Dr Maya Ward is a writer, researcher and educator whose work explores our relationship with place, belonging and the stories that shape how we live. Drawing on a background in urban design, social ecology, embodiment and creative writing, Maya invites audiences to reconsider what it means to feel connected—to landscape, to community and to ourselves.

She is the author of The Comfort of Water: A River Pilgrimage, an acclaimed memoir chronicling her walk from the mouth to the source of the Birrarung (Yarra River), following an ancient Wurundjeri Songline. The book was shortlisted for the State Library of Victoria's Year of Reading Award and continues to be studied in universities across Australia.

Today Maya collaborates with the University of Melbourne, teaches workshops exploring creativity, embodiment and ecological connection, and continues to write, walk and cultivate ways of seeing the world that place curiosity before certainty.

At The Room of Lost Ideas, Dr Maya Wardwill explore why the ancient idea of pilgrimage still enchants us. In a world increasingly focused on getting somewhere, could the journey matter more than we realise.

Maya will deliver a talk and then a brief in-conversation with Michael Veitch as we move into broader conversation with the whole group.