Reviews and commentary
My book reviews can be found in The Weekend Australian and other newspapers. I edit the Professional Historians Australia book review page.
I am regular commentator in Pearls and Irritations, a platform for discussing Australian domestic and foreign policy.
Creative non-fiction
I love to use travel as a prompt to write about the world, seeing its history in the landscape and trying to make sense of human interactions with nature.
This essay, Melting Time, was short listed for the 2021 Fish Short Memoir Prize.
Refugees
I believe strongly that Australia’s refugee policy is flawed and, in recent years, has been cruel and counter-productive.
One way to change attitudes about refugees is to hear more from the refugees themselves. That is why I initiated a scholarship that supports a refugee to study at the Australian Film and Television School.
Read more:
Here is Joelle’s account of her first two years at AFTRS; she’s doing so well despite COVID: https://www.australianphilanthropicservices.com.au/joelles-story/
Bushfire history
I live in Bundanoon in the Southern Highlands, on the edge of the Morton National Park. On 4 January 2020, winds brought the Morton Fire into our village, destroying four houses. I convene the Bundanoon History Group’s bushfire archive project. Phase one of the project is complete. See
We hope in 2021/22 to further disseminate findings from our project by building a website to add historical context to the material we have collected and to make it accessible with a view to: a) assisting the community be better informed about bushfire, to build preparedness and resilience and be more engaged in history; b) contributing local insights to the broader effort to understand the impact of natural disasters and improve prevention and responses; c) create a template for further digital exhibitions based on the BHG archive.