Writing Oral History: Turning Talk into Text

In this audio-visual digital age, it’s easy to forget that oral historians often use interviews in written formats. This interactive online workshop will focus on approaches and issues in creating text-based outputs from oral history interviews, using examples from Al’s oral history publications and from participants’ own work.

• First, we’ll discuss the range of ways in which oral history interviews are used in text-based outputs: in books, journal articles, websites, exhibitions and other media. We will note how new technologies are enabling new types of production that combine text and audio (and audio-visuals), and the opportunities and challenges posed by 21st-century innovations.

• Second, we’ll explore issues and approaches in creating verbatim and ‘poetic’ transcripts, we’ll review some basic guidelines and some useful software, and we’ll workshop one example for participant transcription and discussion.

• Third, we’ll focus on approaches and issues in editing transcripts for publication, we’ll discuss editorial aims, processes and decisions, and we’ll workshop an example.

• Fourth, we’ll consider different approaches to using oral history interviews in writing and explore ethical, aesthetic and interpretative issues in writing with oral history.

By the end of the day you will have enhanced your understanding and skills in writing with oral history.

Registrations close Thursday 21 May, 5pm.

Facilitator

Alistair Thomson, national award-winning teacher and now Emeritus Professor of History at Monash University, taught his first oral history workshop in 1985 at the Wangaratta Centre for Continuing Education and has been teaching oral history in both community and academic settings ever since. Al has served as President of Oral History Australia and of the International Oral History Association. His oral history books include: Anzac Memories: Living with the Legend (1994), Ten Pound Poms: Australia’s Invisible Migrants (2005), Moving Stories: an intimate history of four women across two countries (2011), Oral History and Photography (2011), The Oral History Reader (2016), Australian Lives: An Intimate History (2017), Fathering: An Australian History (2025) and The Bloomsbury Oral History Handbook (2026). Contact: Alistair.Thomson@monash.edu

NOTE: Tickets are made first available to OHV members. OHV members also benefit from reduced rates for registrations. For more details on OHV membership visit https://oralhistoryvictoria.org.au

As a community organisation, OHV reserves the right to cancel this training should there be inadequate registration numbers to cover costs, or in other unforeseeable circumstances. Should we need to cancel the training you will be refunded the cost of your ticket.