Lex Bartlem - A Diplomatic Odyssey

Name: Lex Bartlem - A Diplomatic Odyssey
Start: 2026-10-28T18:00:00+10:00
End: 2026-10-28T18:00:00+10:00
Location: Upstairs at Gleebooks

About

6pm for 6.30pm Wednesday 28th October

Lex Bartlem in conversation with Bob Carr

A Diplomatic Odyssey traces the unlikely journey of a young man from Rockhampton who left school at sixteen and went on to become Australia’s Ambassador to Lebanon. Set against a backdrop of political upheaval, cultural change and personal transformation, it combines a deeply human story with a rare insider’s view of life in the Australian diplomatic service.

After studying shorthand and typing at school and taking a clerical job at the local abattoir, a backpacking trip through Europe broadened Lex Bartlem’s horizons. Encouraged by his sister, who clipped out an advertisement for the Department of Foreign Affairs, he passed the typing and shorthand tests and embarked on a career that would span thirty-five years and take him across the Middle East, Europe, Asia and South America.

Along the way, he served in some of the world’s most challenging environments. His experiences included Lebanon during the civil war and the 2006 Hezbollah-Israel conflict, Australia’s response to the Bali bombings, and Iraq in the aftermath of the 2003 invasion. They reveal a world of diplomacy far removed from cocktail parties and clichés — one marked by danger and uncertainty, but also humour, friendship and unexpected human connections.

Lebanon became an enduring thread through his life. Having served there as a young diplomat in the early 1980s, he returned almost three decades later as Australia’s ambassador.

Ultimately, A Diplomatic Odyssey is a story about possibility — how a young school leaver armed with a shorthand certificate, curiosity and determination came to represent his country on some of the world’s most complex stages.

“His office-boy to ambassador story – experiencing along the way far more than his fair share of dramas around the world – is a great one. Very well-written, and worth reading, certainly by any aspiring diplomat.” - Professor the Honourable Gareth Evans - Australian Foreign Minister 1988-1996

For more than three decades, Lex Bartlem worked with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade in some of the world’s most complex and challenging environments. From his beginnings in regional Queensland and an entry-level role in the department’s typing pool, he rose through the ranks to serve in postings across the Middle East, Europe, Asia and Latin America, including as Australia’s ambassador to Lebanon. His work placed him at the centre of major international events, from conflict zones in Beirut and Baghdad to crisis response following the Bali bombings.

Bob Carr is the longest continuously serving Premier in the history of New South Wales. Bob entered the Senate in 2012 and served as Australia’s Foreign Minister for 18 months. Since leaving politics Bob has led a distinguished career as a defacto diplomat, author and academic. Bob received the Fulbright Distinguished Fellow Award Scholarship. He has served as Honorary Scholar of the Australian American Leadership Dialogue. He is the author of: My Reading Life (2008), Thoughtlines (2002) and Diary of a Foreign Minister (2014), his political memoir Run for Your Life (2018) and Bring Back Yesterday (2026).