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Kumi Taguchi – The Good Daughter
Thursday 1st May starting 6:00 pm for 6:30 pm
IN CONVERSATION WITH LEIGH SALES AM
The death of her estranged father made Kumi Taguchi realise how little she had known him and how ambivalent she had been about the Japanese side of her life. In a beautifully written memoir of captivating emotional honesty, the SBS Insight host sets out to find her dad, and herself.
Growing up, Kumi Taguchi thought her father was just difficult: reserved to the point of silence, obsessively frugal, and – after her parents’ divorce – almost entirely absent. At several points, Kumi decided to cut their few remaining ties, each time learning that denying a piece of your identity is no simple task. Still, when her father died, she was far away and Kumi’s feelings about him – and her own heritage – remained tangled.
But just because a parent has gone doesn’t mean they’re absent. Over time Kumi came to understand more about what made her father as he was, including his harrowing experiences as a child in wartime Japan and, above all, the culture she both loved and felt burdened by. She decided to travel to Japan to find the family home, and perhaps lay to rest some ghosts.
In this highly evocative journey of understanding, Kumi explores her divided self: the tension between duty and freedom; the people she’s felt drawn to and lost; and how to find your place when caught between two worlds. The result is a beautifully candid, resonant book about feeling comfortable in your own skin that will speak to the seeker in us all.
BOOKINGS ESSENTIAL
Born in Melbourne, Victoria to her Japanese father and Australian mother, Kumi Taguchi grew up in rural New South Wales learning classical violin from the age of five. She has worked in the media for over 25 years in Australia and overseas, and is currently the host of SBS’s Insight.
Leigh Sales AM is one of Australia’s most respected journalists. As the anchor of the ABC’s flagship current affairs program, 7.30,she has interviewed dozens of world leaders and celebrities, including Hillary Clinton, Tony Blair, Henry Kissinger, the Dalai Lama, Paul McCartney, Patti Smith, Harrison Ford, Leonardo DiCaprio and Julie Andrews. She has interviewed every living Australian prime minister and also anchors the ABC’s federal election coverage. Leigh is the winner of three Walkley Awards, Australia’s highest journalism honour; the author of the books Detainee 002, On Doubt and the bestselling Any Ordinary Day;and the co-host of the popular podcast Chat 10 Looks 3 with Annabel Crabb.