Speculative Biography (PDF)

Donna Lee Brien is Emeritus Professor of Creative Industries at Central Queensland University, Australia. Specialising in research on genres of non-fiction writing, Donna has published 23 books and monographs. Author of The Shadow Side of Nursing: Paradox, Image and Identity (with Margaret McAllister, 2020), co-edited collections include Writing the Australian Beach: Local Site, Global Idea (2020), Publishing and Culture (2019), Offshoot: Contemporary Life Writing Methodologies and Practice (2018), The Routledge Companion to Literature and Food (2018) and Recovering History through Fact and Fiction: Forgotten Lives (2017). Past President of national peak body the Australasian Association of Writing Programs, Donna co-edits The Australasian Journal of Popular Culture.

Kiera Lindsey is a Senior Research Fellow conducting an Australian Research Council Discovery Early Career Research Award on speculative biography and historical craft at the University of Technology Sydney. She has published book chapters and journal articles on nineteenth-century history, historical craft and biography. Her first speculative biography, The Convict's Daughter was published in 2018 and described as 'fearlessly carving a new path between history and fiction'. Her second is concerned with colonial artist and republican, Adelaide Ironside. Kiera has been an on-camera historian and a regular guest on ABC Radio National. She is currently an executive councillor with the History Council of New South Wales.