Blogs/Web Pages/Articles Kirsty Capes | 'It’s important to have stories about the care experience that are positive' | The Bookseller Charlotte Eyre 2021 An interview with Kirsty Capes about her new novel, Careless, and the importance of positive representations of Care Experienced people. External Website

Films/Videos The Last Jedi 2017 The Last Jedi follows the character Rey, an orphan character, as she seeks help from Luke Skywalker. External Website

Television Shows Cardinal 2018 In the 2nd sereies of this crime drama, villian Ray Northwind was in foster care and showing signs of violence from the age of 9. Two other characters were in kinship care, a low level drug dealer and his sister. In the 3rd season, a woman puts together a foster family of vulnerable young people and then uses them as her 'warriors'. One of the young people was 'in the system' and had already been in trouble for stalking a young woman. The murderous pyschiatrist in the show was orphaned by both parents commiting suicide when he was a child. External Website

Writers Billy Connolly (Writer) Billy Connolly (b. 1942), was born in Glasgow. When he was 3 and his sister, Florence, 4, their mother abandoned the children, living the children at home on their own. Neighbours heard the cries of the children and took them to an orphanage. At the time, the children's father, William Connolly, was serving with the Royal Air Force in Burma. Williams 2 unmarried sisters, Margaret and Mona, collected the children from the orphanage and took them in. After the war, William Connolly moved in with his sisters and his children. He sexually abused his son, and Mona physically beat Billy on a daily basis. Billy left school at 15, eventually supporting himself through folk singing before he moved to comedy at the age of 28. Billy Connolly has been entertaining international audiences with his stand-up comedy and acting performances for over forty years, including in films such as Mrs Brown (1997), Open Season (2006), and Brave (2012). He has received numerous awards, including a BAFTA Lifetime Achievement Award (2003) and honorary doctorates from the University of Glasgow (2001), Nottingham Trent University (2010) and Strathclyde (2017). External Website

Blogs/Web Pages/Articles Queen's Orphan Asylum Find & Connect 2025 The Queen’s Orphan School in the Hobart suburb of New Town was one institution comprised of the Female Orphan School & the Male Orphan School. Very young boys started off at the Female Orphan School before being transferred to the Male Orphan School. The institution operated from 1828 (it began as the King’s Orphan School) and closed in 1879. Initially, the majority of children were those born to convict women; when transportation stopped in 1873, so did numbers of children at the orphanage. Some Aboriginal Australian children were housed there too. https://www.findandconnect.gov.au/entity/queens-orphan-asylum/ External Website

Authors D The Aboriginal Mother and other poems ➝ Back to Top

Performing Arts Rapper, singer, songwriter, philanthropist Pitbull Armando Christian Pérez (born 1981), known professionally by his stage name Pitbull, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, brand ambassador, businessman and philanthropist. Pérez was born in Miami, Florida. After his parents separated, he lived with his mother but later stayed with a foster family in Georgia. Perez began his career in the early 2000s, recording reggaeton, Latin hip hop, and crunk music under a multitude of labels. In 2004, he released his debut album M.I.A.M.I. under TVT Records and the executive production of Lil Jon. Pitbull later released his second album, El Mariel, in 2006 and his third, The Boatlift, in 2007. His fourth album, Rebelution (2009), included his breakthrough hit single "I Know You Want Me (Calle Ocho)", which peaked at number two on the US Billboard Hot 100 and number four on the UK Singles Chart. After rebranding himself as a pop artist, Pitbull's next English-language album, Planet Pit, featured his first US number one single "Give Me Everything". His 2013 track from Global Warming: Meltdown, titled "Timber", topped the charts in twenty nations, and hit #1 in eighteen countries, including the US and UK. External Website

Radio & Podcast The Tangled Branches of Lech Blaine’s Family Tree Read This (Lech Blaine) 2025 In this podcast, Australian writer Lech Blaine talks about his book, Australian Gospel: A Family Saga (2024) Lech Blaine is the only biological child of Lenore & Tom Blaine. Lenore & Tom were the foster carers of 3 Shelley children, Steve, John & Hannah (amongst others). Michael & Mary Shelley have had all 4 of their children removed by the Qld state and they have a track record of harassing, trespassing and threatening politicians as well as foster carers – including the Blaines. Lech Blaine has undertaken hours of research to tell this complicated story. He’s interviewed family members, read case files and his mother’s diary, and reviewed court reports as well as newspapers accounts of Shelley exploits. External Website

Writers Sheilah Graham 1904-1988 Sheilah Graham 1904 – 1988) was a British-born, nationally syndicated American gossip columnist during Hollywood's "Golden Age". She was born Lily Shiel in Leeds. After her father died, her mother struggled to care for her six children and six years later, placed Lilly and her younger brother into an orphanage. At the age of 14, Lily went home from the orphanage to care for her mother for two years. After her mother’s death from stomach cancer, sixteen year old Lily moved into her own flat while working in a department store. Sheilah Graham left London for the United States in 1933 and went on to become a nationally syndicated columnist after she moved to Hollywood in 1936. For 35 years Sheilah Graham wielded considerable power in Hollywood as one of the “unholy trio” with Louella Parsons and Hedda Hopper. She also wrote a number of books, including a memoir of her relationship with F. Scott Fitzgerald which was made into the 1959 film, Beloved Infidel. External Website

Television Shows The Night Manager 2026 The Night Manager (2016) is a British spy thriller adapted from the eponymous 1993 novel by John le Carre. In the 2nd series, which premiered in January 2026, Teddy Dos Santos (Diego Calva) is a Colombian arms dealer who comes to the attention of Jonathan Pine (Tom Hiddleston) because he appears to be using the same business model once practiced by criminal Richard Roper (Hugh Laurie) in Series 1. It turns out that Teddy Dos Santos is Richard Roper’s son. Teddy saw his father infrequently, when Roper would visit the monastery where Teddy was being raised by a priest. *spoiler alert* Towards the end of the series, Jonathan Pine convinces Teddy that his father is using him & Teddy turns on his father. External Website

Television Shows Maryland 2023 Maryland (2023) is a British family drama series. It tells the story of two sisters who travel to the Isle of Man on the death of their mother. There they discover their mother, Mary, has in recent years reconnected with her birth mother. Not much is told about the original adoption of Mary. What we do know is that she was happy in her birth mother’s house which now passes to her daughters. External Website

Performing Arts US, Singer-songwriter Aimee Allen Aimee Allen (born February 2, 1982) is an American singer-songwriter based in Los Angeles, California. She is lead singer of ska-punk band The Interrupters, Aimee has overcome a turbulent and traumatic past to find success in music. Growing up on the Flathead Indian Reservation in Montana, her mother remarried and she endured years of sexual/physical abuse from the stepfather which led to depression, and suicidal thoughts. Music became her escape, and after moving to Los Angeles to pursue her career, she found her way into the music industry, signing a record deal. However, she fell into a destructive, abusive relationship, leading to a suicide attempt and a long struggle with alcoholism. After hitting rock bottom, Aimee got sober and began therapy, eventually being diagnosed with complex PTSD, depression, and anxiety. She found healing through treatments like hyperbaric oxygen therapy and has since shared her story through her band’s music. Her new album In The Wild explores her journey of survival, recovery, and hope, aiming to inspire others facing similar struggles. Aimee now uses her platform to offer hope and encourage others to seek help and healing. External Website

Children's Fiction Back Home Michelle Magorian 1984 In Back Home, Michelle Magorian, author of the bestselller Goodnight Mister Tom, tells the powerful and unforgettable story of Rusty, returning to England after being evacuated to America for five years in the Second World War. After five happy years in America, Rusty must return to England: the place she used to call home. But it doesn't fell like home. Rusty's mother is like a stranger, her little brother doesn't know her and why does the food taste so bad? Rusty just can't get used to the rigid rules and rationing and her strict new boarding school. Lonely and homesick, Rusty makes friends with Lance, another returned evacuee, and her indomitable spirit leads her into a dramatic and devastating rebellion. . . External Website

Poets Mikhail Lermontov Mikhail Lermontov Russian poet Mikhail Lermontov (1814-1841) grew up in the kinship care of his grandmother. Lermontov's mother died when he was only 3. His maternal grandmother, Yelizaveta Arsenyeva, came to an agreement with the boy's father that Mikhail live with her until he was 16. He saw little of his father while living with his grandmother who provided well for her (often ill) grandson. Mikhail Lermontov began writing poetry while at Moscow University. Lermontov was only 26 years of age when he died. At the time he'd had published only one collection of poetry but 3 volumes were published posthumously. The town of Lermontov is named after him. External Website

Fiction featuring Care Experience Jane Eyre Charlotte Brontë 2014 Jane Eyre, novel by Charlotte Brontë, first published in 1847 as Jane Eyre: An Autobiography, with Currer Bell (Brontë’s pseudonym) listed as the editor. Widely considered a classic, it gave new truthfulness to the Victorian novel with its realistic portrayal of the inner life of a woman, noting her struggles with her natural desires and social condition. A gothic novel, it opens with Jane, an orphaned, isolated ten-year-old, living with the Reed family that dislikes her. She is later sent to the austere Lowood Institution, a charity school, where she and the other girls are mistreated; “Lowood,” as the name suggests, is the “low” point in Jane’s young life. In the face of such adversity, however, she gathers strength and confidence. She grows in strength, excels at school, becomes a governess, and falls in love with Edward Rochester. After being deceived by him, Jane goes to Marsh End, where she regains her spirituality and discovers her own strength. By novel's end, Jane is a strong, independent woman. Charlotte Brontë's Jane Eyre still raises relevant questions to readers today.Jane Eyre is a Bildungsroman which follows the experiences of its eponymous heroine, including her growth to adulthood and her love for Mr. Rochester, the brooding master of Thornfield Hall. External Website

Radio & Podcast Tolstoy: War and the Russian Empire Empire 2023 A reflection on the life of Leo Tolstoy with biographer Rosamund Bartlett. Tolstoy was orphaned by the age of 9 and lived with relatives. There is some discussion in the podcast of the impact this would have had on him, that he often felt like an outsider and indulged in some ‘wild’ behaviour as a young man. The podcast continues with Tolstoy’s involvement in Russian wars and his later dissent against Russian imperialism. External Website

Fiction featuring Care Experience The Friend in Need Elizabeth Coxhead 1957 Isobel Fairlie is a child welfare officer who provides amusing sketches of the ‘deprived and delinquent’ children she works with. Isobel 's early success as ‘a sort of paid interferer’ is effortless as she involves the lives and affections of the most difficult children, the most hopeless parents, even her own friends and perfect strangers, in each others’ problems even though there is a cost. (Available to read online, see link) External Website

Television Shows The Rainmaker 2025 The Rainmaker (2025) is a legal drama based on the eponymous novel by John Grisham published in 1995. A young lawyer, Rudy Baylor (Milo Callaghan) takes on a wrongful death suit involving an African American man who died while undergoing hospital care. The hospital alleged that the man had died of an overdose, but they were covering up the murder of the man by one of their nurses, Melvin Pritcher (Dan Fogler). Melvin Pritcher turns out to have been in & out of foster care as a child because of his mother’s substance problems. *spoiler alert* Melvin Pritcher ends up in prison along with one of the lawyers covering up the hospital’s cover up. External Website

Blogs/Web Pages/Articles Your Sexuality Is the Least Interesting Thing About You: Rita Mae Brown on RubyFruit Jungle's Rerelease Llana Masad 2015 The author's reflection on being asked by her aunt whether I’d read Rita Mae Brown's stunning lesbian coming-of-age story, Rubyfruit Jungle. "When I told her I hadn’t, her eyes popped open wide and she rushed to her bookshelf—but her copy was buried behind too many other books." External Website

Radio & Podcast Edgar Allan Poe (Podcast) In Our Time (Poe) 2023 In this episode of In Our Time, Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss Edgar Allan Poe’s childhood with the Allans in Virginia as well as his later life as a literary critic and poet. They also discuss Poe as the originator of detective fiction with his character C. Auguste Dupin. Dupin first appeared in Poe’s short story ‘The Murders in the Rue Morgue’ in 1841. Melvyn Bragg expresses surprise that on reading ‘The Murders in the Rue Morgue’ he is reminded of Arthur Conan Doyle. According to Bragg, it is obvious that Doyle stole from Poe. Another way of looking at Poe and Dupin that is discussed is that Edgar Allan Poe set up a powerful template for future detective stories. External Website