McKenzie wins Victorian Premier’s History Award
Carmel McKenzie received the 2023 Victorian Premier’s History Award for the book St Kilda 1841–1900: Movers and shakers and money-makers (Manneton Publishing).
St Kilda 1841–1900 explains how St Kilda was a ‘bastion of aristocratic privilege prior to the 1890s’. The judges described the book as ‘a beautifully presented and profusely illustrated social history’. McKenzie receives a cash prize of $5000.
At the event, the Judges’ Special Prize was also awarded to Frontier Magistrate: The enigmatic Foster Fyans (John Cary, Australian Scholarly Publishing), which is described as the first full-scale biography of Foster Fyans, who played ‘a significant role in the earliest years of European occupation in Victoria’.
Staging a Revolution: When Betty rocked the pram (Kath Kenny, Upswell) won the History Publication Award, recounting the story of Betty Can Jump, a radical play born out of the early 1970s women’s liberation movement in Melbourne.
The Collaborative Community History Award was awarded to On Bunurong Country: Art and design in Frankston (ed by Jane Eckett with Lisa Byrne, McClelland Gallery), which is described as a look at the cultural and social history of greater Frankston, with ‘contributions by a range of recognised experts in art and design and significant attention to First Nations Peoples’ history and culture’.
Flinders Cargo Shed: Heritage and environs by the Flinders District Historical Society won the Small History Publication Award, while Julian O’Shea won the Digital Storytelling Award for ‘Unknown Melbourne’, a social media take on the history of some unusual locations.
Awards also went to the documentary The Lost City of Melbourne, the ‘Houses of North and West Melbourne’ Instagram account, Charlton Neighbourhood House’s ‘Nyernila’ project, the oral history documentary Don’t Be Too Polite Girls, and the history article ‘No Mention of the Great Famine: Interpreting a gap in Dr John Singleton’s autobiographical narrative’ by Sylvia Morrissey.
The Public Record Office Victoria and Royal Historical Society of Victoria (RHSV) presented the awards at the Arts Centre in Melbourne. RHSV president Richard Broome said: ‘The judges had another exceptional pool of entries to choose from this year and every community historian who participated should be applauded for their commitment to local history.’
The previous year’s winner was Janet McCalman for the book Vandemonians: The repressed history of colonial Victoria (MUP).
The full list of 2023 winners is available on the Royal Historical Society of Victoria website.
Category: Awards Local news
