Photo credit: Ben Guthrie (L-R: Shaun Carter, Amiera Piscopo, John Dunn, Ben Peake and Tao Gofers)

On November 8th on a Wednesday evening here at Kinokuniya, we hosted the launch of Sirius with authors John Dunn, Ben Peake and Amiera Piscopo and publishers Piper Press and it was an absolute blast.

Photo credit: Ben Guthrie

That evening, the store was packed. With hundreds of supporters, friends and collaborators of the Save Our Sirius campaign gathered, this was perhaps one of the biggest book launches we have ever hosted here at Kino!

Photo credit: Ben Guthrie

In attendance were some notable and recognisable names in the Sydney community such as Jack & Judy Mundey (to whom the book is dedicated) Myra Demetriou (the final remaining Sirius resident), Tao Gofers (architect of Sirius), Alex Greenwich (Member for Sydney), Penny Sharpe (Shadow Minister for Heritage), Jess Scully (City of Sydney Councillor), Phillip Thalis (City of Sydney Councillor), Shaun Carter (Save Our Sirius chairperson) and of course, Lord Mayor of Sydney, Clover Moore, who officially launched the book.

Photo credit: Jack Begbie

Photo credit: Ben Guthrie

To help put us all in a celebratory mood, guests were treated to a selection of beer and cider from local brewery, Young Henrys.

Photo credit: Ben Guthrie

Kinokuniya Sydney’s Managing Director, Kawai san kicked off the night with a warm welcome address.

Photo credit: Ben Guthrie

Councillor Jess Scully led a fantastic conversation with the authors.

Photo credit: Ben Guthrie

The authors were hard at work signing books for the crowd!

Sirius is an extraordinary story of survival against the odds. The story of Sirius begins with the 1970s Battle for The Rocks and a Green Ban, which saved an historic precinct and a community. The Green Ban held for four years during which there was no building activity until everyone agreed to build Sirius. Tao Gofers, the architect of Sirius, explains how this agreement was reached and how he designed a vertical village perhaps the last, and arguably the most successful, tower built for public housing in this era.

Here is what Clover Moore says about Sirius:

“If you believe Sydney should be more than just an enclave for the rich, then this is a fight you should be part of. Whether you love the look of Sirius or not, the issues in play here are far deeper than aesthetics.”

“At the heart of it, the Berejiklian State Government don’t believe low income people should be living in the city (and certainly not with harbour views) and they’re pushing these them out to the city fringe, far from their communities, transport networks, employment and other support services. But Sirius housed the tight knit community that fought to protect The Rocks in the ‘70s, local residents whose roots go back to the early colony. And this building was purpose-built to house them after those very important fights.”

Signed copies available, while stocks last. Purchase in store or online.