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Ann Curthoys Ann Curthoys i(A27722 works by) (a.k.a. Anne Curthoys)
Born: Established: 1945 ;
Gender: Female
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Works By

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1 Invitation to Remember : A Massacre in Western Australia Ann Curthoys , 2023 single work review
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , May no. 453 2023; (p. 11)

— Review of Kate Auty O’Leary of the Underworld : The Untold Story of the Forrest River Massacre Celeste Liddle , 2023 single work review

'This is no ordinary history book. It is in part an account of a massacre and in part a biographical study of one of the perpetrators, Patrick Bernard O’Leary, yet it reads more like a novel, or a prosecutor’s statement in court, than like a conventional history. It is a truly angry book, full of rage at the fact that the perpetrators of a massacre were never brought to justice, rage at the justice system’s treatment of Indigenous people. Its desire to ensure that the victims are never forgotten starts with the dedication, to Warrawalla Marga, an old woman ‘who was walked to her death with a chain around her neck by O’Leary and others in June 1926. She and all the others are not forgotten.’' (Introduction)

1 Writing Communist History Ann Curthoys , 2022 single work essay
— Appears in: The Work of History : Writing for Stuart Macintyre 2022;
1 Everything You Need to Know about the Uluru Statement from the Heart AND Truth-Telling: History, Sovereignty and the Uluru Statement Ann Curthoys , 2021 single work review
— Appears in: Australian Historical Studies , vol. 52 no. 4 2021; (p. 644-648)

— Review of Everything You Need to Know About the Uluru Statement from the Heart Megan Davis , George Williams , 2021 multi chapter work criticism ; Truth-Telling : History, Sovereignty and the Uluru Statement Henry Reynolds , 2021 multi chapter work criticism

'These two books both have the Uluru Statement in their title and share the same publisher. In one sense, they are a mirror image of each other. Everything You Need to Know about the Uluru Statement from the Heart is a clearly written and accessible text explaining constitutional law that also narrates, addresses, and advocates history, while Truth-Telling: History, Sovereignty and the Uluru Statement, also clear and accessible, is a work of history that is concerned with the law. They also complement each other. Megan Davis and George Williams explain how truth-telling came to be part of the Uluru Statement, while Henry Reynolds outlines what he sees as the historical truths that must be told and indicates where he thinks truth-telling processes might lead. Yet the content of the two books is very different. If we consider the Uluru Statement slogan ‘Voice, Treaty, Truth’, then Everything You Need to Know is primarily about Voice, while Truth-Telling is about Treaty and Truth. For historians, Everything You Need to Know is a must-read. While many historians will find that Truth-Telling covers some very familiar ground, its last few chapters send out an important challenge to the way we remember and commemorate some key figures in Australian political history. Reynolds suggests we ask some tough new questions, for example: should Griffith University change its name?'  (Introduction)

1 [Review] ‘Me Write Myself’: The Free Aboriginal Inhabitants of Van Diemen’s Land at Wybalenna Ann Curthoys , 2018 single work review
— Appears in: Australian Historical Studies , vol. 49 no. 2 2018; (p. 268)

— Review of 'Me Write Myself' : The Free Aboriginal Inhabitants of Van Diemens Land at Wybalenna, 1832-47 Leonie Stevens , 2017 multi chapter work criticism correspondence

'As Leonie Stevens points out in her introduction, there is already an extensive historiography on the Aboriginal settlement named Wybalenna, on Flinders Island off the coast of Van Diemen's Land (VDL), which lasted from 1832 to 1847. The community, established to hold in one place the remaining and seriously threatened Indigenous population of VDL, was never large. It reached a peak of between 150 and 200 people in 1834, and although the settlement was occasionally augmented by later arrivals, the dramatic excess of deaths over births meant that by 1847, when the settlement closed, its population had dropped to forty-three. This population decline, which continued when the community was removed to Oyster Cove on the VDL mainland, led observers at the time and since to see this as a case of human extinction in the face of colonisation. It has been quite common to see the story of the Aboriginal settlement on Flinders Island, then, as one of demoralisation and despair, of a people awaiting their relentless decline and inevitable demise.' (Introduction)

1 Stuart Hall : Reflections, Memories, Appreciations Ann Curthoys , John Docker , 2016 single work essay
— Appears in: Cultural Studies Review , April vol. 22 no. 1 2016; (p. 302-306)
'Stuart Hall was many things: public intellectual, academic leader, writer, editor, teacher, political activist, family man and friend. We write here of the two aspects we knew personally, writer and friend. Like so many of us engaged in the early formation of cultural and media studies, we both read and were seriously influenced by his work. John discussed Stuart Hall's work extensively in his PhD thesis on Australian literature of the 1890s in international contexts, and Stuart was one of his examiners. Ann read Stuart's work in the late 1970s, having just arrived to teach in the BA (Communication) degree at what was then the NSW Institute of Technology, ten years later to become University of Technology, Sydney (UTS). ...'
1 y separately published work icon Writing History Ann Curthoys , Camilla Nelson , Christine de Matos , Tom Griffiths , 2015 2015 8644929 2015 series - publisher criticism
1 Historical Texts as Literature? We Do Well to Praise EP Thompson Ann Curthoys , 2015 single work criticism
— Appears in: The Conversation , 11 June 2015; Writing History 2015;
1 1 y separately published work icon What Did You Do in the Cold War Daddy? Joy Damousi (editor), Ann Curthoys (editor), Sydney : NewSouth Publishing , 2014 7161030 2014 anthology autobiography

'The Cold War was a turbulent time to grow up in. Family ties were tested, friendships were torn apart and new beliefs forged out of the ruins of old loyalties. In this book, through twelve evocative stories of childhood and early adulthood in Australia during the Cold War years, writers from vastly different backgrounds explore how global political events affected the intimate space of home, family life and friendships.

'Some writers were barely in their teens when they felt the first touches of their parents’ political lives, both on the Left and the Right. Others grew up in households well attuned to activism across the spectrum, including anti-communism, workers’ rights, anti-Vietnam War, anti-apartheid and women’s rights. Sifting through the key political and social developments in Australia from the end of World War II to the early 1990s, including the referendum to ban the Communist Party of Australia, the rise of ‘the Movement’ and the Labor split, and post-war migration, this book is a powerful and poignant telling of the ways in which the political is personal. ' (Publication summary)

1 Crossing Over : Academic and Popular History Ann Curthoys , 2012 single work criticism
— Appears in: Australasian Journal of Popular Culture , 16 February vol. 1 no. 1 2012; (p. 7-18)
'This article considers the divide between popular and academic history, especially as perceived by popular and academic historians. It argues that the two forms of history, though clearly connected to one another, have different priorities and audiences. In particular, where academic historians prize originality of research, popular historians will tend to prize powerful storytelling. The article suggests that popular historians could acknowledge more handsomely that many do owe their debt to the research findings of academic historians, while in their turn academic historians have much to learn from popular historians about how to communicate the pleasures and importance of understanding the past.' (Author's abstract p. 7)
1 Untitled Ann Curthoys , 2011 single work review
— Appears in: Australian Feminist Studies , June vol. 26 no. 68 2011; (p. 239-242)

— Review of Transnational Ties : Australian Lives in the World 2009 anthology criticism biography
1 y separately published work icon Passionate Histories: Myths, Memory and Indigenous Australia Frances Peters-Little (editor), Ann Curthoys (editor), John Docker (editor), Canberra : ANU E Press , 2010 Z1874794 2010 anthology essay
1 5 y separately published work icon How to Write History That People Want to Read Ann Curthoys , Ann McGrath , Sydney : University of New South Wales Press , 2009 Z1652238 2009 single work criticism (taught in 1 units) 'This practical book, drawn from decades of experience, is an indispensable guide to writing history. Aimed at all kinds of people who write history - academic historians, public historians, professional historians, family historians and students of all levels - the book includes a wide range of examples from many genres and styles. It advises writers on how much research is necessary, how to manage notes and files, when you should start writing, whether to use the first person and whether to structure your work chronologically or thematically. It offers tips on how to write a compelling narrative, discusses dialogue and how much to include, and gives guidance on referencing. Full of examples, including many from the authors' own experiences, this book is an indispensable guide to writing history.' (Publisher's website)
1 How to Workshop Your Writing Ann McGrath , Ann Curthoys , 2009 single work criticism
— Appears in: Writing Histories: Imagination and Narration 2009;
'A writing workshop is an intensive small discussion group designed to provide an instant readership and supportive environment for improving your writing. The work in progress is distributed beforehand to all members of the group, or perhaps read out to the group (sometimes both), and then discussed. The group members respond to the piece of writing, saying what works, and making suggestions for improvement. Such workshops are common-place for fiction writers, especially in writing courses run by colleges, universities and other educational organisations. Writing groups are, in fact, everywhere.' (Introduction)
1 Gallery, Museum and Other Exercises for Writing History Ann Curthoys , Ann McGrath , 2009 single work criticism
— Appears in: Writing Histories: Imagination and Narration 2009;
'We used these writing exercises in our Visiting Scholars Program, and student response was very favourable. Try them in your writing class or informal writing group, or try them alone.' (Introduction)
1 The Personal Is Historical : Writing about the Freedom Ride of 1965 Ann Curthoys , 2009 single work criticism
— Appears in: Writing Histories: Imagination and Narration 2009;
'Decades ago, when I was a History student, we were told never to use the pronoun ‘I’ when writing history. The aim was to write a third-person narrative in such a way that the narrator remained hidden, unknown, unimportant. This stricture is still passed on by some historians, as students are told to focus on the narrative, the story they have to tell, and to keep themselves well out of sight or hearing in the text. Yet the idea and practice of foregrounding the narrator, the story-teller, the historian, is rapidly gaining ground. We are learning to use the once-forbidden personal pronoun as a means of writing history, foregrounding the existence of interpretation in general, and our own interpretation in particular. By saying ‘I’, many argue, we are not aggrandising but rather relativising ourselves, drawing attention to the possibility of other views, interpretations, and ways of representing the past, to the limited and contingent nature of historical knowledge. By saying ‘I’, we leave the reader freer to judge and weigh up the historical narrative we have offered, and ourselves the space to admit to what we don’t know, or cannot figure out.' (Introduction)
1 The Freedom Ride Ann Curthoys , 2008 single work criticism
— Appears in: Australian Greats 2008; (p. 134-138)
1 1 y separately published work icon Connected Worlds: History in Transnational Perspective Ann Curthoys (editor), Marilyn Lake (editor), Canberra : ANU E Press , 2005 Z1475759 2005 anthology criticism (taught in 1 units)

'This volume brings together historians of imperialism and race, travel and modernity, Islam and India, the Pacific and the Atlantic to show how a ‘transnational’ approach to history offers fresh insights into the past. Transnational history is a form of scholarship that has been revolutionising our understanding of history in the last decade. With a focus on interconnectedness across national borders of ideas, events, technologies and individual lives, it moves beyond the national frames of analysis that so often blinker and restrict our understanding of the past. Many of the essays also show how expertise in ‘Australian history’ can contribute to and benefit from new transnational approaches to history. Through an examination of such diverse subjects as film, modernity, immigration, politics and romance, Connected Worlds weaves an historical matrix which transports the reader beyond the local into a realm which re-defines the meaning of humanity in all its complexity. Contributors include Tony Ballantyne, Desley Deacon, John Fitzgerald, Patrick Wolfe and Angela Woollacott.' (Publication summary)

1 8 y separately published work icon Is History Fiction? Ann Curthoys , John Docker , Sydney : University of New South Wales Press , 2005 Z1396033 2005 single work criticism 'Explores in fresh and innovative ways the perennial question - what is history?, and takes the reader on a wonderful journey that starts with the Greeks and travels through the centuries to more recent forms of history that are framed by Marxism, postmodernism and feminism.' --National Library of Australia, catalogue record.
1 Blainey in All His Shades Ann Curthoys , 2003 single work review
— Appears in: The Age , 5 April 2003; (p. 4)

— Review of The Fuss that Never Ended Tom Stannage , 2003 anthology essay biography
1 6 y separately published work icon Freedom Ride : A Freedom Rider Remembers Ann Curthoys , Crows Nest : Allen and Unwin , 2002 Z1027919 2002 single work autobiography (taught in 1 units) 'In 1965, 29 students from Sydney University set out on a road trip through northwestern NSW, to challenge the ingrained discrimination and racism that was a largely unacknowledged feature of NSW country towns. The trip was marked by confrontation, intense street debates, some physical violence and much courage from local Aborigines.' (Source: LibrariesAustralia)
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