Research presentations

Professor Matthew Spriggs is standing in front wooden bookshelves filled with books. He is wearing glasses, a red short-sleeve shirt patterned with yellow bananas and a black hat.

Prof Matthew Spriggs

Recovering Vanuatu's indigenous literature

Prof Matthew Spriggs talked about his recent Fellowship research focused on the indigenous languages of Vanuatu.

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A smiling woman with short blonde hair and black-rimmed glasses, wearing a black and white checkered top. She has a nose ring and is outdoors with a blurred background of flowering trees.

Dr Meg Brayshaw

Rethinking realism: Dymphna Cusack and Kylie Tennant

Dr Meg Brayshaw presents her recent Fellowship research into the work of two prominent Australian women writers, Dymphna Cusack and Kylie Tennant.

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A black and white image of Chinese students crowded outside a theatre for a meeting in 1949

The Southbound Mobilization Meeting held in Shanghai on June 21st, 1949 at the Tianchan Theatre, nla.cat-vn8490

Revolutionary Youth in China, 1949-1950 with Dr Sanjiao Tang

2025 National Library of Australia Fellow, Dr Sanjiao Tang, discussed his recent Fellowship research focused on the history of the Chinese Communist Party and its new regime.

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Scott-Patrick Mitchell standing in front of a tree

2025 Creative Arts Fellow Scott-Patrick Mitchell. Image courtesy David Cox Media.

RISE RALLY REST with Scott-Patrick Mitchell

Poet Scott-Patrick Mitchell discussed their recent Fellowship focused on laying research groundwork for a new poetry collection titled RISE RALLY REST.

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A crowd of people on a stage holding placards.

Sabine Friedrich, John Shortis, Moya Simpson and the Worldly Goods Choir performing 'Something Worth Fighting For’ at the 2024 National Folk Festival

Something Worth Fighting For: Aussie protest songs with John Shortis

John Shortis presented his 2024 National Folk Fellowship research into Australian protest songs.

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A black and white photograph of a woman in a dress twirling around with her eyes closed.

Margaret Michaelis, Bodenwieser Ballet open air performance featuring Hilary Napier, 1940, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-234841729

Staging nationhood in dance photographs with Dr Wesley Lim

Dr Wesley Lim presented a lecture on his 2023 National Library Fellowship research into the papers of dancer and choreographer Gertrud Bodenwieser.

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A large book sitting propped open on a red piece of material. The left hand page shows text that reads '1. Exhibit me' and the right hand page shows a stamped black ink image.

Wendy Muche, Meatshop [detail], 1984, nla.gov.au/nla.cat-vn2866647. Photograph courtesy of Dr Caren Florance.

Strange pages: Investigating artists' books with Dr Caren Florance

Dr Caren Florance presented a lecture on her 2024 National Library Fellowship research into artists' books (books made by artists as art).

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A woman with dark hair pulled back smiles at the camera while leaning on a wooden table. She wears a grey blazer over a patterned blouse. Several books and open notebooks are spread across the table in front of her.

Catherine Dwyer

Suzanne Bellamy and the Australian women’s liberation movement

Catherine Dwyer presents her recent Fellowship into the life of women’s liberationist, artist and scholar Suzanne Bellamy.

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A man with glasses wearing a black button-down shirt in the National Library of Australia's Special Collections Reading Room

Dr Matthew Lamb

The 'archival imagination' of Frank Moorhouse

Dr Matthew Lamb presented his recent Fellowship research on Frank Moorhouse’s ‘archival imagination’, exploring how his methods shaped his work and identity.

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Terry Milligan, Portrait of Judith Wright, c. 1998, nla.gov.au/nla.cat-vn1891350

The environmental vision of Judith Wright with Prof John Morrissey

We joined Prof John Morrissey for a discussion about his recent Fellowship research focused on the environmental writing of renowned Australian poet and author Judith Wright.

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