Cassandra Jean Pybus (born 29 September 1947) is an Australian historian and writer. She is a former professorial fellow in history at the

University of Sydney The University of Sydney (USYD) is a public university, public research university in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in both Australia and Oceania. One of Australia's six sandstone universities, it was one of the ...

, and has published extensively on Australian and American history. Pybus was born in

Hobart Hobart ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the island state of Tasmania, Australia. Located in Tasmania's south-east on the estuary of the River Derwent, it is the southernmost capital city in Australia. Despite containing nearly hal ...

, Tasmania and educated at North Sydney Girls High School and the

. Her mother, Betty Pybus, was a pioneer of women's health in Sydney and Tasmania. From 1989 to 1994, Pybus was editor of the literary magazine ''

Island An island or isle is a piece of land, distinct from a continent, completely surrounded by water. There are continental islands, which were formed by being split from a continent by plate tectonics, and oceanic islands, which have never been ...

''. She won the

Colin Roderick Award The Colin Roderick Award is presented annually by the Foundation for Australian Literary Studies at Queensland's James Cook University for "the best book published in Australia which deals with any aspect of Australian life". It was first presente ...

in 1993 for ''Gross Moral Turpitude'', a re-examination of the case of Sydney Sparkes Orr, a Northern Irish academic who became embroiled in a scandal involving a relationship with a student whilst working at the

University of Tasmania The University of Tasmania (UTAS) is a public research university, primarily located in Tasmania, Australia. Founded in 1890, it is Australia's fourth oldest university. Christ College (University of Tasmania), Christ College, one of the unive ...

. In 2000, she won an Adelaide Festival Award for Literature for ''The Devil and James McAuley'', a biography of the poet

James McAuley James Phillip McAuley (12 October 1917 – 15 October 1976) was an Australian academic, poet, journalist, literary critic, and a prominent convert to Roman Catholicism. He was involved in the Ern Malley poetry hoax. Life and career McAuley w ...

. Pybus was awarded the

Centenary Medal The Centenary Medal is an award which was created by the Australian Government in 2001. It was established to commemorate the centenary of the Federation of Australia and to recognise "people who made a contribution to Australian society or g ...

in 2001 for outstanding contribution to Tasmanian and Australian literature and education. In 2020 she was shortlisted for the Nonfiction Book Award at the Queensland Literary Awards for '' Truganini: Journey Through the Apocalypse'' and for the Nonfiction prize at the 2021 Indie Book Awards as well as the 2021 Biography book of the year at the

Australian Book Industry Awards The Australian Book Industry Awards (ABIA) are publishers' and literary awards held by the Australian Publishers Association (APA) annually in Australia since 2001. The awards celebrate "the achievements of authors and publishers in bringing Au ...

with ''Truganini''.' In August 2021 she won the National Biography Award with ''Truganini,'' while in November 2021 she was elected a Fellow of the

Australian Academy of the Humanities The Australian Academy of the Humanities was established by Royal Charter in 1969 to advance scholarship and public interest in the humanities in Australia. It operates as an independent not-for-profit organisation partly funded by the Australi ...

. Her 2024 book, ''A Very Secret Trade'', was shortlisted for the 2025 Victorian Premier's Prize for Nonfiction.

Books

* ''A Very Secret Trade: The Dark Story of Gentlemen Collectors in Tasmania'' (2024) * '' Truganini: Journey Through the Apocalypse'' (2020) * ''Enterprising Women: Gender Race and Power in the Revolutionary Atlantic'' (with Kit Candlin; 2015) * ''Other Middle Passages'' (edited with

Marcus Rediker Marcus Buford Rediker (born October 14, 1951) is an American historian, writer, professor, and social activist. He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts from Virginia Commonwealth University in 1976 and attended the University of Pennsylvania for gra ...

and Emma Christopher; 2007) * ''Epic Journeys of Freedom: Runaway slaves of the American Revolution and their global quest for liberty'' (2006) * ''Black Founders: The unknown story of Australia's first black settlers'' (2006) * ''The Woman who Walked to Russia: A writer's search for a lost legend'' (2002) * ''American Citizens, British Slaves: Yankee political prisoners in an Australian penal colony, 1839–1850'' (with Hamish Maxwell-Stewart; 2002) * ''Raven Road'' (2001) * ''The Devil and James McAuley'' (1999) * ''Till Apples Grow on an Orange Tree'' (1998) * ''White Rajah: A Dynastic Intrigue'' (1996) * ''Gross Moral Turpitude: The Orr Case Reconsidered'' (1993) * ''Community of Thieves'' (1991)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pybus, Cassandra 1947 births Living people Australian women historians 20th-century Australian historians 21st-century Australian historians Academic staff of the University of Sydney University of Sydney alumni People educated at North Sydney Girls High School Writers from Tasmania People from Hobart 21st-century Australian women writers 20th-century Australian women writers Fellows of the Australian Academy of the Humanities