The Great Dead Body Teachers: Jackie Dent in conversation with Geordie Williamson

An adventure into the world of anatomy and dissection.

‘Since I was a child, I’ve been interested in dead bodies. When I was eight years old, I dug up the remains of my pet budgie Zazbut. He had been buried for about eight weeks in a patch of grass outside our house in Dasmarinas, a fortified village in Manila, in the Philippines. The first exhumation was the beginning of my intrigue with death, which has persisted.’

Dissection might not be a normal topic to contemplate but when both your paternal grandparents donate their bodies to science it does intermittently cross your mind.

This is the story of how Jackie Dent’s grandparents – Ruby and Julie – gave their bodies to science when they died. No one in her family seems to know why, or what really happened with their bodies afterwards. Were they avid science buffs? Was it to save on cremation costs? How do scientists tackle the practicalities and ethics of cutting up the dead for research? And who are body donors generally?

Weaving the personal with the history of anatomy and the dissected, Jackie Dent explores the world of whole-body donation — all the while looking for answers as to what happened to her grandparents.

Jackie Dent is a journalist who has worked for major media outlets including The Sydney Morning Herald, The Guardian, Monocle, Reuters, The New York Times, Strewth! and others. Her career has included stints with the United Nations in Afghanistan, Pakistan, North Ossetia and South Sudan. She has also produced radio for The ABC and curated talks for Tedx Sydney, the Ethics Centre and Clear Spot Club. The Great Dead Body Teachers is her first book.

Geordie Williamson is chief literary critic of the Australian and winner of the 2011 Pascall Prize for criticism. His book about neglected Australian authors, The Burning Library, was published October 2012, and we’re very excited to know he’s got another in the pipeline.

Join Jackie and Geordie at the Afterword Cafe.

You can purchase tickets below.