Book Launch: Playtime, by Emily Gallagher
Book launch
Please join us for the launch of Dr Emily Gallagher’s first book Playtime: A History of Australian Childhood (Black Inc). It will be launched by the renowned Australian actress, singer, author and children's television host, Justine Clarke.About The BookThis groundbreaking book is a history of…
A Memory of Empire: Kishi Nobusuke and the Making of Japanese Conservatism, 1918–1975
Seminar
On 8 July 2022 Abe Shinzō, Japan’s longest serving postwar leader, was gunned down during a last-minute campaign stop in the western city of Nara. His murder laid bare the Cold War-era alliances which underpinned the country’s long history of conservative rule, a history and inheritance personified…
In Conversation with Sita Sargeant
Book launch
A collaboration between the National Centre of Biography and Harry Hartog (ANU)Founder of tour company She Shapes History Sita Sargeant will be in conversation with Michelle Staff about her latest book She Shapes History: Guided Walks and Stories About Great Australian Women (Hardie Grant, 2025),…
Searching for Harold Holt
Seminar
My interest in Harold Holt, 17th Prime Minister of Australia, began in my childhood. I understood little about his politics but I was charmed by his smile and personality. After he died in December 1967, I had an intimation that he would somehow play a part in my life. And so it proved to be when I…
In Conversation with Kerrie Davies at Harry Hartog
Book launch
This event is hosted by Harry Hartog ANU in conjunction with the National Centre of BiographyOn 14 July Dr Kerrie Davies will be in conversation with Dr Michelle Staff on Davies' new book, Miles Franklin Undercover: The little-known years when she created her own brilliant career (Allen…
‘Reading biographies to overcome loneliness’: Reflections of an accidental biographer
Seminar
Frank Moorhouse (1938–2022) is best known as a writer of literary fiction. All of his fiction is connected, with his many books sharing characters and experiences, including across generations, and covering much of the 20th century: one of the most sustained feats of the imagination in Australia’s…
Women at the edge of the world: human extinction discourse history and historiography
Seminar
The concept of human extinction in European discourse simultaneously invokes a universal 'we' while delineating exclusive 'others'—notably dying races, languages, and tribes—exposing a paradox rooted in Enlightenment thought, colonialism, and scientific rationalism. This presentation critically…