Australian environmental historian focusing on rural landscapes, Antarctica and the Southern Ocean. My recent writing includes 'Wild Sea: A History of the Southern Ocean' (NewSouth 2018, University of Chicago Press 2019). Currently working on a history of Australians in Antarctica for the National Library of Australia.
My thanks to Frances Steel of the University of Wollongong for her recent review of Wild Sea published in the journal History Australia. BOOK REVIEW An ocean’s embrace Frances Steel University of Wollongong, Australia HISTORY AUSTRALIA 2019, VOL. 16, NO. 2, 430–431 Wild Sea: A History of the Southern Ocean, edited by Joy McCann, Sydney, … More ‘An ocean’s embrace’ – a recent review
In early May I had the amazing opportunity to give some presentations in London and Dublin to coincide with the international release of Wild Sea: A History of the Southern Ocean by the University of Chicago Press in April 2019. My first port of call, after the long-haul flight from Canberra, was the Natural History … More Talking Southern Ocean history … in London and Dublin!
Book and media reviews from the journal Science, edited by Valerie Thompson. By Louise Fabiani 9 April, 2019 Of the vast, largely unknown marine environment, the most mysterious section arguably lies at the bottom of the world. In Wild Sea, historian Joy McCann has written a brief but delightfully comprehensive history of the Southern Ocean, … More ‘A major player in weather, climate, and biodiversity, the waters around Antarctica take center stage in a new history’
Littered with wrecks, the Southern Ocean contains the point on the globe farthest from any land rescue Katrina Gulliver The Spectator (UK), 8 June 2019. ‘Below the Forties there is no law, and below the Fifties there is no God.’ Most sailors know some version of this saying, referring to the dangerous waters more than … More ‘The wildest waters in the world’
The University of Chicago Press is publishing Wild Sea on 22 April 2019, and I’m thrilled to see it sporting its gorgeous whale tail in a hard cover! Thanks to UCP for reaching out to a far wider audience across the high seas, to The Atlantic Monthly for publishing an excerpt in its April edition, and … More Wild Sea embarks on an international adventure!
Thanks to the National Library of Australia for hosting an excellent event yesterday to coincide with its Cook and the Pacific exhibition. I was absolutely delighted to be there, talking about Cook’s second voyage and his legacy of maritime exploration and science in the Southern Ocean. After four days of 40+ degrees C during the … More Keeping cool at the NLA
