An evening with Diana Reid: Sex and consent on campus 2022

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We talk to exciting new writer and USyd alumni Diana Reid about her debut novel Love & Virtue, which explores themes of sex, consent and power in a university setting.

The conversation will engage with the ambiguous ethics of consent, virtue-signaling and the relationship between philosophy and fiction. How is balance achieved between complex individual trauma and public activism? What role should universities play within students' so called 'private' lives? Is our normative conception of sex becoming more liberating or following yet another patriarchal script? What space should a friend occupy in navigating these questions? How does classism intersect with sexism?

Diana in a recent article about her writing process said, 'I tried to ask: what is consent (in all contexts, not just sexual), why does it matter, what is then nature of the harm when consent is vitiated?' These grey areas of interplay between power and consent are of increasing concern in relation to the recent National Student Safety Survey and the scale and nature of students experiencing sexual harassment.

Diana graduated from the University of Sydney in 2019 with a Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Laws with Honours in Philosophy.

Praise for Love & Virtue...

Helen Garner: '…an absolute cracker, Love & Virtue lobs right into the current moment with a clarifying light. I hope everyone reads this book.'

Annabel Crabb: 'Loved it… It's electrifying.'

Mia Freedman: 'I inhaled it… an amazing book.'