Stephen Wilks Stephen Wilks i(A71813 works by) (a.k.a. Stephen Leslie Wilks)
Gender: Male
The material on this page is available to AustLit subscribers. If you are a subscriber or are from a subscribing organisation, please log in to gain full access. To explore options for subscribing to this unique teaching, research, and publishing resource for Australian culture and storytelling, please contact us or find out more.

Works By

Preview all
1 Stephen Wilks Review of Sean Scalmer, Democratic Adventurer : Graham Berry and the Making of Australian Politics Stephen Wilks , 2022 single work review
— Appears in: Australian Journal of Biography and History , no. 6 2022; (p. 285-290)

— Review of Democratic Adventurer : Graham Berry and the Making of Australian Politics Sean Scalmer , 2020 single work biography
'Arguably the hoariest of historical clichés is to proclaim a once famed figure as now forgotten, and hence in need of revival. Such has even been asserted of John Monash. Graham Berry, premier of colonial Victoria, is a truer example. He even missed out on a street name in Canberra’s suburban Wanniassa and Calwell, despite their nomenclative theme being Victorian politicians. Hal Colebatch’s 2014 biography of Dick Hamer, the best biography so far of a Victorian premier, is now followed by this fine study of Berry by Sean Scalmer.' (Introduction)
1 Backbenchers to the Front : A Case for Political History from below? Stephen Wilks , 2021 single work essay
— Appears in: Australian Journal of Biography and History , August no. 5 2021; (p. 189-203)
'Wars have led to innumerable fine memoirs by foot soldiers. Less so Australian politics. Memoirs of note by backbenchers reflecting on their service in an Australian parliament are few. The journalist and military historian Max Hastings once wrote that he did not seek interviews with surviving military officers of very senior rank as due to their age the result was usually ‘a conversational train running upon familiar railway lines’; the recollections of regimental and battalion commanders were of greater historical value.1 My own observations of published writings on government are that senior ministers and departmental secretaries are typically so weighed down by personal baggage that they often default to a reassuring account that invites only minimal reflection on the author’s own record. Could those sitting quietly on the backbench (or even at a lonely desk in a government agency) have acquired a more cogent understanding of events, less weighed down by reputational self-interest?' (Introduction)
1 Preface Joshua Black , Stephen Wilks , 2021 single work essay
— Appears in: Australian Journal of Biography and History , August no. 5 2021; (p. v-ix)
'The relative decline of political history as a sub-discipline of history has not been matched by any evident decline in political biography. Quite the opposite, in fact, particularly among general readers. Perhaps this is due to its capacity for drama and for the high degree of human agency in political events. Yet political biography has long occupied an uneasy position on the spectrum of academic genres of writing. Gone are the days when all of human history was considered simply a story of great men and their deeds. Importantly, we no longer consider the ‘political’ as expressly limited to the realm of mass parties and national legislatures; as Michelle Arrow has comprehensively demonstrated, a popular catchphrase of 1970s Australia— ‘the personal is political’—ran directly counter to the notion of a neat and separable division between public and private selves.' (Introduction)
1 y separately published work icon 'Now is the Psychological Moment' : Earle Page and the Imagining of Australia Stephen Wilks , Acton : Australian National University Press , 2020 21934557 2020 single work biography

'Earle Christmas Grafton Page (1880–1961) – surgeon, Country Party leader, treasurer and prime minister – was perhaps the most extraordinary visionary to hold high public office in twentieth-century Australia. Over decades, he made determined efforts to seize ‘the psychological moment’, and thereby realise his vision of a decentralised, regionalised and rationally ordered nation.

'Page’s unique dreaming of a very different Australia encompassed new states, hydroelectricity, economic planning, cooperative federalism and rural universities. His story casts light on the wider place in history of visions of national development. He was Australia’s most important advocate of developmentalism, the important yet little-studied stream of thought that assumes that governments can lead the nation to realise its economic potential.

'His audacious synthesis of ideas delineated and stretched the Australian political imagination. Page’s rich career confirms that Australia has long inspired popular ideals of national development, but also suggests that their practical implementation was increasingly challenged during the twentieth century.

'Effervescent, intelligent and somewhat eccentric, Page was one of Australia’s great optimists. Few Australian leaders who stood for so much have since been so neglected.'

Source : publisher's blurb

1 [Review] Becoming John Curtin and James Scullin : The Making of the Modern Labor Party, 1876–1921 Stephen Wilks , 2020 single work review
— Appears in: Australian Historical Studies , vol. 51 no. 4 2020; (p. 506-507)

— Review of Becoming John Curtin and James Scullin : Their Early Political Careers and the Making of the Modern Labor Party Liam Byrne , 2020 single work biography

'John Curtin and James Scullin are commonly judged according to their respective struggles with World War II and the Great Depression. One is as close to being revered as any Australian prime minister has come; the other is, at best, pitied.' (Introduction)

1 [Review] Evatt : A Life Stephen Wilks , 2018 single work review
— Appears in: Australian Journal of Biography and History , December no. 1 2018; (p. 217-221)

— Review of Evatt : A Life John Murphy , 2016 single work biography
1 A Year of Strong Voices Stephen Wilks , 2013 single work review
— Appears in: The Canberra Times , 5 January 2013; (p. 19)

— Review of The Best Australian Essays 2012 2012 anthology essay prose criticism
1 Lieutenant of All Trades Looked to Both Sea and Stars Stephen Wilks , 2012 single work review
— Appears in: The Canberra Times , 17 November 2012; (p. 20-21)

— Review of 26 Views of the Starburst World : William Dawes at Sydney Cove 1788-91 Ross Gibson , 2012 single work biography
1 Light on a Little-Known Governor Stephen Wilks , 2012 single work review
— Appears in: The Canberra Times , 10 March 2012; (p. 28)

— Review of A Steady Hand : Governor Hunter and ​His First Fleet Sketchbook Linda Groom , 2012 single work biography
1 The Formative Years Stephen Wilks , 2011 single work review
— Appears in: The Canberra Times , 29 October 2011; (p. 23)

— Review of Australians : Eureka to the Diggers : Volume 2 Thomas Keneally , 2011 single work prose
1 Enduring Enigma of Leichhardt Stephen Wilks , 2011 single work review
— Appears in: The Canberra Times , 1 October 2011; (p. 29)

— Review of Into the Unknown : The Tormented Life and Expeditions of Ludwig Leichhardt John Bailey , 2012 single work biography
1 Swell Assortment Stephen Wilks , 2010 single work review
— Appears in: The Canberra Times , 26 December 2010; (p. 14-15)

— Review of The Penguin Book of the Ocean 2010 anthology extract non-fiction poetry short story
1 Hancock's Parade Stephen Wilks , 2010 single work review
— Appears in: The Canberra Times , 3 July 2010; (p. 21)

— Review of A Three-Cornered Life : The Historian W. K. Hancock Jim Davidson , 2010 single work biography
1 Clarity and Drive in Keneally's History Stephen Wilks , 2009 single work review
— Appears in: The Canberra Times , 29 August 2009; (p. 16)

— Review of Australians : Origins to Eureka : Volume 1 Thomas Keneally , 2009 single work prose
1 Clive : Alive and Kicking Stephen Wilks , 2009 single work review
— Appears in: The Canberra Times , 15 August 2009; (p. 11)

— Review of The Revolt of the Pendulum Clive James , 2009 selected work essay criticism review correspondence
1 Trials, Triumphs of an Idealist Stephen Wilks , 2009 single work review
— Appears in: The Canberra Times , 18 April 2009; (p. 15)

— Review of The Zealous Conservator : A Life of Charles Lane Poole John Dargavel , 2008 single work biography
1 Witty Cynics Take on Nation Stephen Wilks , 2008 single work column
— Appears in: Sunday Canberra Times , 7 December 2008; (p. 29)
1 The PM that Time Forgot Stephen Wilks , 2008 single work review
— Appears in: The Canberra Times , 25 October 2008; (p. 15)

— Review of Andrew Fisher : Prime Minister of Australia David Day , 2008 single work biography
1 Fledging Diplomacy in Washington Stephen Wilks , 2008 single work review
— Appears in: The Canberra Times , 28 June 2008; (p. 15)

— Review of A Delicate Mission : The Washington Diaries of R. G. Casey, 1940-42 R. G. Casey , 2008 single work diary
1 First Lady in Her Own Right Stephen Wilks , 2008 single work review
— Appears in: The Canberra Times , 21 June 2008; (p. 17)

— Review of Enid Lyons : Leading Lady to a Nation Anne Henderson , 2008 single work biography
X