Mark McKenna: An Eye for Eternity. The Life of Manning Clark

In this episode of Biographers in Conversation, the historian Mark McKenna chats with Gabriella about the choices he made while writing An Eye for Eternity, the biography of Australia’s legendary historian, Manning Clark.

Here’s what you’ll discover in this episode:

• The meaning behind the book’s title: An Eye for Eternity.

• How Mark McKenna navigated Manning Clark’s painstakingly curated archive of letters and diaries, which included detailed notes and instructions for Clark’s  future biographers. 

• Mark’s meticulous research strategy and how he narrowed the biographical scope given the avalanche of primary sources he accessed.

• How Mark reconciled conflicting views of Clark.

• Why Mark included details of Clark’s adulterous behaviour. 

• What ethical choices Mark made about information to include, emphasise and suppress given the potential effects of these revelations on Clark’s living children and grandchildren.

• Why Mark made Dymphna Clark, Manning’s loyal wife, a central character in An Eye for Eternity and why he represented her point of view so comprehensively. 

• The extent to which Mark was able to capture the truth of his subject versus the version of the truth Clark wanted him to represent. 

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