Dr Clare Wright is an award-winning historian, author and public commentator who has worked in politics, academia and the media.
Clare holds a PhD in Australian Studies from the University of Melbourne and an MA in Public History from Monash University. From 2004-2009, she was an Australian Research Council Postdoctoral Research Fellow at La Trobe University. She is an internationally recognised scholar in the fields of the social history of alcohol and women's political activism. Her expertise in Australian History covers the gold rush period, 19th and 20th century women's history, democracy movements, mining history, bushrangers and the liquor industry.
Her best-selling first book, Beyond the Ladies Lounge: Australia's Female Publicans (MUP 2003, 2004) met with both critical and popular acclaim.
Clare has worked as a political speechwriter, university lecturer, historical consultant and radio and television broadcaster. She was the Executive Officer of the History Council of Victoria from 2003-2004, striving to promote the work of history teachers and practitioners in the state.
She is a popular public speaker and has presented numerous keynote addresses at conferences, symposia and AGMs, as well as chairing Writers Festival events. Clare has been a judge of three major literary awards.
Clare's thought-provoking essays and opinion writing have appeared in The Age, Crikey, The Week, Overland and Meanjin as well as leading scholarly journals.
In 2005, Clare was named as one of Australia's top 20 public intellectuals by The Age.
Clare appeared as a member of 'The Brains Trust' in over 40 episodes of the long-running ABC quiz show, The Einstein Factor. She has presented regular history segments for 774 ABC Melbourne and 702 ABC Sydney. In the bicentennial year of Australia Post, she appeared in, and was historical consultant to, the 2-part documentary, The Stamp of Australia (History Channel, Foxtel)
Clare has researched, written and presents a one-hour television documentary about how women got the vote in Australia. Utopia Girls will screen on ABC1 in late 2011.
Clare is currently a freelance historian and an Honorary Research Associate at La Trobe University.
Clare lives in Melbourne with her husband and three children.
June 2011
Photo by Simon Schluter