In 2023 Astrid began a co-disciplinary PhD in Journalism/Publishing at the University of Melbourne, exploring the environmental responsibility of the book publishing industry in Australia during the climate crisis.
SCHOLARSHIPS
2023: Received the Fay Marles Scholarship ($120,000 over three years).
CONFERENCES AND EVENTS
June-December 2025: Hosting a book club to read Alexis Wright’s Praiseworthy as part of the ARC Linkage Project Reading Climate, led by the University of Melbourne in partnership with the Stella Prize, Australian Association for the Teaching of English, and Feral Arts.
March 2025: Guest speaker at the Other Great Books Series, ‘Terra Nullius by Claire G. Coleman and The War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells’. The event was moderated by Seth Robinson, Lecturer in Creative Writing at the University of Melbourne.
June 2023: Chaired the Roundtable on Indigenous Literature in English Education at the Reading Climate Symposium: Interdisciplinary engagement with climate through literature. Panelists included Sandra Phillips, Associate Professor of Indigenous Australian Studies and Publishing Studies at Western Sydney University; Dr Sandra Muse Isaacs, Associate Professor of Indigenous Literature at University of Windsor in Ontario Canada; Declan Fry, writer and critic; and Larissa McLean Davies, Deputy Dean MGSE and Professor of Teacher Education at University of Melbourne.
ACADEMIC ARTICLES
Edwards, A. (2024) Review of Low, Nicholas: Social transformation for climate change – A new framework for democracy. Journal of Political Ecology 31(1). DOI: https://doi.org/10.2458/jpe.6216
Edwards, A. (2023). Book Review: Media Monsters: The Transformation of Australia’s Newspaper Empires by Sally Young. Media International Australia. DOI: 10.1177/1329878X231191301.
CRITICAL WORKS
Edwards, A. et al. (22 August 2024) Best Australian Books of the 21st Century: As Chosen by 50 Experts. The Conversation. See https://theconversation.com/best-australian-books-of-the-21st-century-as-chosen-by-50-experts-236240.
Edwards, A. (1 August 2024) Praiseworthy makes history: Alexis Wright is the first author to win the Miles Franklin and the Stella Prize for one book. The Conversation. See https://theconversation.com/praiseworthy-makes-history-alexis-wright-is-the-first-author-to-win-the-miles-franklin-and-the-stella-prize-for-one-book-234584.
Edwards, A. (1 August 2024) No longer pale, male and stale: your guide to the 2024 Miles Franklin shortlist. The Conversation. See https://theconversation.com/no-longer-pale-male-and-stale-your-guide-to-the-2024-miles-franklin-shortlist-234583. [Republished in The Guardian. See https://www.theguardian.com/books/article/2024/aug/01/miles-franklin-awards-shortlist-2024-novels]
Edwards, A. (11 June 2024). Khin Myint lost his sister to chronic illness. Were trauma and Australian racism the real culprits? The Conversation. See https://theconversation.com/khin-myint-lost-his-sister-to-chronic-illness-were-trauma-and-australian-racism-the-real-culprits-230421.
Edwards, A. (1 June 2024) Difficult Questions: An iterative collaboration. Australian Book Review. See https://www.australianbookreview.com.au/abr-online/current-issue/1003-june-2024-no-465/12608-astrid-edwards-reviews-the-relationship-is-the-project-a-guide-to-working-with-communities-edited-by-jade-lillie-and-kate-larsen-with-cara-kirkwood-and-jax-brown.
Edwards, A. (14 May 2024) Who brings a laptop with her to the hospital to give birth? Leslie Jamison interrogates motherhood, ambition and divorce. The Conversation. See https://theconversation.com/who-brings-a-laptop-with-her-to-the-hospital-to-give-birth-leslie-jamison-interrogates-motherhood-ambition-and-divorce-227483.
Edwards, A. (30 April 2024) Shelter from the Storm: Choosing between the convent and a life in the world. Times Literary Supplement. See the-tls.co.uk/articles/stone-yard-devotional-charlotte-wood-book-review-astrid-edwards/.
Edwards, A. (1 December 2023) Lore vs Law: Alexis Wright’s Praiseworthy. Times Literary Supplement. See the-tls.co.uk/articles/praiseworthy-alexis-wright-book-review-astrid-edwards.
Edwards, A. (1 April 2023) The Aftermath: Stephanie Bishop’s alluring new novel. Australian Book Review. See australianbookreview.com.au/abr-online/current-issue/988-april-2023-no-452/10207-astrid-edwards-reviews-the-anniversary-by-stephanie-bishop.