Programme
Stories in Stone 2026 - Programme*
Full details for each presentation will be posted here soon.
8:30 am s Registration
9:00 am s Welcome
> Judith John, White Lady Funerals
9:15 am s Session 1
> Kelly Burstow (researcher; creator - ‘Cemetery as Place’)
‘Filling the Gaps: What Objects Tell Us About Cemeteries and Grief’
> Werona Armstrong (researcher)
'Sectarianism in the Cemetery - Mapping the Denominational Divisions in the Redcliffe Cemetery’
> Jenny Clark (vice-president, Friends of Balmoral Cemetery)
'25 Years of Friends of Balmoral Cemetery 2001-2026’
> End-of-session discussion
10:45 am s Tea Break
11:05 am s Session 2
> Queensland Cemetries Heritage and Arts Association
(Video) ‘Community and Cemeteries’
> Therese Sargood and Yvonne Finger (committee
members, Tambo Historical Association)
‘Unlock your Past, Inspire Your Future: Tambo Cemetery Preservation’
> Melanie Pickering (author, urban gothic romance and thrillers)
‘Ghosts of Possibility: Creative Inspiration for Writers’
> End-of-session discussion
12:30 pm s Lunch
> Joanna Lincolne (celebrant; end-of-life doula)
‘Let the Dead Places Sing: Grief, Song, and Reimagining Cemetery Spaces’
> Dr Leah Cotterell and Narelle McCoy (researchers,
creators and performers)
‘The Delicate Art of Talking About Death in the Graveyard’
> End-of-session discussion
2:40 pm s Tea Break
3:00 pm s Session 4
> Christopher Dawson (researcher, historian)
‘Neoclassicalism, Egyptomania, and the Gothic and Celtic Revivals: The Architecture of Victorian-era Grave Monuments’ (Video)
> Rebecca Lush (curator; committee member, Australian Death Studies Society)
‘Telling Their Stories: The Sharing of History in Cemeteries’
> End-of-session discussion
4:00 pm s Close
The MC for Stories in Stone 2026 is Jess Parker.
* Programme may be subject to change