Professor Kent Anderson is an international lawyer specialising in the Asia-Pacific. He recently returned to the University of Newcastle as Deputy Vice Chancellor. He has an eclectic background, having been an academic in Australia, US and Japan; a marketing manager with a US regional airline in Alaska; a commercial lawyer in Hawai’i; and most recently senior adviser to two Australian Ministers of Education. Kent served on a number of boards including Perth Festival (including the Perth Writers Festival), National Library of Australia, and President of the Asian Studies Association of Australia. His holiday reading this year included the brilliant new novel by Shehan Karunatilaka and Kim Scott’s Taboo.