Playtime: The Imaginative Worlds of Australian Children
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Dr Emily Gallagher reflects on the imaginative worlds of Australian children, drawing on her prize-winning recent book Playtime: A History of Australian Childhood.
From Black Inc: 'This groundbreaking book is a history of children's play and imagination in Australia between 1890 and the Second World War. It is a story about the generations that grew up at a time when nation and empire were being reimagined amid the globalising currents of war, technology and trade. Theirs were faces that would remain forever young in monochrome film, and whose thoughts and dreams would be preserved between the timeless blue lines of the modern school exercise book. Playtime is built around six imaginative worlds – amateur journalism, bird loving, war and adventure, dolls, the future, and monsters and fairies. It brings these worlds, and the voices of children, to life, exploring an incredible array of children's artefacts and seeing the social history of Australia through a new lens.'
Dr Emily Gallagher is a historian at the Australian National University. Her PhD thesis was awarded the Lyndall Ryan Thesis Prize in Australian Studies and the Serle Award in Australian History, and Playtime has been awarded the prestigious W.K. Hancock Prize, awarded by the Australian Historical Association for the best first scholarly book by a historian, and is shortlisted for the Australian History category in the Prime Minister's Literary Awards. It was also highly commended in the 2026 ACT Literary Awards.
Image: Detail from cover of Playtime: A History of Australian Childhood (Black Inc., 2025).
From Black Inc: 'This groundbreaking book is a history of children's play and imagination in Australia between 1890 and the Second World War. It is a story about the generations that grew up at a time when nation and empire were being reimagined amid the globalising currents of war, technology and trade. Theirs were faces that would remain forever young in monochrome film, and whose thoughts and dreams would be preserved between the timeless blue lines of the modern school exercise book. Playtime is built around six imaginative worlds – amateur journalism, bird loving, war and adventure, dolls, the future, and monsters and fairies. It brings these worlds, and the voices of children, to life, exploring an incredible array of children's artefacts and seeing the social history of Australia through a new lens.'
Dr Emily Gallagher is a historian at the Australian National University. Her PhD thesis was awarded the Lyndall Ryan Thesis Prize in Australian Studies and the Serle Award in Australian History, and Playtime has been awarded the prestigious W.K. Hancock Prize, awarded by the Australian Historical Association for the best first scholarly book by a historian, and is shortlisted for the Australian History category in the Prime Minister's Literary Awards. It was also highly commended in the 2026 ACT Literary Awards.
Image: Detail from cover of Playtime: A History of Australian Childhood (Black Inc., 2025).
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Where is it happening?
level 1/169/171 Phillip St, Sydney NSW 2000, Australia, 169 Phillip St, Sydney NSW 2000, Australia, Sydney
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Host or PublisherSt James' Institute
