Author Archives: Nathan Hobby

An Eye for Eternity, chapter 1

20 Sun Oct 2024

Posted by in biographical method, biography, biography as a literary form

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Cover of the book

Mark McKenna opens his 2011 biography of the Australian historian Manning Clark (1915-1991) with a beautiful section describing Clark’s voice. ‘His voice sounded the entire person.’ We read accounts of what Clark sounded like from different people who knew him, weaving snippets of quotes, ranging over his whole life. It’s such a wonderful way to introduce Clark, giving a sense of his character and some landmarks of his life. It shifts subtly into a discussion of his appearence and then onto his personality. It’s a brilliant opening chapter.

Another thing I love: the photographs are integrated into the text. They’re right next to the relevant text. I wanted this for my KSP biography but wasn’t allowed it, alas. I think I’ll try again next time!

Two page spread of the book.

Author Talk at Dianella Library: The Life, Loves and Books of Katharine Susannah Prichard, the Red Witch of Greenmount

11 Thu Jul 2024

Posted by in news and events

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I’m giving a free talk about Katharine Susannah Prichard at Perth’s Dianella Library on 24 July. Thanks to Stirling Libraries and Community History for hosting me. If you live nearby, please come along. I will have copies of The Red Witch for sale at a special price.

The Life, Loves and Books of Katharine Susannah Prichard, the Red Witch of Greenmount
5pm, Wednesday 24 July 2024
Stirling Libraries – Dianella, Waverly St Dianella.
Free tickets: https://events.humanitix.com/the-red-witch-author-talk-with-nathan-hobby

The Death of the Author

01 Wed May 2024

Posted by in R.I.P.

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Paul Auster has died. He is my favourite novelist. Being of a morbid disposition, I’ve been imagining this day for many years and now it’s true. I’ve been reading him for 25 years. Appropriately, there’s two versions in my memory of how I found him. In one version, I remember roaming the shelves of the Murdoch University library as a first year, picking books off the shelf serendipitously – which is not quite randomly – and once I picked up one of his books – perhaps Leviathan – and was hooked. In the other version, it was through my creative writing class I discovered him, an extract from The Invention of Solitude which I loved. Either way, I took out the Invention of Solitude after that and halfway through, I accidentally left it on a bench at the Perth Busport and had to pay $100 for a replacement (they did not replace it) and be reprimanded by a librarian. It was some years before I got to finish reading that beautiful memoir.

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Free event: a chance to hear about Katharine Susannah Prichard and Ric Throssell in their old home

01 Wed May 2024

Posted by in Katharine Susannah Prichard, news and events

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I’m talking about the lives of Katharine Susannah Prichard and her son, Ric Throssell, at 1pm, Saturday 4 May at the Katharine Susannah Prichard Writers Centre in Greenmount. Here’s a photo of my props! It’s a double act, with Professor Bobbie Oliver speaking about The Crime of Not Knowing Your Crime, Karen Throssell’s memoir of Ric’s battle against ASIO. It’s a rare chance to hear the story of Katharine and Ric in the house where they once lived. Karen’s book and my book, The Red Witch: A Biography of Katharine Susannah Prichard, will be on sale and afternoon tea is provided. You can book free tickets here.

Covid denial – my unanswered emails

14 Sun Apr 2024

Posted by in Covid

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8 March was a busy day in political offices – I received emails from the Greens, ALP and my federal indepent member, Kate Chaney about the 2025 election. I wrote back to all of them with my concerns about Covid and have heard back from none of them yet, five weeks later. Here’s one of the emails I sent:

Dear Kate,

I am so pleased you are running again! Thank you for the great work you have done, you have been a hard working and effective voice in parliament for Curtin.  I have made a donation.

I’m asking that you please stand up for action on covid. Both federal and state governments are completely ignoring covid and they need to be held to account. The public don’t understand that covid is airborne, long covid is debilitating, and covid causes heart attacks and strokes. I’m yet to recover fully from my last bout of covid and there are many in much worse situations than me. The health of the whole population is suffering and vulnerable people don’t feel safe to leave their houses. We need:

  • Clean air in public buildings.
  • N95 masks in health care and an end to hospital acquired infections.
  • Long covid funding – Mark Butler has failed to implement the recommendations of the long covid inquiry. (Dr Monique Ryan has been a strong voice on this.)
  • A proper public health campaign so that people understand the risks of covid and the simple mitigations they can take, including wearing n95s inside.

The long term effects of repeat infections are playing out now in Britain, with an increase in disability and decrease in work participation. We can’t just keep ignoring covid, it is not going away.

Best wishes, Nathan Hobby

Katharine Susannah Prichard in the WA Women’s Hall of Fame – upcoming talk

24 Sun Mar 2024

Posted by in news and events

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Katharine Prichard looking out the window of her writing cabin, ca. 1930s.

Katharine Susannah Prichard was ambivalent about feminism because she didn’t think gender inequality could or should be addressed without tackling class inequality. Yet she was a shining example of a woman who broke free of the constraints placed on her by the patriarchy in the early twentieth century to achieve a stellar literary career. She also spoke at several International Women’s Day events between the wars. It’s fitting, then, that in a ceremony at Government House on 7 March, she was one of the inductees to the WA Women’s Hall of Fame posthumous ‘Roll of Honour’.

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Upcoming event – Katharine Susannah Prichard in Glen Eira

20 Wed Mar 2024

Posted by in news and events

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Katharine Susannah Prichard grew up mainly in Caulfield South and was shaped by Federation-era Melbourne. Her Melbourne backstory, and particularly her connection to the Glen Eira era, will be the focus of an upcoming talk I’m giving about my book, The Red Witch. It’s at 12pm AEST on Wednesday 15 May at Bentleigh Library in Melbourne (not to be confused with Perth’s Bentley library!). I will be appearing via Zoom – you can either watch with others in person at Bentleigh Library or via Zoom like me. The event is hosted by the Glen Eira Historical Society. I’m grateful for GEHS’s interest in my biography; I spent some time looking at GEHS’s collection to learn more about the area when I was in Melbourne in 2015 and they were very helpful. Bookings can be made here.

Red Witch review in the Australian Journal of Biography and History

20 Tue Feb 2024

Posted by in My KSP biography, news and events

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I’m glad reviews don’t come out all at once. The new issue of the Australian Journal of Biography and History has the most generous and engaged review by Dr Christina Spittel of my book, The Red Witch. Dr Spittel saw in my book so many things I was hoping readers would see. And her review shows such attention to the biographical process, its methods and ethics – a rare and wonderful thing! I’m so happy and grateful. You can read the review here. This new issue of AJBH is so full of interesting articles on biography and reviews of recent releases – the full open-access contents is here.

How To Do Biography by Nigel Hamilton

15 Thu Feb 2024

Posted by in biography, book review

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I’ve started writing a new biography but I still have some doubts, so I’m not ready to announce it yet. But I’ve re-read Nigel Hamilton’s How To Do Biography: A Primer (2008) as part of my process. I first read it just as I began writing the Katharine Prichard biography and it’s been a great refresher a decade later. One of the joys of this book is his dedication to the art of biography and his strong rebuttal of the criticisms which are made of the genre. There’s a sense of having a well-armed ally on my side.

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Talks on Katharine Susannah Prichard this coming week – Guildford and Morley

10 Sat Feb 2024

Posted by in news and events

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I’m giving two talks on the life of Katharine Susannah Prichard in this coming week and I would love to see you there.

Swan Guildford Historical Society
Monday 12th February, 7pm for a 7.30pm start.
Location: St Matthew’s Hall, Stirling Square, Meadow Street Guildford
This is the monthly meeting of the society and guests are welcome.

The Life, Loves and Books of Katharine Susannah Prichard, the Red Witch of Greenmount
Thursday 15 February, 5:30pm
Location: Morley Public Library, 240 Walter Road West Morley, WA 6062
This is for the City of Bayswater’s Library Lovers Week. Free but please book a ticket – https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/library-lovers-week-the-red-witch-with-biographer-nathan-hobby-tickets-743349306787

And if you are coming, please feel free to wear an n95 mask in this age of ongoing covid – I will be!