Robyn Annear

At the Footmen Lunch on 9th July 2009 our guest speaker will be Robyn Annear. Robyn Annear was appointed to the Library Board of Victoria in September 2006.

Robyn is an historian, curator and award-winning writer. She brings to the Board her experience in education and the humanities. Her association with the Library is extensive. She guest curated the Library's 2006 exhibition Naked Democracy: Governing Victoria 1856-2006. In 2003-04 she was a State Library of Victoria Creative Fellow, researching and ultimately publishing the book A City Lost and Found: Whelan the Wrecker's Melbourne.

She has been a judge in The Age Book of the Year and the Victorian Premier's Literary Awards since 2001. Her book Bearbrass won the 1995 AA Phillips Award for Australian Studies in the Victorian Premier's Literary Awards and was shortlisted for The Age Book of the Year and the NSW Premier's Literary Awards. Fly a Rebel Flag: The Battle at Eureka was shortlisted in the Young Readers category, NSW Premier's History Awards.

Robyn used to think history was boring until, working on an archaeological dig in Melbourne, she discovered history under her fingernails. She dug up a husband there, too. Now they live with their daughter in a country town with too many cafes. Robyn thinks 'housework' is a dirty word; her hobby is collecting dust