I'm Speaking in Canberra, Sept 22

I will be speaking about the influence of Swedish mystic Emanuel Swedenborg on the history of self-help literature in Canberra next month.
If you've never heard of Swedenborg, don't worry - this talk is a fascinating overview of the history and emergence of self-help writing and I promise you will be entertained!
All are welcome. Details:

Swedenborg and Self-Help: The Influence of Emanuel Swedenborg on the Modern Literature of Self Improvement

Thurs 22 September

Time 7.30 pm

Address Beyond Q Bookshop, Curtin Shops, Canberra

Cost: Gold Coin Donation

While most imagine that self-help books are something new, emerging fully-formed at some mysterious point in the late 1960s, they are, in fact, a venerable literary form with their roots stretching back into the 18th century. Many of the earliest self-help writers were students of Swedenborg's writings, and his ideas have filtered into our culture via the medium of popular self-help, from "How to Win Friends and Influence People" to "The Secret." In this talk Walter Mason, who is completing his doctoral dissertation on the history of self-help literature in Australia, will discuss the people and ideas that have connections to Swedenborg and that have gone on to make up part of the rich history of popular non-fiction in the West.