People_
Professor Mark McKenna
PhD ANU
Professor Emeritus, History
Address
A18 - Brennan MacCallum Building
The University of Sydney
Websites
After completing my doctorate in 1996, I took up a research fellowship in political science at the Research School of Social Sciences at the ANU in Canberra. From 2000 till 2005 I was an ARC QEII Fellow in History at the ANU. I took up a position as Senior Research Fellow in History at Sydney University in August 2006, and in 2010 became a member of the department. Over the last decade I’ve published mainly in two areas - the history of Australian republicanism and monarchy and Aboriginal history.
Australian history, particularly political and cultural history and Aboriginal history.
Areas of supervision:
- Australian history
- Indigenous history
- Biography
Australia: the search for a Foundational History (ARC Future Fellowship)
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Return to Uluru,Carlton: Black Inc.(2021) - shortlisted for the Ernest Scott Prize in Australian History 2022.
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An Eye for Eternity, The Life of Manning Clark, MUP 2011. Winner of the 2012 Prime Minister’s Prize for Non Fiction; the Douglas Stewart Prize for Non-Fiction (2012 NSW Premier’s Literary Award); the Nettie Palmer Prize for Non-Fiction (2011 Victorian Premier’s Literary Awards); the 2011 Queensland Premier’s Literary Awards Prize for Non-Fictionand the 2011 South Australian Premier’s Award for Non-Fiction. An Eye for Eternity was also shortlisted for the 2012 National Biography Award, the 2012 NSW Premier’s Australian History Prize, the 2012 Western Australia Premier’s Award for Non Fiction, the 2012 Ernest Scott Prize for Australian History, the 2011 Copyright Agency Limited Award for Literature and the 2011 Walkley Book Award
- Appointed to the Keith Cameron Chair of Australian Studies at University College, Dublin, 2011
- Shared first prize in the H.V. Evatt Foundation Manning Clark Essay Prize, (Topic: Australian Republicanism) 1997.
- Co-winner of W.K. Hancock Prize for Australian History [for The Captive Republic] awarded by Australian Historical Studies Association July 1998
- Author of a new Constitutional Preamble chosen by the Constitutional Centenary Foundation to be circulated to Federal Parliament, February 1999
- QEII Fellowship, ARC 1999.
- Winner of Australian Cultural Studies prize 2002, (awarded by the Centre for Australian Culture, UNSW and the Australian National Capital Authority) for Looking for Blackfellas’ Point.
- Winner of NSW Premier’s Award (Douglas Stewart Prize for Non-Fiction) for Looking for Blackfellas’ Point, May 2003.
- Winner of NSW Premier’s Award (Book of the Year) for Looking for Blackfellas’ Point, May 2003.
- Looking for Blackfellas’ Point was also shortlisted for the Queensland Premier’s History Prize 2003 and the Australian Literary Studies Association’s Colin Roderick Prize for Best Australian Book 2003 (Fiction or Non-Fiction)
- This Country: a Reconciled Republic? shortlisted for the Gleebooks Prize for cultural criticism in the 2005 NSW Premier’s Literary Awards
Selected publications
Return to Uluru
(Black Inc, 2021)
Moment of Truth: History and Australia's Future, QE 69
(Black Inc, 2018)
From the Edge: Australia's Lost Histories
(The Miegunyah Press, 2016)
Project Republic: Plans and Arguments for a New Australia
(Black Inc, 2013)
An Eye for Eternity: The Life of Manning Clark
(The Miegunyah Press, 2011)
This Country: a Reconciled Republic?
(University of New South Wales (UNSW) Press, 2004)
Australian Republicanism: a Reader
(Melbourne University Press, 2003)
Building a Closet of Prayer in the New World: the Story of the Australian Ballot
(Menzies Centre for Australian Studies, 2002)
Looking for Blackfellas' Point : an Australian history of place
(University of New South Wales (UNSW) Press, 2002)
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Publications
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Books
- McKenna, M. (2021). Return to Uluru. Carlton: Black Inc.
- McKenna, M. (2020). An Eye for Eternity: The Life of Manning Clark (2nd edition). Carlton: The Miegunyah Press.
- McKenna, M. (2018). Moment of Truth: History and Australia's Future, QE 69. Melbourne: Black Inc.
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Edited Books
- Jones, B., McKenna, M. (2013). Project Republic: Plans and Arguments for a New Australia. Melbourne: Black Inc.
Book Chapters
- McKenna, M. (2019). In search of Emily. In Joy Damousi and Judith Smart (Eds.), Contesting Australian History: Essays in Honour of Marilyn Lake, (pp. 107-120). Melbourne: Monash University Publishing.
- McKenna, M. (2017). 'A gigantic confession of life': Autobiography, 'National Awakening' and the Invention of Manning Clark. In Doug Munro and John G. Reid (Eds.), Clio's Lives: Biographies and Autobiographies of Historians, (pp. 81-102). Canberra: ANU Press. [More Information]
- McKenna, M. (2017). King Queen and Country: Will Anzac thwart Republicanism? In David Stephens and Alison Broinowski (Eds.), The Honest History Book, (pp. 256-270). Kensington: New South Books.
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Journals
- Nugent, M., Silverstein, B., Spiers Williams, M., McKenna, M. (2022). Review Forum: Mark McKenna’s Return to Uluru. Journal of Australian Studies, 46(3), 370-385. [More Information]
- McKenna, M. (2021). High Ground: beauty amidst the horror on the frontier: High Ground, Stephen Maxwell Johnson, director, 100 mins, High Ground Pictures Pty Ltd, 2021. History Australia, 18(4), 868-869. [More Information]
- McKenna, M. (2019). The National Picture: The Art of Tasmania's Black War. Australian Historical Studies, 50(1), 117-123. [More Information]
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Conferences
- McKenna, M. (2013). Glorious days: Australia 1913.
Other
- McKenna, M. (2008), Lecture: Notes From the Underground: Writing the biography of Manning Clark.
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2022
- Nugent, M., Silverstein, B., Spiers Williams, M., McKenna, M. (2022). Review Forum: Mark McKenna’s Return to Uluru. Journal of Australian Studies, 46(3), 370-385. [More Information]
2021
- McKenna, M. (2021). High Ground: beauty amidst the horror on the frontier: High Ground, Stephen Maxwell Johnson, director, 100 mins, High Ground Pictures Pty Ltd, 2021. History Australia, 18(4), 868-869. [More Information]
- McKenna, M. (2021). Return to Uluru. Carlton: Black Inc.
2020
- McKenna, M. (2020). An Eye for Eternity: The Life of Manning Clark (2nd edition). Carlton: The Miegunyah Press.
2019
- McKenna, M. (2019). In search of Emily. In Joy Damousi and Judith Smart (Eds.), Contesting Australian History: Essays in Honour of Marilyn Lake, (pp. 107-120). Melbourne: Monash University Publishing.
- McKenna, M. (2019). The National Picture: The Art of Tasmania's Black War. Australian Historical Studies, 50(1), 117-123. [More Information]
2018
- McKenna, M. (2018). "An audience with the Queen": Indigenous Australians and the Crown, 1854-2017. Royal Studies Journal, 5(1), 157-167. [More Information]
- McKenna, M. (2018). Moment of Truth: History and Australia's Future, QE 69. Melbourne: Black Inc.
2017
- McKenna, M. (2017). 'A gigantic confession of life': Autobiography, 'National Awakening' and the Invention of Manning Clark. In Doug Munro and John G. Reid (Eds.), Clio's Lives: Biographies and Autobiographies of Historians, (pp. 81-102). Canberra: ANU Press. [More Information]
- McKenna, M. (2017). King Queen and Country: Will Anzac thwart Republicanism? In David Stephens and Alison Broinowski (Eds.), The Honest History Book, (pp. 256-270). Kensington: New South Books.
- McKenna, M. (2017). The Character Business: 'Biographical Political Writing in Australia'. In Stuart Macintyre, Lenore Layman and Jenny Gregory (Eds.), A Historian for All Seasons: Essays for Geoffrey Bolton, (pp. 48-70). Melbourne: Monash University Publishing.
2016
- McKenna, M. (2016). 'National Awakening', Autobiography, and the Invention of Manning Clark. Life Writing, 13(2), 207-220. [More Information]
- McKenna, M. (2016). From the Edge: Australia's Lost Histories. Melbourne: The Miegunyah Press.
- McKenna, M. (2016). Waiting to die? The British monarchy in Australia, New Zealand and Canada, 1991-2016. In Not known (Eds.), Crowns and Colonies: European Monarchies and Overseas Empires, (pp. 309-324). TBC. [More Information]
2015
- McKenna, M. (2015). Elective Affinities: Manning Clark, Patrick White and Sidney Nolan. In Ian Henderson, Anouk Lang (Eds.), Patrick White Beyond the Grave: New Critical Perspectives, (pp. 81-100). London: Anthem Press.
- Woodbridge, S., Beaumont, J., Hutchison, M., Cooke, S., Neumann, K., McKenna, M. (2015). Emotional stories of war. History Australia, 12(3), 207-221. [More Information]
2014
- McKenna, M. (2014). Keeping in Step: The Anzac 'Resurgence' and 'Military Heritage' in Australia and New Zealand. In Shanti Sumartojo, Ben Wellings (Eds.), Nation, Memory and Great War Commemoration: Mobilizing the Past in Europe, Australia and New Zealand, (pp. 151-167). Bern: Peter Lang AG, International Academic Publishers. [More Information]
- McKenna, M. (2014). Tokenism or belated recognition? Welcome to Country and the emergence of Indigenous protocol in Australia, 1991-2014. Journal of Australian Studies, 38(4), 476-489. [More Information]
2013
- McKenna, M. (2013). Glorious days: Australia 1913.
- Jones, B., McKenna, M. (2013). Project Republic: Plans and Arguments for a New Australia. Melbourne: Black Inc.
- McKenna, M. (2013). Six pack: Volume one of A History of Australia is published. In Tanya Dalziell, Paul Genoni (Eds.), Telling Stories: Australian Life and Literature 1935-2012, (pp. 240-246). Clayton, Australia: Monash University Publishing.
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2012
- McKenna, M. (2012). Transplanted to Savage Shores: Indigenous Australians and British birthright in the mid nineteenth-century Australian colonies. Journal of Colonialism and Colonial History, 13(1), 1-11. [More Information]
2011
- Coakley, J., McKenna, M. (2011). 'Whatever happened to Republicanism?': Changing Images of the Monarchy in Ireland and Australia. In Katie Holmes and Stuart Ward (Eds.), Exhuming Passions: The Pressure of the Past in Ireland and Australia, (pp. 271-294). Dublin: Irish Academic Press.
- McKenna, M. (2011). An Eye for Eternity: The Life of Manning Clark. Carlton: The Miegunyah Press.
2010
- McKenna, M. (2010). Anzac Day: How Did It Become Australia's National Day? In Marilyn Lake and Henry Reynolds (Eds.), Whats Wrong with Anzac The Militarisation of Australian History, (pp. 110-134). Sydney: University of New South Wales (UNSW) Press.
- McKenna, M. (2010). Crown. In Melissa Harper, Richard White (Eds.), Symbols of Australia, (pp. 33-37). Sydney: University of New South Wales (UNSW) Press.
2009
- McKenna, M. (2009). 'The Language of Ordinary Men': Henry Reynolds, History and the Pursuit of Justice. In Bain Attwood and Tom Griffiths (Eds.), Frontier, race, nation: Henry Reynolds and Australian history, (pp. 71-91). Melbourne, Australia: Australian Scholarly Publishing.
- McKenna, M. (2009). Australian History and the Australian 'National Inheritance'. Australian Cultural History, 27(1), 1-12. [More Information]
2008
- McKenna, M. (2008). 'We think we're pretty good and we are': Values and patriotism in John Howard's Australia. In Deborah Gare, David Ritter (Eds.), Making Australian History: Perspectives on the Past since 1788, (pp. 592-600). Australia: Thomson (Learning Australia).
- McKenna, M. (2008), Lecture: Notes From the Underground: Writing the biography of Manning Clark.
- McKenna, M. (2008). Monarchy: From Reverence to Indifference. In Deryck M Schreuder and Stuart Ward (Eds.), Australias Empire, (pp. 261-287). New York, USA: Oxford University Press. [More Information]
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2007
- McKenna, M., Ward, S. (2007). 'It Was Really Moving, Mate': The Gallipoli Pilgrimage and Sentimental Nationalism in Australia. Australian Historical Studies, 38(129), 141-151. [More Information]
- McKenna, M. (2007). Being There. In Drusilla Modjeska (Eds.), The Best Australian Essays 2007, (pp. 199-226). Melbourne Australia: Black Inc.
- McKenna, M. (2007). Once More With Feeling: the personal Voice of Manning Clark. In Stuart Macintyre, Sheila Fitzpatrick (Eds.), Against the grain: Brian Fitzpatrick and Manning Clark in Australian history and politics, (pp. 191-222). Melbourne: Melbourne University Press.
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2006
- McKenna, M. (2006). Writing the Past. In Drusilla Modjeska (Eds.), The Best Australian Essays 2006, (pp. 96-110). Melbourne VIC: Black Inc.
2005
- McKenna, M. (2005). A symbolic life. Griffith Review, 9(Spring 2005), 151-159.
- McKenna, M. (2005). Voyage Around My Constitution. In Sybil Nolan (Eds.), The Dismissal, (pp. 148-154). Melbourne University Press: Melbourne University Press.
2004
- McKenna, M. (2004). Ashes of Republicanism, Dust of Empire. Meanjin, 63(3), 175-186.
- McKenna, M. (2004). The Poetics of Place: Land, Constitution and Republic. Dialogue (Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia), 23(1), 27-33.
- McKenna, M. (2004). The republic, democracy and reconciliation. In Wayne Hudson & A. J. Brown (Eds.), Restructuring Australia: Regionalism, republicanism and reform of the nation-state, (pp. 98-110). Sydney, Australia: Federation Press.
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2003
- McKenna, M. (2003). 'I wonder whether I belong': Manning Clark and the politics of Australian history 1970-2000. Australian Historical Studies, 34(122), 364-383. [More Information]
- McKenna, M. (2003). A History for Our Time? The Idea of the People in Australian Democracy. History Compass, 1(1), 1-15.
- McKenna, M. (2003). A Preference for Forgetting: some reflections on publishing Looking for Blackfellas Point. Aboriginal History, 27, 131-138.
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2002
- McKenna, M. (2002). Building a Closet of Prayer in the New World: the Story of the Australian Ballot. United Kingdom: Menzies Centre for Australian Studies.
- McKenna, M. (2002). Looking for Blackfellas' Point : an Australian history of place. Sydney, NSW: University of New South Wales (UNSW) Press.
Selected Grants
2020
- Treaty Talk and Treaty People in the Commonwealth , Johnson M, Klassen P, Lui-Chivizhe L, Kirkby C, Watson N, McKenna M, Kluge E, Barclay K, Hill S, Bohaker H, Turner D, Carter J, Rowse T, Norman H, Harris A, Hayward J, Office of Global Engagement/Partnership Collaboration Awards
2011
- AUSTRALIA: THE SEARCH FOR A FOUNDATIONAL HISTORY, McKenna M, Australian Research Council (ARC)/Future Fellowships (FT)
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