DREADGALLERY # 1.4 : Newest Pics Of John Heard + Biography

John Heard, a Catholic, has written on sex, politics and religion for some of Australia’s leading publications (see the sidebar) and maintains a broad, diverse and enthusiastic readership across the continental United States.

John Heard contributes fresh, principled ideas to key social policy, law reform and news media debates in Australia and around the world. He has been a featured guest on radio and television and is often requested as a public speaker.

John Heard graduated with a Bachelor of Arts and a Bachelor of Laws cum laude from the University of Melbourne in 2005. He took the Supreme Court and Hearn Exhibitions for the student ranked equal first in Jurisprudence and an advanced legal research thesis he wrote on natural law topped the year. It was later awarded the Freehills Prize.

After graduating, John Heard worked full-time for a finance house, serving under corporate counsel in a specialised compliance / legal role. At the same time, his writing debuted in national and international publications, and he travelled to New York City.

Heard subsequently returned to the University of Melbourne, gaining entry in 2007 to the prestigious Honours Program in the School of Philosophy. Heard was the only entering candidate selected to write a thesis under internationally renowned professor, and Penguin author, John Armstrong. Heard’s paper was awarded first class honours in 2008.

After debuting in late 2004, Heard's online weblog – DREADNOUGHT – won immediate and sustained international attention. Since then, Heard has written for some of Australia’s leading publications, including The Herald Sun and The Sunday Telegraph (the nation's highest circulation newspapers), The Australian (the national daily broadsheet), and Meanjin (Australia's leading literary magazine). His weblog has attracted more than half a million hits and is archived by PANDORA for the National Library of Australia as a site of 'national significance'. Since March 2009, Heard has been a regular contributor to The Spectator (Australian insert).

Heard now reaches, on average, around 100,000 people a month and his writing is regularly available on newsstands, online and in churches, schools, universities and think tanks worldwide.

Heard has been interviewed, reviewed or featured in various publications, including the The Sydney Morning Herald, National Catholic Register, The Huffington Post, RichardDawkins.Net, La Gaceta de los Negocios (Madrid), The Age, Australian Book Review, and The Saturday Age.

Heard has also been an invited guest or else his writing and ideas have been a topic for discussion on a number of television and radio programs (SBS Insight, John Safran's Speaking In Tongues, ACB 1 TV, ABC 2 TV, Triple J Hack, JoyFM, News.com.au), weblogs (Ruth Gledhill - London Times, Amy Welborn, Mark Shea) and online fora (AOL, Catholic Answers, Yahoo, DataLounge, Ship of Fools).

A chapter Heard wrote on High Court of Australia Justice Michael Kirby AC CMG was published in The Australian Leadership Reader (Australian Academic Press, 2006), now a recommended text for years eleven and twelve English in the Australian State of Queensland.

In 2008, Heard established DREADNOUGHTERS, a Facebook Group / online community for readers. The Group proved popular, and Heard's efforts in social networking were profiled in a major cover story in the United States. Later that year, editors at the New York Times selected Heard’s Internet posts as 'influential'. They are now regularly featured on that newspaper's Pope Benedict XVI topic page.

Today, Heard combines candidacy in the Melbourne Law School Masters program at the University of Melbourne with full time work, and he manages an increasing output of print articles, broadcast media appearances, speaking engagements, and reviews.

:: What Others Say ::

'...it is quite explicit' - London Times (Ruth Gledhill)

'The Dreadnoughters’ Facebook group evangelizes about Catholic teaching on human sexuality to homosexuals who want to be faithful to the Church' - National Catholic Register (Editorial)

'Dreadnought is an edgy, gifted writer who gives the lie to the notion that SSA Catholics are simply the pinatas of their appetites. Delightfully not-full-of-crap...' - Mark Shea

'John Heard, columnista católico que publica en diversos medios australianos...' - La Gaceta de los Negocios (Madrid)

'...stereotype-defying...John Heard stands his ground, what can one say but, AMEN' - Ratzinger Fanclub

'...you gotta go read Dreadnought - gay, conservative Australian Catholic - and quite a good writer' - Amy Welborn

'...a fascinating blog, the writing is quite outstanding, you can't find much better writing than this...' - DataLounge

'...an intelligent person working through the contradications (or at least so they seem to most others) in his deepest feelings and beliefs. Your standard [blog] doesn’t have any such tensions, and is much duller as a result' - Andrew Norton

'This dude is awesome' - Eve Tushnet

:: The Critics ::

'...sycophantic and ingratiating...' - Sydney Morning Herald (Bruce Elder)

'...a transcribed flirtation...' - The Age (Owen Richardson)

'...probably isn't someone that anyone of sound mind would even consider taking seriously...' - Richard Dawkins.Net

'I was impressed. He's thoughtful, writes excellently ...the topics he covers wears me out ...I'd let him loose amongst other so-called intellectuals, especially those who want to flog the Church' - Fr Bob Maguire AM

'...you write excellently. Gay (or should that be "butt-f&%*ing") Australia needs you' - Rodney Croome

:: Contact ::

John Heard welcomes feedback. If you are a reader, viewer, listener, commissioning editor, producer, event organiser or critic and you would like to contact Heard, please use the email address on the sidebar and / or join DREADNOUGHTERS on Facebook.

:: Images ::

The images on this page are available for approved media use (click image to enlarge, high resolution versions available upon request).

All Images © 2007-2009 John Heard, All Rights Reserved.