Life & Faith

Our literature is not as diverse as our streets, schools, playgrounds and offices. --- "I grew up in India and now I have Australian citizenship; and I feel like I’m Indian and Australian, I don’t feel like I have to choose. I feel I am a migrant, but I also feel at home here." Roanna Gonsalves is the author of The Permanent Resident, a collection of short stories about the migrant experience in Australia - from a specific point of view. Her characters, like herself, are all women from a Goan Catholic background. "For a lot of Goan Catholics, the faith is something to hold onto in a world where race and class are an oppression. The church becomes a centre for finding worth. So a lot of Goans will join the choir in the local church – my dad sings at the Cathedral choir here – join St Vincent de Paul, go and help out in any way they can … so, that idea of giving back." In this episode, Gonsalves unpacks the complexities of this Goan Catholic identity, and how it has shaped her life and work. "We don’t hear as m