In this episode of Biographers in Conversation, the acclaimed historians Dr Henry Reynolds and Dr Nicholas Clements chat with Dr Gabriella Kelly-Davies about their choices while crafting Tongerlongeter: First Nations Leader and Tasmanian War Hero, the biography of the courageous Indigenous warrior, Tongerlongeter.

Here’s what you’ll discover in this episode:

• Tongerlongeter’s story, like many Indigenous Australian narratives, has largely been erased from mainstream history
• Why sharing Tongerlongeter’s story is crucial and so relevant today
• Why Henry Reynolds and Nicholas Clements reframed early 19th-century Tasmanian history through a biographical lens
• Henry and Nicholas’s research strategy given that few archival records exist of Indigenous peoples’ lives in 19th-century Tasmania
• How Henry and Nicholas ensured Tongerlongeter’s voice and agency were central to the narrative
• The literary devices Henry and Nicholas employed to craft gripping narrative and create a graphic sense of place

• How Tongerlongeter challenged traditional narratives of Tasmanian Indigenous history

• Why deeply researched, revisionist accounts of a life and events are so vital in authentically portraying our nation’s history and the individuals who created that history