Dr Patricia Clarke OAM is a writer, historian, editor and former journalist who has written extensively on women in Australian history. Several of her books are biographies of women writers, and others explore the role of letters and diaries in the lives of women. She edited poet Judith Wright's autobiography and is joint editor of two books of Judith Wright's letters. She has also written widely on media history. She is an Honorary Fellow of the Australian Academy of Humanities and a Fellow of the Federation of Australian Historical Societies. A former President and Councillor of the Canberra & District Historical Society, she edited the Society's Canberra Historical Journal for fourteen years. She was Founding Honorary Secretary of the Independent Scholars Association of Australia and was elected a Life Member. Patricia Clarke has been a member of the Commonwealth Working Party for the Australian Dictionary of Biography since 1987, a member of the National Library of Australia's Fellowship Advisory Committee since 1996 and in 2010 was appointed to the ACT Historic Houses Advisory Committee.