News

2008 Ernest Scott shortlist announced

11 June 2008

The Ernest Scott Prize is awarded annually to the book judged to be the most distinguished contribution to the History of Australia or New Zealand published in the previous year. The Prize is based on a bequest by Mrs Emily Scott in memory of her husband, Sir Ernest Scott, who held a professorship in the University of Melbourne's History department.

Three fine books have been shortlisted by the judges for this year's Prize. The winner will be announced at the Australian Historical Association dinner, 9th July. The shortlist is:

John Fitzgerald, Big White Lie: Chinese Australians in White Australia, UNSW Press, 2007

This is a mould-breaking book, with a strong argument, meticulous and extensive research, and a providing a new and challenging way of understanding Chinese-Australian history. Fitzgerald shows that historians have too often adopted the assumptions of earlier generations of uncomprehending Australians, and that it is possible to see the history of Chinese in Australia quite differently. Through extensive use of both Chinese and English language sources, it constructs an often surprising account of the ways in which Chinese people in Australia lived, thought, and acted. The subjects of this history come to life variously as democrats, liberals, nationalists, political activists, and successful businessmen often with international connections. This book will affect not only our understanding of Australian history but also the way we think about current issues, such as immigration policy and multiculturalism, more generally.

Raelene Frances, Selling Sex: A Hidden History of Prostitution, UNSW Press, 2007

This is a lively and well-written history which investigates the history of prostitution in Australia from the convict period through to the present. It considers many dimensions ˆracial, legal, political, and cultural ˆ of its subject, and demonstrates the connections between the sex industry in Australia and the international movement of sex workers. As the author writes, "through the lens of sexual exchange we see a society working out its destiny both within national borders and in relation to the rest of the world". This is confronting history, well told.

Ray Fargher, The Best Man Who Ever Served the Crown? A Life of Donald McLean, VUW Press, 2007

The issue of land ownership lies at the heart of this biography of one of the major figures in the history of nineteenth century New Zealand. McLean served in numerous government posts, from Sub-Protector of Aborigines to Native Minister. He was fluent in Te Reo and had a deep understanding of Maori custom and culture, yet he was also responsible for extracting more land from Maori ownership than any other colonial official. The McLean archive is one of the great repositories of information for colonial New Zealand and this biography brings to life the man behind the archive. It also engages with issues that remain central in the political and social life of New Zealand today.

The judges in 2008 are Professor Ann Curthoys, Manning Clark Professor of History at the Australian National University; and Professor Brian Moloughney, Head of School of Asian & European Languages at Victoria University of Wellington.

Wettenhall Prize for Australian Centre honorary fellow

Congratulations to honorary fellow Paul Fox, who has been awarded the 2007 Wettenhall Prize for his 2006 PhD thesis 'Australian colonial gardeners and the landscapes of empire: 1833-1912 '. The thesis was completed at the Australian Centre (principal supervisor Kate Darian-Smith). The Dennis Wettenhall Prize is awarded annually for an MA or PhD thesis ‘upon some aspect of Australian history' completed in the preceding year.

Childhood, Tradition and Change website launch

Childhood, Tradition and Change is a nation-wide study that will document and analyse the historical development of Australian children's playlore over a fifty year period. Funded by the Australian Research Council, with support from the University of Melbourne, Deakin University, Curtin University of Technology, the National Library of Australia and Museum Victoria, the project will run over four years (2007-2010) and will produce the first comprehensive national study of continuity and change in children's playlore from the 1950s to the present.

The project website is located at www.australian.unimelb.edu.au/CTC.

Literary award shortlist

Congratulations to Nathalie Nguyen for her book Voyage of Hope, which has been shortlisted for the prestigious 2007 NSW Premier's Literary Award in the category of Community Relations Commission Award.

Nathalie is a graduate of the Universities of Melbourne (BA Hons) and Oxford (DPhil). She was awarded the Professor Alan Rowland Chisholm Memorial Prize and the Dwight Final Examination Prize at Melbourne, and won a Commonwealth Scholarship and Fellowship Award to do her doctorate at Oxford. She specialised in the field of Vietnamese Francophone Literature. On returning to Australia, Nathalie taught French at the Universities of Adelaide and Newcastle before taking up her ARC Fellowship at Melbourne.

Voyage of Hope explores the experiences and journeys of Vietnamese women who arrived in Australia as part of the massive exodus of refugees from Vietnam following the end of the Vietnam War in 1975. It reveals women's memories of life in Vietnam during the French colonial period and after, throughout the war and its aftermath, and what motivated them to leave their homeland and embark on an often dangerous journey to freedom – a voyage of hope that eventually led them to a new life in Australia.