Vera Mackie Prize

The Vera Mackie Prize for Best Blog is a new prize that will be awarded biennially by the Australian Women’s History Network (AWHN). The prize will be awarded to a Higher Degree by Research candidate or an Early Career Researcher for the best blog published with VIDA: Blog of the Australian Women’s History Network in the previous two years. This prize is intended to foster excellence in public history, public engagement, and research communication, especially in feminist, gender, and women’s history. 

The Vera Mackie Prize is named in honour of Emeritus Senior Professor Vera Mackie, a leading scholar of feminist, gender, and women’s history and Asian studies in the Asia-Pacific region. Professor Mackie has long been a steadfast supporter of new innovations in digital history and public engagement, including the founding of VIDA: Blog of the Australian Women’s History Network in 2016. Since 2022, Professor Mackie has been an integral part of the blog’s editorial team alongside Ana Stevenson and Alana Piper. 

From 2023, the Australian Women’s History Network will award the Vera Mackie Prize in opposite years to the Mary Bennett Prize for Women’s History. Since 2000, the Mary Bennett Prize has been awarded to an Early Career Historian for the best journal article or book chapter in women’s history. The prize comes with a citation describing the the significance and originality of the publication. 

The Vera Mackie Prize will include a citation and cash award of $200. Based on blogs shortlisted by the VIDA Managing Editors, the prize will be awarded provided that sufficient merit is received. 

 

Eligibility 

The Vera Mackie Prize for Best Blog will be awarded to research-based academic blogs published with VIDA: Blog of the Australian Women’s History Network. Blog authors must be: 

  • Enrolled in a Higher Degree by Research (HDR) program (PhD or Master of Research), at a university in Australia or overseas; or 
  • Early Career Researchers (ECR) within 7 years from the award of the PhD. 

Eligible blogs may be co-authored with more senior scholars, including HDR supervisors.  

In 2023, all blogs published by HDRs and ECRs between January 2020 and May 2023 were considered eligible. For the 2025 Vera Mackie Prize, all blogs published between June 2023 and June 2025 will be considered eligible.