Palmer’s book, Unmaking Angas Downs: Myth and History on a Central Australian Pastoral Station, winner of the Prime Minister’s Prize for History in 2023, began life as a doctoral thesis in the School of History at ANU. The prize judges commended the book for “offer[ing] a model of engaged listening and interwoven truth-telling that pushes the boundaries of the discipline of history in Australia”. In this seminar, we welcome back to hear a panel of historians engage with her book’s themes, methods, and arguments, and to share with us some insights of her own.

Laura Rademaker is an ARC DECRA fellow in the School of History at ANU currently researching the history of First Nations self-determination in the late twentieth century. Her interests include oral history, community-based research, histories of Indigeneity, religion and gender. Her first book Found in Translation: Many Meanings on a North Australian Mission was awarded the Australian Historical Association’s Hancock Prize in 2020. With Mavis Kerinaiua, her most recent book is Tiwi Story: Turning History Downside Up (Newsouth, 2023).

Jess Urwin is currently a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at La Trobe University, having previously worked as a postdoctoral fellow in the Centre for Environmental History in the School of History at ANU. Her research sits at the intersection of environmental history and histories of settler colonialism, exploring the environmental justice concept of ‘nuclear colonialism’ in Australian contexts.

Frank Bongiorno is Professor of History in the School of History at ANU, and current President of the Australian Historical Association. His recent books include Dreamers and Schemers: A Political History of Australia (2022) and The Eighties: The Decade that Transformed Australia (2015), both named ACT Book of the Year. He is a prominent commentator on Australian politics and contemporary issues, and regularly writes for The Monthly and Inside Story.