Julia Baird

Biography

Julia Baird is an author and award-winning journalist. She hosts The Drum on ABC TV and writes columns for The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald. Her first book, Media Tarts, which was re-released in 2021, was based on her history PhD about the portrayal of female politicians. After moving to the United States to take up a fellowship at the Harvard Kennedy School, she became a columnist and senior editor at Newsweek in New York. Julia’s biography of Queen Victoria was published in several countries to critical acclaim and was one of The New York Times’ top ten books of 2016. Her most recent best selling book, “Phosphorescence: On awe, wonder and the things that sustain you when the world goes dark”, won several awards including the ABIA Book of the Year. Her two-year investigation into domestic violence in religious communities earned her four Walkley Our Watch awards, including the gold, and a Walkley award nomination. She has worked as a columnist for the Good Weekend, Newsweek, The New York Times and The Philadelphia Inquirer. She lives near the sea with two children, and an abnormally large dog.