Newcastle Writers Festival: Australia's Underworld

Newcastle Writers Festival

In this session, Assoc. Prof. Nancy Cushing (Newcastle University), author of A History of Crime in Australia and Dr Rachel Franks (State Library of NSW), author of An Uncommon Hangman discuss the differing approaches to Australian crime and punishment in their recent books, one focusing on a single individual – hangman ‘Nosey Bob’ Howard – and the other bringing together centuries of crime stories from across the continent.  

Speakers Bios:

Assoc. Prof. Nancy Cushing is Associate Professor in History at the University of Newcastle on beautiful Awabakal and Worimi country, and former Vice President of the History Council of NSW. While her research focuses on environmental history, it was students' fascination with crime history that drew her to this topic, and to the writing of A HISTORY OF CRIME IN AUSTRALIA (Routledge, 2023).

Dr Rachel Franks holds PhDs in Australian crime fiction from Central Queensland University and true crime texts from the University of Sydney. A qualified educator and librarian, her extensive work on crime fiction, true crime, popular culture and information science has been presented at numerous conferences as well as on radio and television. An award-winning writer, her research can be found in a wide variety of books, journals, magazines and online resources. She is the author of AN UNCOMMON HANGMAN: THE LIFE AND DEATHS OF ROBERT ‘NOSEY BOB’ HOWARD (NewSouth, 2022).

Session details

Date: Sat 1 April 2023

Time: 10:00 - 11:00 am

Venue: University of Newcastle NUspace, X301,
Lvl 3, Cnr Hunter & Auckland Sts, Newcastle.

The History Council of NSW would like to thank the NSW Government through Create NSW for their financial support of our organisation.