The Shameful Isles named a finalist in award that honours excellence in historical research

The Shameful Isles by David Price is in the running for the Margaret Medcalf Award. This is the second time the author has been shortlisted for the prize, which recognises excellence in research – particularly as it pertains to the use of materials housed in the State Records Office of Western Australia.

 The Shameful Isles reveals one of Western Australia’s most tragic acts of state-sponsored oppression – the program of forcibly removing First Nations people to lock hospitals on remote islands.

Publisher Georgia Richter said the book was meticulously investigated. She said, ‘The Shameful Isles is an important book that uses contemporaneous accounts by patient-prisoners, politicians, stockmen, nurses, policemen and journalists to show the full horror of medical apartheid.’

The award is named in honour of Miss Margaret Medcalf OAM, Western Australia’s second State Archivist, who made a landmark contribution to the development of the State archives collection in Western Australia. Books are judged on how much they contribute to our knowledge of the past and on the proficient, consistent, innovative and original use of the State Archives Collection.

The winner of this award receives a cash prize of $1,000, which will be announced at an awards ceremony on Friday 23 October 2026.