Clare Alice Wright, (born 14 May 1969) is an American Australian historian, author and broadcaster. She is a professor of history at La Trobe University, and was the winner of the 2014

Stella Prize The Stella Prize is an Australian annual literary award established in 2013 for writing by Australian women in all genres, worth $50,000. It was originally proposed by Australian women writers and publishers in 2011, modelled on the UK's Baileys W ...

. Wright has worked as a political speechwriter, university lecturer, historical consultant, and radio and television broadcaster and podcaster.

Early life and education

Wright was born in

Ann Arbor Anne, alternatively spelled Ann, is a form of the Latin female given name Anna (name), Anna. This in turn is a representation of the Hebrew Hannah (given name), Hannah, which means 'favour' or 'grace'. Related names include Annie (given name), ...

, Michigan, in 1969. She migrated to Australia in 1974 with her mother. Wright holds a Bachelor of Arts degree (with Honours) in history from the University of Melbourne (1991), a Master of Arts in public history from Monash University (1993) and a Doctor of Philosophy in Australian studies from the University of Melbourne (2002).

Career

From 2004 to 2009, she was an

Australian Research Council The Australian Research Council (ARC) is the primary non-medical research funding agency of the Australian Government, distributing more than in grants each year. The Council was established by the ''Australian Research Council Act 2001'', ...

postdoctoral research fellow at La Trobe University. She was the executive officer of the

History Council of Victoria History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbrella term comprising past events as well ...

from 2003 to 2004. Wright is the author of a number of books which garnered both critical and popular acclaim. Her second book, ''The Forgotten Rebels of Eureka'', took her ten years to research and write. It won the 2014 Stella Prize. In 2016, Wright won the Alice Literary Award, presented by the

Society for Women Writers A society is a Social group, group of individuals involved in persistent Social relation, social interaction, or a large social group sharing the same spatial or social territory, typically subject to the same Politics, political authority an ...

, for "distinguished and long-term contribution to literature by an Australian woman". In 2019, her book, ''You Daughters of Freedom: The Australians Who Won the Vote and Inspired the World'', was shortlisted for the Prime Minister's Literary Awards, shortlisted for the Queensland Literary Awards University of Southern Queensland History Book Award, and longlisted for the

CHASS Australia Book Prize Chaas ( gu:છાશ ''chhash'', hi:छाछ ''chhachh'') is a curd-based drink popular across the Indian subcontinent. In Rajasthani it is called ''ghol,'' in Odia it is called ''Ghol/Chaash,'' ''moru'' in Tamil and Malayalam, ''taak'' in Mara ...

(an annual prize awarded by the Council for the Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences) Wright was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia in the

2020 Australia Day Honours The 2020 Australia Day Honours are appointments to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by Australian citizens. The list was announced on 26 January 2020 by the Governor General of Australia, David Hurley. The Australia ...

in recognition of her "service to literature, and to historical research." , Wright writes and presents ''Shooting the Past'', a history radio series and podcast for

ABC Radio National Radio National, known on-air as RN, is an Australia-wide public service broadcasting radio network run by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC). From 1947 until 1985, the network was known as ABC Radio 2. History 1937: Predecessors an ...

. Wright is the co-host of the La Trobe University podcas
Archive Fever
She is a former board director at the Wheeler Centre and a member of the expert advisory panel for the Australian Republic Movement. Since 2014, Wright has been a principal research fellow at La Trobe University in Melbourne. In 2019, she was promoted to full professor. , Wright is ARC (

) Future Fellow, History.

Works

* * * *

Personal life

She lives in Melbourne with her husband, furniture designer and craftsman Damien Wright, and their three children.

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wright, Clare 1969 births American emigrants to Australia Australian historians Australian women historians La Trobe University faculty Living people Monash University alumni Recipients of the Medal of the Order of Australia University of Melbourne alumni Writers from Ann Arbor, Michigan Writers from Melbourne People educated at Mac.Robertson Girls' High School