If there’s one thing Australians love, it’s a cheeky bevvy. Drinking is as important to our national culture as the animals we’ve popped on our crest, or beloved sports like cricket, and we get down to gettin’ drunk with a determination that borders on the compulsive.

Not that you’d need to tell any of that to Jenny Valentish, the celebrated author behind Woman Of Substances. Valentish, also known for her writing in The Sydney Morning Herald and The Saturday Paper, kicked the bottle back in 2009, and since then has been exploring addiction in all its forms.

Now, she’s set to show off that knowledge as part of Belvoir’s “Monday Conversations” series, a string of talks hosted by The Wheeler Centre, Belvoir Theatre and The Sydney Writer’s Festival. She will be joined by Dr Michael Bowen, a senior lecturer at Sydney University, beloved media personality Wendy Harmer, and Kate Jinx, director of programming for the Golden Age cinema, with the four dissecting the issues that drive Australia’s drinking culture with unblinking gazes that might even border on the uncomfortable.

Trust us: this is one of those “not to be missed” nights out.

The talk goes down on Monday September 18 at 6:30 at Belvoir Theatre. Tickets are $19, and can be purchased here.

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