Beautiful, beautiful blurbs

So the blurbs for my book have arrived. I can't begin to explain how pleased, grateful and - well - humbled I'm feeling. So I'll stop explaining, and let you read them for yourself. ‘The triumphs and trials of Elizabeth Macarthur, a capable business woman and dedicated wife and mother, are given their due in this impressively researched biography.’ Brenda Niall ‘Finally, Elizabeth Macarthur steps out from the long shadow of her infamous, entrepreneurial husband. In Michelle Scott Tucker’s devoted hands, Elizabeth emerges as a canny businesswoman, charming diplomat, loving [...]

2018-03-24T23:56:48+11:00February 8th, 2018|Writing|6 Comments

Biographer Brenda Niall wins Australian Literature Society Gold Medal

Last night the Australian Literature Society (ALS) awarded its Gold Medal to biographer Brenda Niall, for Mannix, her biography of Daniel Mannix, the Catholic Archbishop of Melbourne from 1917 until 1963. The ALS Gold Medal is awarded annually for an outstanding literary work in the preceding calendar year. The Medal was inaugurated by the Australian Literature Society, which was founded in Melbourne in 1899 and incorporated into the Association for the Study of Australian Literature in 1982. The winner receives a gold medal. No nominations are required, though ASAL members [...]

2018-03-27T19:44:05+11:00July 7th, 2016|Writing|0 Comments

2016 National Biography Award shortlist announced

The shortlist for Australia’s most prestigious biography prize was announced yesterday. The shortlisted titles are: Battarbee and Namatjira, Martin Edmond (Giramondo) Comrade Ambassador: Whitlam’s Beijing Envoy, Stephen FitzGerald (Melbourne University Publishing) Thea Astley: Inventing Her Own Weather, Karen Lamb (University of Queensland Press) Mannix, Brenda Niall (Text Publishing) Bearing Witness: The Remarkable Life of Charles Bean, Australia's greatest war correspondent, Peter Rees (Allen & Unwin) Reckoning: A Memoir, Magda Szubanski (Text Publishing) “If it can be said of biography that it’s mostly about dead white males well then, consider our [...]

2018-03-27T19:47:04+11:00July 5th, 2016|Writing|0 Comments

Never just a farmer’s wife

I'm often asked what sparked my interest in Elizabeth Macarthur. Harriett Pettifore Brims (1864-1939), Harriett Brims' photographic studio and residence, Ingham, Queensland, ca. 1894-1900. Image courtesy of John Oxley Library through Picture Queensland: 146939. Many years ago I managed a government grants program and had the privilege to work with some grant applicants from outback Queensland - including a group of women farmers.  I was very green and the farmers were very kind.  They took the time to explain to me that there was no such thing - [...]

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