Bold Types
How Australia’s First Women Journalists Blazed a Trail
In Bold Types, Patricia Clarke recounts the chequered journey of women journalists in the fight for gender equality from 1860 to the end of World War II. These were independent, adventurous women who ventured far and wide in search of news, relevance and equality.
Together, stories of women from Anna Blackwell and Flora Shaw to Janet Mitchell and Caroline Isaacson, illustrate the gains and setbacks of women journalists over nearly a century. In each successive story, the tenacious determination of these women stands clear against the background of the prevailing patriarchy.
Patricia Clarke was a trailblazer herself as the only woman on the Melbourne staff at the Australian News and Information Bureau in the early 1950s. In a detailed epilogue, Patricia shares stories of her own life and career in the days of crowded newsrooms, clattering typewriters, and overflowing cigarette trays.
The book also features an introduction by Amy Remeikis, political reporter at Guardian Australia, who reflects on the struggles and achievements of her early counterparts as well as the current working environment for women journalists.
Bold Types is a book that will resound with and inspire today’s audience, in a world where women are still fighting for equal rights and often, respect in the workplace.
Dr Patricia Clarke is a writer, historian, editor and former journalist, who has written extensively on women in Australian history and the history of journalism. In 2001, she was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia for services to Australian history, and she is an honorary fellow of the Australian Academy of Humanities. Bold Types is her fifteenth book.
Amy Remeikisis the political reporter for The Guardian. She writes on the major political issues in Australia, crime, the courts and the environment. She is a regular panellist on the ABC's Insiders program and was the inaugural nominee for the Young Walkley awards.
