Matrescence: What Makes a Mother?

What does it mean to become a mother? Matrescence—the epic, often invisible metamorphosis into motherhood—remains one of the most profound transitions in a woman’s life, yet it is still only beginning to be widely understood.

In this intimate panel, artist Atong Atem, writer Rachel Ang, and author and host of Australian Birth Stories podcast Sophie Walker reflect on their journeys into motherhood. Moderated by broadcaster Beth Atkinson-Quinton, the conversation will explore how motherhood has reshaped their identities, bodies, and sense of place in the world.

Expect raw honesty, deep insight, and a powerful conversation about the growing pains, revelations, and resilience that come with becoming a mother. Together, they explore how art and motherhood collide, coalesce, and carve new paths through the self.

Note: Infants under 12 months and chestfeeding are welcome at this event.

About Atong Atem:

Atong Atem is an Ethiopian born, South Sudanese artist and writer living in Naarm/Melbourne. Atem’s work explores the inherent intimacy of portraiture and photography as well as the role photographers take as story tellers, interrogating photography as a framework for looking at the world and positioning people in it. She takes framing into a fantastical direction with the small portals over the subjects’ faces, inviting the viewer to look at them through a surreal and constructed lens.

About Rachel Ang:

Rachel Ang is an artist and writer working in the space of graphic narratives. Their work has been published in international journals such as The New Yorker and The Washington Post and Australian periodicals including Island and Going Down Swinging. Their new book, a collection of short stories in comics form titled I Ate The Whole World to Find You, is out now, published in Australia by Scribe Publications.

About Sophie Walker:

Sophie Walker is the founder and host of podcast Australian Birth Stories. She has a Masters in Public Health and is passionate about encouraging pregnant women and their support people to actively prepare for birth and postpartum.

About Beth Atkinson-Quinton:

Beth is a writer, broadcaster and audio producer based in Naarm. Their work has been published widely including by the ABC, Guardian Australia, and SBS. In 2025, their writing was selected for the Varuna Writers’ Space Fellowship, and their essay Raw Flesh, Weeping Wound was highly commended in the KYD Creative Non-fiction Essay Prize.

This event is presented through the support of the Ewing Trust. The Thomas, Samuel and George Ewing Trust is a fund that fosters literacy, libraries, and a lifelong love of learning in the historic Melbourne suburb of Fitzroy.

Fitzroy Library is fortunate to have the continued support of the Ewing Trust endowment that allows for the development and presentation of a range of events and projects for the benefit of Fitzroy residents and visitors.

Matrescence artwork by Rachel Ang

Auslan interpreting available by-request.

If you have accessibility questions or requirements, please contact us at yarralibraries@yarracity.vic.gov.au or on 1300 695 427.