Meredith Lake

Meredith Lake (born 1980) is an Australian author, historian of religion and broadcaster.

Meredith Lake
Born1980
Sydney, Australia
Occupation(s)Author, historian

Early life and education

Lake grew up in Sydney in a devout Anglican household.[1] She has a PhD from the University of Sydney, exploring religious narratives about land in colonial Australia, with a 2008 thesis titled "'Such Spiritual Acres': Protestantism, the land and the colonisation of Australia 1788–1850."[2][3]

Career

Lake is an Honorary Associate of the Department of History at Sydney University.[2] Her 2012 essay on Christianity and colonialism won the Bruce Mansfield Prize for best article in the Journal of Religious History.[4][5] Her 2013 book Faith in Action: HammondCare is a history of one of Australia's "largest but least known" Christian charities,[2] founded by Rev Robert Hammond whose relief centre in Sydney helped people including "Mr Eternity" Arthur Stace and politician John Hatton.[6]

Lake's 2018 book The Bible in Australia: A Cultural History, which looks at the impact of the Bible on Australia,[7][8][9] won the Australian History prize at the 2019 Prime Minister's Literary Awards[10] and the NSW Premier's History Awards, the Non-Fiction award at the 2020 Adelaide Festival Awards for Literature, and was the 2018 Australian Christian Book of the Year and the 2019 Council for the Humanities Arts and Social Sciences book of the year.[2][11][12] The judges of the Prime Minister's award said the book "presents, for the first time, a thorough examination of the broad cultural, political, and historical context that Christianity and the Bible have played in Australia since 1788" and called Lake's writing "lively, energetic and highly accessible."[10][13]

Since January 2019, Lake has presented the ABC Radio National program "Soul Search" about faith and spirituality.[2][11] She has also appeared on ABC TV and community radio stations[14] as well as guest-hosting the TV program Compass.[15][16] In April 2021, she gave the annual May McLeod lecture at the United Theological College in Sydney.[15]

Personal life

Lake is a Christian[11] and is married with children.[17] Her youngest child was born in 2018, around the same time she completed her book manuscript.[1]

Publications

Books
  • Lake, Meredith (2013). Faith in Action: HammondCare. University of New South Wales Press. ISBN 9781742246161.
  • Lake, Meredith (2018). The Bible in Australia: A Cultural History. University of New South Wales Press. ISBN 9781742237213.

Articles and chapters

References
  1. "Meredith Lake's Award-winning Soul Focus on History". Crosslight. 4 June 2019. Retrieved 13 May 2021.
  2. "Dr Meredith Lake". ABC Radio National. 26 November 2020. Retrieved 13 May 2021.
  3. Lake, Meredith (2008). "'Such Spiritual Acres': Protestantism, the land and the colonisation of Australia 1788–1850". University of Sydney.
  4. Hill, Graham Joseph; Barker, Jen (3 January 2020). "20 Australian and New Zealander Female Theologians you should get to know in 2020". Vox. University of Divinity. Retrieved 9 May 2021.
  5. "Meredith Lake wins 2012 Bruce Mansfield Prize". Religious History Association. 26 November 2012. Retrieved 13 May 2021.
  6. "Author Q & A: Meredith Lake, Faith in Action – the story of Rev. Hammond". Traces Magazine. 9 March 2013. Retrieved 13 May 2021.
  7. McGirr, Michael (18 May 2018). "The Bible in Australia review: Meredith Lake's big story of the big book". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 13 May 2021.
  8. Ferrell, David (6 February 2021). "Meredith Lake's The Bible in Australia traces the many threads of Christian thought in Australia". The Canberra Times. Retrieved 13 May 2021.
  9. Atkinson, Alan (May 2018). "The Bible in Australia: A cultural history by Meredith Lake". Australian Book Review.
  10. "The Bible in Australia: A Cultural History". Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Communications:Office for the Arts. 2019. Retrieved 13 May 2021.
  11. Abbott, Rebecca (6 August 2019). "The Art of Respectful Religious Conversation". Eternity News. Retrieved 13 May 2021.
  12. Franks, Rachel (20 November 2020). "Meredith Lake, The Bible in Australia: A cultural history, updated edition". Dictionary of Sydney. Retrieved 13 May 2021.
  13. Hilliard, David (2019). "Meredith Lake, The Bible in Australia: A Cultural History (Sydney: NewSouth Publishing, 2018), pp. 439. ISBN 9781742235714. RRP AU $39.99". Journal of Anglican Studies. 17 (1): 108–110. doi:10.1017/S1740355318000281. S2CID 150120468.
  14. "Meredith Lake". The Conversation.
  15. Drayton, Adrian (19 November 2020). "Meredith Lake to deliver 2021 May Macleod Lecture". United Theological College. Retrieved 13 May 2021.
  16. Bennett, Laura (9 April 2020). "How Easter Has Influenced ANZAC Day — Historian Meredith Lake". Hope 102.3. Retrieved 13 May 2021.
  17. Lake, Meredith (2018). The Bible in Australia:A Cultural History. NewSouth. p. 424.
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