Journalism
Why Villanelle will go down in history as one of the best TV villains
Crime novelist Tara Moss makes the case that Killing Eve’s Villanelle is one of the most complex and compelling villains we’ve seen on screen. APRIL 26, 2022, Sydney Morning Herald and The Age
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WHY CLASSIC CRIME FICTION WAS OBSESSED WITH FASHION, Crime Reads
Every suit, every dress tells a story.
DECEMBER 29, 2020 BY TARA MOSS
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Five things you need to know on International Day of People with Disabilities
– Tara Moss on building a more accessible and equal world
DECEMBER, 2020 BY TARA MOSS
Best of free-to-air TV: Cyberhate with Tara Moss 5/5 stars
The Age | March 12, 2017
‘A ferocious ambassador for human rights, Tara Moss wastes no time in debunking the sentiment behind the playground chant, “Sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me”. Her opening statement makes clear that real people write the real words that impact on real people on the other side of the computer screen. Unlike Ian Thorpe, … Read More..
Why rape is not ‘sex’ and survivors don’t ‘confess
Sydney Morning Herald | September 14, 2016
Stories have always mattered. Media coverage helps inform our view of the world, and cements – or challenges – social attitudes. Rightly or wrongly, much like the parables of old, news and media stories can carry the weight of lessons. When we read the news today, what do we learn about issues like sexual assault and violence against women? Let’s take a look at some … Read More..
Why are women’s voices judged more harshly than men’s
SBS | May 25, 2016
Acclaimed author Tara Moss speaks out in an edited extract from her new book, Speaking Out: A 21st Century Handbook for Women and Girls, looking at how gendered perceptions and old-fashioned social norms impact the way we listen – or don’t listen – to women when they speak out: ‘Fortunately, not many people these days will openly admit to not wanting to … Read More..
Girls will be Boys
ABC News Australia | March 1, 2016
If it’s true we are all androgynous, why are we so rigid about dress? Tara Moss maps her journey from tomboy to “full dude” Victor Lamour in homage to the unsung genre of Drag King. Read More..
Tara Moss Reports On The Rise Of Child Brides In Syrian Refugee Camps
Marie Claire | September 25, 2015
On a visit to one of the hundreds of tented refugee camps in Lebanon, UNICEF ambassador Tara Moss discovered a horrific development: the sale of displaced Syrian girls as child brides. Read More..
Tara Moss: observations from Syrian refugee camps in Lebanon
Radio National, ABC | June 9, 2015
Australian author and UNICEF Child Survival Ambassador, Tara Moss has just returned from Lebanon where she visited refugees from the Syrian conflict. What she saw in the camps and informal settlements has had a deep impact on her. Tara is particularly concerned that the plight of Syrian refugees has slipped off the news agenda. “I can’t turn away. We can’t … Read More..
Sunrise, CH7 | June 9, 2015
Tara Moss’s new mission
Tara speaks to Sunrise about her time visiting refugee camps in Lebanon where millions of Syrian refugees are living, having fled from the violent conflict in Syria, and why she is raising money for UNICEF’s work. Read More..
One brave girl’s story shines amid shocking scenes of hardship in a sea of Syrian refugees
The Age | June 7, 2015
I am sitting cross-legged on a concrete slab in a home that is not a home. This is a makeshift shelter of corrugated iron and plastic sheeting, about the size of a parking spot, and it accommodates a displaced Syrian family with three young children. There is no door. Directly outside the open entrance is the dust and weather of … Read More..
Interview with Amanda Palmer and Neil Gaiman
Radio National, Sydney Writer’s Festival | February 5, 2015
Amanda Palmer knows all about asking. Performing as a living statue in a wedding dress, she wordlessly asked thousands of passersby for their dollars. But she finds there are important things in life that she can’t ask for and she learns that she isn’t alone in this. In her new book, she explores and discovers the emotional, philosophical, and practical …Read More..
Tara Moss: Why domestic violence is a whole of society issue
702 ABC Sydney | March 18, 2015
In conversation with Pallavi Sinha, author and patron of the Full Stop Foundation Tara Moss discusses the statistics of domestic violence in Australia and why it requires a whole-of-society response. Read More..
Interview with Australian of the Year Rosie Batty
Ideas at the House – Sydney Opera House | March 8, 2015
When two young men lose their lives in drunken assaults in the space of a few weeks, governments declare ‘Enough is enough’, and enact strict regulation to prevent another incident. But despite one Australian woman being killed by a current or former partner every week, family violence doesn’t attract anywhere near an equivalent amount of airtime, or popular outrage. Rosie … Read More..
Unless we take action, our goals on child survival will not be met
Daily Life | September 17, 2014
In the years I have been involved with UNICEF I have become closely connected to the stories of mothers and parents in Australia and around the world. As a patron of the Baby Friendly Health Initiative I have met women for whom access to health care has given them the confidence to raise healthy, happy children through the first days … Read More..
Interview with Mona Eltahawy
Ideas At The House | May 7, 2014
Tara Moss interviews Egyptian-American activist and journalist Mona Eltahawy about the situation for women in the Arab world, her controversial essay ‘Why Do They Hate Us?’ and her experience of being assaulted as a protester in Tahrir Square. Read More..
Interview with activist Ilwad Elman
Ideas At The House | May 7, 2014
We grabbed All About Women speaker Ilwad Elman for a backstage interview with Tara Moss at the festival. Watch Ilwad discuss the issues facing her home country of Somalia, what she’s doing to help, and why she left a comfortable life in Canada to do so. Read More..
The Manus Solution
Four Corners, ABC Australia | April 29, 2014
The Manus Island Regional Processing Centre, located off the north east coast of Papua New Guinea, is eight hundred kilometres from the country’s capital, Port Moresby, and even further away from Canberra. Last July, when Kevin Rudd announced that asylum seekers arriving by boat would be sent to Manus and settled in PNG, many thought they would be out of … Read More..
Manus Island – An insider’s report
Tara Moss’ Blog | March 24, 2014
In February I was unexpectedly contacted by one of my many long-standing crime research contacts. He explained that he is currently stationed at Manus Island, and that the information being made public about the violence that took place there was not correct. He explained that he was one of those who worked on the now deceased Mr Reza Barati, 23, … Read More..
Nauru and Manus Island – The Inside Story, SBS
SBS | March 3, 2014
Inhumane conditions, self-harming and mismanagement… we’ve heard the claims about life inside the Nauru and Manus Island detention centres. Now Dateline has the evidence of what’s really going on there. Read More..
Manus Island detention centre riot – more pictures
The Guardian | March 3, 2014
Images obtained by author Tara Moss, from contacts on Manus Island, show the aftermath of unrest which left one man – Reza Barati – dead. Moss blogs about more details on the photographs and other events on Manus… Read More..
Manus Island unrest: Audio recordings give new insight into detention centre protests
ABC News Australia | March 13, 2014
The ABC has obtained audio recordings made inside the Manus Island detention centre before and after the deadly violence last month. The recordings suggest protests in the days leading up to the riot were noisy but non-violent. They also give new accounts of gunfire and tell of ongoing fears of further attacks. The audio was provided to the ABC by … Read More..
The Festival of Dangerous Ideas : ‘There Are No Sexual Ethics’ panel
The Festival of Dangerous Ideas | November 2, 2013
The ‘There Are No Sexual Ethics’ panel at the Sydney Opera House 2013 features author and presenter Tara Moss, sex columnist Dan Savage, Sydney Morning Herald young novelist of the year Emily Maguire, and Christos Tsiolkas, the award-winning Australian author of The Slap and Barracuda. Moderated by the ABC’s Natasha Mitchell. VIEW VIDEO ONLINE Read More..
The only way forward…
Australian Author | August 2, 2013
Conversations about literature are too often haunted by nostalgia. The digital age is not the end of literature. It is only change, and I welcome it, writes Tara Moss. Read More..
Why World Breastfeeding Week is important
Essential Baby | August 2, 2013
World Breastfeeding Week is celebrated around the world from August 1. This year’s theme is ‘support’, and, as Tara Moss writes, it’s a fitting focus for modern times. ‘A mother’s choice about how to feed her child must be respected. She is the one doing the feeding. The rest of us can be supportive of her choice. In my view, … Read More..
Deadlier Than The Male: Femme Fatales, from Eve to Amanda Knox
The Wheeler Centre | July 10, 2013
Throughout history many – if not most – cultures have perpetuated the myth of the evil woman. In a recent Lunchbox/Soapbox address, Tara Moss discussed evil women, female criminals and the demonisation of the female gender: from Eve and Pandora to Elizabeth Bathory and Paula Broadwell. Read the essay here. Read More..
Women still outnumbered where it counts
Sydney Morning Herald | March 31, 2013
It is often said that this is ”the year of the woman” – in politics, in sport, in the arts. And it seems like it is. You may have noticed that our Prime Minister is a woman. Our Governor-General, too. Our influential American friends have the largest-ever number of women in the Senate. Women are everywhere, it seems. Sure, there … Read More..
The Hoopla | November 24, 2012
Mate, Stop The Violence
Sunday, November 25th is White Ribbon Day and the UN International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women. We can make a difference together. And we must, because according to the largest study ever published on the problem of violence against women – a study conducted in 70 countries over 40 years – violence is ‘a bigger danger to women than cancer’. Read More..
Women are their own worst enemies? Think again.
Sydney Morning Herald | September 29, 2012
‘All women hate each other”, or so the saying goes. It is also a view of women many instinctively agree with. From the sports field to the boardroom, male ambition and competitiveness is praised, yet the term ”ambitious”, when it describes a female, is often used with ambivalence. There is a nasty side to female competition and aggression, we are …Read More..
Who do you look up to?
Sydney Morning Herald | September 29, 2012
Role models don’t necessarily have to walk red carpets or lead countries. In fact, they don’t need to be famous at all. There is no doubt that the role models we choose significantly impact our lives. At their best, they can inspire us to grow, to learn and to be better human beings. They can show us that something is … Read More..
Why has breastfeeding become controversial?
Vogue magazine | September 20, 2012
Why has breastfeeding become so controversial? First there was the debate around the breastfeeding mum in The Slap, then the fuss over the recent Time magazine cover featuring a breastfeeding three-year-old with the unfortunate headline “Are you mum enough?” Read More..
Beauty obscures the beast
smh.com.au | September 25, 2011
Crime author and TV host Tara Moss examines why female criminals are softened for their portrayal on screens big and small. Read More..
You owe our PM an apology, Sir.
thehoopla.com.au | August 4, 2012
This week Australia Agricultural Co CEO David Farley compared Prime Minister Julia Gillard to ‘an old cow’. This while explaining plans to build an abattoir near Darwin that – wait for it – specialises in slaughtering old cows. Read More..
In Defence of Birth Plans
essentialbaby.com.au | June 17, 2012
Birthzillas, Bridezillas and perhaps all ‘Zillas’ are bad news. It’s amusing stuff, but the thing is, birth plans are helpful for many parents, and an increasing number of obstetricians and midwives request them. There are a number of reasons for this. Read More..
The Feminist Supremacy?: Lette, Deveny, Maguire, Moss
themonthly.com.au | June 29, 2012
All of a sudden it seems everyone’s a feminist. Women who once rejected the term now embrace it. Anti-abortion campaigners call themselves feminist. Meryl Streep says Margaret Thatcher was a feminist. At one point George Bush said we went to war in Afghanistan to fight for women’s rights. Read More..
The Fear of Giving Birth
dailylife.com.au | June 23, 2012
‘I died, but it was fine,” a woman at a barbecue told me when I was nine months’ pregnant. She was a stranger, her story unsolicited. As I nodded and nervously sipped a glass of water, she explained how she’d suffered from pre-eclampsia, “died” on the obstetrician’s table and been brought back to life. Read More..
A Night with the Ghosts
thehoopla.com.au | December 28, 2011
The local Aboriginals call it ‘Binoomea’ – Dark Places. It’s believed to be the world’s oldest known open caves system, with more than 40 kilometres of remarkable caverns still undergoing exploration. Read More..
When push comes to shove, home births don’t deserve to be demonised
smh.com.au | December 14, 2011
Monty Python’s 1983 film The Meaning of Life begins with a woman in hospital about to give birth. Comedians Graham Chapman and John Cleese are dressed as doctors in scrubs, surrounded by expensive hospital equipment (including the machine that goes ”ping”). Read More..