ANU.Lives Series in Biography
In response to the current popularity of biography, the Biography Series was established by the National Centre of Biography in conjunction with ANU Press in 2008 (originally under the title ANU.Lives). It aims to publish lively, engaging and provocative biographies and memoirs and nurture best practice in biographical scholarship. Books published in the series will engage critically with issues and problems in historiography and life writing.
The books are published online by ANU Press and are also available in hardcopy.
Editorial committee
- Professor Melanie Nolan (chair), Director, National Centre of Biography
- Dr Malcolm Allbrook, Managing Editor, Australian Dictionary of Biography
- Dr Patrick Mullins, Canberra-based writer and academic
- Professor Melanie Oppenheimer, Emeritus Professor, University of Flinders; Honorary Professor, School of History, ANU
- Dr Stephen Wilks, Research editor, National Centre of Biography
Submitting a manuscript
Authors wishing to submit a manuscript for consideration by ANU Lives should first contact Professor Melanie Nolan at melanie.nolan@anu.edu.au.
‘Order, Order!’: A Biographical Dictionary of Speakers, Deputy Speakers and Clerks of the Australian House of Representatives
Author/editor: Wilks, S.
Year published: 2023
‘Order, Order!’: A Biographical Dictionary of Speakers, Deputy Speakers and Clerks of the Australian House of Representatives shines a first-ever historical light on the remarkable men and women who have served in these national offices since Federation. The Speakers include Frederick Holder, whose...
Dictionary of World Biography, Ninth Edition
Author/editor: Jones, B.
Year published: 2022
Jones, Barry Owen (1932– ). Australian politician, writer and lawyer, born in Geelong. Educated at Melbourne High School and Melbourne University, he was a public servant, high school teacher, television and radio performer, university lecturer and lawyer before serving as a Labor MP in the...
Persons of Interest: An Intimate Account of Cecily and John Burton
Author/editor: Burton, P. & Edwards, M.
Year published: 2022
A world in upheaval; two lives lived under stress … This story is set in the social and political landscape of pre– and post–World War II. It tells two vastly different tales of Cecily and John’s lives in Australia and overseas, as nations clashed, and governments and international organisations...
People and Place
Author/editor: Richardson, L.
Year published: 2020
People and Place traces the enduring relationship between history, people and place that has shaped the character of a single region in a manner perhaps unique within the New Zealand experience. It explores the evolution of a distinctive regional literature that both shaped and was shaped by the...
A Bridge Between
Author/editor: Massam, K.
Year published: 2020
A Bridge Between is the first account of the Benedictine women who worked at New Norcia and the first book-length exploration of twentieth-century life in the Western Australian mission town. From the founding of a grand school intended for ‘nativas’, through links to Mexico and Paraguay then...
A Bridge Between: Spanish Benedictine Missionary Women in Australia
Author/editor: Massam, K.
Year published: 2020
This sensitive account of Spanish Benedictine women at an Aboriginal mission in Western Australia is poignant and disturbing. Notable for its ecumenical spirit, depth of research and deep engagement with the subject, A Bridge Between is a model of how religious history, in its broader bearings, can...
‘True Biographies of Nations?’
Author/editor: Fox, K.
Year published: 2019
'True Biographies of Nations?': The Cultural Journeys of Dictionaries of National Biography brings together practitioners from around the English‑speaking world to reflect on national biographical dictionary projects’ recent cultural journeys, and the challenges presented to them by such...
