Articles
A selection of Michelle’s published essays & pieces
Circumstantial Evidence
Review of Alan Atkinson’s The House of Blue Glass, April 2026.
Atkinson deftly brings a lifetime of thinking and study to this lively and enlightening biography of Elizabeth Macarthur’s dear friend Penelope Lucas. Full review available here (paywalled, though – sorry).
The Smell of Sugar Cane
Aaron Fa’Aoso, with me (Michelle Scott Tucker), contributed a chapter called ‘The Smell of Sugar Cane’ to the Growing Up Torres Strait Islander in Australia anthology. Black Inc, 2024. Buy your copy here.
Louisa Lawson
Online at Australian Women Writers, October 2023
Lawson’s lifetime of activities – as a farmer, a divorcee, a professional printer, a journalist and as a vocal advocate for women’s suffrage and advancement – belie many of the myths and stereotypes about what it meant to be Australian at that point in time … read more
We need to talk about Mary Grant Bruce
2023 – online essay for Australian Women Writers
The books, old and musty, were stashed at the back of a cupboard for want of shelf space. They’d been there for quite a while. A friend of my mother had owned them once, but had passed them on, suggesting vaguely that “Michelle might like them.” Reader, I was transported … read more
Patricia Wrightson and appropriation
2022 – online essay for Australian Women Writers
If magic existed – and as a child I fervently hoped it did – it existed Somewhere Else and, by definition, for someone else. Magic wasn’t something an Australian child was ever going to experience. Patricia Wrightson changed all that for me. And yet … read more
Australia’s First Women Writers
Online essay at Australian Women Writers, February 2022
As Aboriginal people had been doing orally and pictorially for 60,000 years, the European colonists used letters, diaries, drawings and paintings to share their stories, news, and hopes. Many of these … read more
Writers’ Residencies: Pros and Cons
2020 – online piece for the Meanjin blog
Eight lucky Australian writers have recently been awarded overseas residencies by the Australia Council. But are writing residencies all they’re cracked up to be? … read more
Literary Grants: How To Win Them
A popular piece from my online journal
When you submit your grant proposal, you want the members of the grant assessment panel to look at your proposal and immediately think “Yep, this one is a no-brainer. Let’s give them the money.” Far too often, though … read more
Invisible Women
2018 – online essay for Inside Story magazine
The story of Elizabeth Macarthur, a driving force in early New South Wales, highlights gaps in the story of colonial Australia … read more
Sydney Mechanics School of Arts
2024 – ongoing
Louisa Lawson was the first woman to be elected to SMSA’s committee of management. Now, each month in articles exclusive to the SMSA Newsletter, members follow Michelle’s Louisa Lawson biography-in-progress and gain unique insights into the research and writing process. Find out more about SMSA here…
Never just a farmer’s wife
Australian Superfine Wool Growers’ Association Annual, 2019-2020.
Celebrating Stories by Australian Women
Idiom – The Journal of the Victorian Association of Teachers of English, Volume 22, No 2, 2019.
Bedside Manners
In 2014 I wrote and recorded short non-fiction piece for ABC Radio National’s 360 documentary program.
