommended.
October 24, 2023
If only all Australians had listened to this before the referendum was held.
More people should and consider who we are, who we want to be, and what we're doing as a nation
More people should and consider who we are, who we want to be, and what we're doing as a nation
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August 2, 2025Flanagan writes as he always does: beautifully and with a pained conscience. I, personally, am not yet aware of any other Aussie writer who writes better and with more passion about the great moral failings of our country.
The things he writes about here he was written about elsewhere, so I feel confident saying that Flanagan has a smallish number of constant moral concerns: our treatment of Indigenous history; our treatment of asylum seekers; the ever-present threat of fascism, nationalism, populism, and all similar political phenomena; and the general idea of the Australian character and nation.
I have left this slim volume unrated for one reason: I dislike nonpractical social critique. I prefer criticism that, at some point, offers practical solutions. To be fair, it is clear that Flanagan never meant for these speeches to serve that purpose. Their collective title, Seize the Fire, reveals the purpose of these essays as an attempt to fire up our conscience, to raise our ire, to stir up emotions of anger and regret and the deep conviction that we can and ought to do better.
And he does that.
The first essay is a study of Aussie culture, especially of its politics. It is true that in many ways we conform to our worst stereotypes: we are lazy, contented to a fault, unable to be roused by big problems, replying with a collective "she'll be right" to systemic issues of political capture by gas lobbies, the gambling industry, and more.
The second essay is a riveting condemnation of our treatment of asylum seekers and, more specifically, our use of offshore processing on islands like Manus and Nauru. Flanagan has such a gift: the essay starts as a discussion of his favourite Tasmanian novels, turns into a discussion of the idea of nationalism, of the idea of a nation, of a national literature, before transforming into a fiery takedown of one of the darkest moments of our history. The structure of this essay, the way it evolved, is really something.
The third essay was my favourite. It again takes on the heady topic of national identity, starting with a discussion of the Anzac legacy, before subverting our conventional understanding of that legacy and connecting it with the legacy of Indigenous resistance to colonialism. In both cases, massive numbers of people died for their nation. The difference is that the Anzacs died for the dying British empire (and our soldiers die today for yet another dying empire, the American), whereas our Indigenous heroes died here, for Australia. Flanagan wants us to reject altogether the idea of dying for foreign regimes, and to find common cause with the Indigenous martyrs who fought and died for this country.
Flanagan writes of the genocide of Indigenous Tasmanians, of how, before this happened, many White settlers abandoned their colonial towns and outposts and went to live with the native inhabitants, dressing like them, eating like them, seeing and thinking and feeling like them, not as a form of subterfuge, but out of a sympathy for these people and their way of life. This, too, this way of life, this merger between our settler history and settled ancient history, is our legacy and our birthright. This mongrel union between two civilisations is Australia. This is what Australia needs to reincorporate once again, not for the first time, if it ever does decide to wean itself from the teat of foreign empires, whether British, American, or the circling Chinese, and become once and for all its own person.
All essays are extraordinary, but the third and last one is particularly great. It should be mandatory reading in all high schools and university history courses and should be considered a primary reference in our ongoing discussions about what it means to be Australian.
The things he writes about here he was written about elsewhere, so I feel confident saying that Flanagan has a smallish number of constant moral concerns: our treatment of Indigenous history; our treatment of asylum seekers; the ever-present threat of fascism, nationalism, populism, and all similar political phenomena; and the general idea of the Australian character and nation.
I have left this slim volume unrated for one reason: I dislike nonpractical social critique. I prefer criticism that, at some point, offers practical solutions. To be fair, it is clear that Flanagan never meant for these speeches to serve that purpose. Their collective title, Seize the Fire, reveals the purpose of these essays as an attempt to fire up our conscience, to raise our ire, to stir up emotions of anger and regret and the deep conviction that we can and ought to do better.
And he does that.
The first essay is a study of Aussie culture, especially of its politics. It is true that in many ways we conform to our worst stereotypes: we are lazy, contented to a fault, unable to be roused by big problems, replying with a collective "she'll be right" to systemic issues of political capture by gas lobbies, the gambling industry, and more.
The second essay is a riveting condemnation of our treatment of asylum seekers and, more specifically, our use of offshore processing on islands like Manus and Nauru. Flanagan has such a gift: the essay starts as a discussion of his favourite Tasmanian novels, turns into a discussion of the idea of nationalism, of the idea of a nation, of a national literature, before transforming into a fiery takedown of one of the darkest moments of our history. The structure of this essay, the way it evolved, is really something.
The third essay was my favourite. It again takes on the heady topic of national identity, starting with a discussion of the Anzac legacy, before subverting our conventional understanding of that legacy and connecting it with the legacy of Indigenous resistance to colonialism. In both cases, massive numbers of people died for their nation. The difference is that the Anzacs died for the dying British empire (and our soldiers die today for yet another dying empire, the American), whereas our Indigenous heroes died here, for Australia. Flanagan wants us to reject altogether the idea of dying for foreign regimes, and to find common cause with the Indigenous martyrs who fought and died for this country.
Flanagan writes of the genocide of Indigenous Tasmanians, of how, before this happened, many White settlers abandoned their colonial towns and outposts and went to live with the native inhabitants, dressing like them, eating like them, seeing and thinking and feeling like them, not as a form of subterfuge, but out of a sympathy for these people and their way of life. This, too, this way of life, this merger between our settler history and settled ancient history, is our legacy and our birthright. This mongrel union between two civilisations is Australia. This is what Australia needs to reincorporate once again, not for the first time, if it ever does decide to wean itself from the teat of foreign empires, whether British, American, or the circling Chinese, and become once and for all its own person.
All essays are extraordinary, but the third and last one is particularly great. It should be mandatory reading in all high schools and university history courses and should be considered a primary reference in our ongoing discussions about what it means to be Australian.
September 12, 2024
Audiobook Rating
Richard Flanagan ★★★★☆
Richard Flanagan ★★★★☆
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews