Patricia Wrightson – all about erasure
As a young reader, Patricia Wrightson was one of my favourite authors. But in this short piece I wrote for the Australian Women Writers Challenge, I reevaluate Wrightson’s use of Indigenous culture. Drawing on Aboriginal stories and culture, Wrightson’s fictional spirit characters held all the power and mystery of 60,000 years of Dreaming – power…
Invisible Women of Australian History
Today is yet another milestone: I’ve had an essay, titled Invisible Women, published in the excellent Inside Story magazine. Inside Story’s contributor list reads like a Who’s Who of quality Australian journalism, so I’m feeling bit lightheaded, frankly. A version of this essay began life as the final chapter of the biography. I wanted to discuss Elizabeth Macarthur’s legacy, and to…
SMH – What to read in 2018
Wow! Got a mention beside the big kids in today’s Sydney Morning Herald. Jane Sullivan has an article called ‘What to read in 2018: a selection of the big books on the shelves next year.’ And if you scroll right down (keep going, yep keep going), you might find a mention of me. Huzzah! From Sullivan’s…
Hilary Mantel talks about history, facts and fictions
Hilary Mantel, a novelist rightly famous for twice winning the Man Booker prize with her historical novels about Thomas Cromwell, yesterday gave the first of her three BBC Reith Lectures. In the first lecture (published here in this weekend’s The Guardian), Mantel explores the complicated relationship between history, fact and fiction. You should really go…