Recovering Vanuatu's indigenous literature

Overview

Join Prof Matthew Spriggs for a discussion about his recent Fellowship research focused on the indigenous languages of Vanuatu.

Prof Matthew Spriggs is a 2025 National Library of Australia Fellow.

Entry to this event is free but bookings are essential.T he presentation will also be available online. Please make a booking and the Library's Events team will send you a direct link to the livestream event via email. Or you can join anytime through the Library's YouTube channel.

The National Library holds the collections of Sir John Alexander Ferguson (1881-1969), a judge in the Industrial Commission of New South Wales and author of the seven volume Bibliography of Australia 1784-1900. These remain as the standard reference for books published on Australia during that period. Prof Matthew Spriggs will discuss some of the discoveries he uncovered in his research into the collection during his Fellowship.

Prof Matthew Spriggs is an Emeritus Professor of Archaeology at The Australian National University and an Honorary Curator of Archaeology at the Vanuatu Cultural Centre, Port Vila, Vanuatu, where he now lives.

His interests include Pacific and Island Southeast Asian archaeology, archaeological theory and the history of archaeology. His current ARC Project (with Lynette Russell of Monash University) is Aboriginal Involvement in the Early History of Archaeology (2021–23).