Ben is a creative writing and journalism academic with a focus on immersive storytelling. His background is as a travel and features journalist for publications in Australia and overseas. He has written for The New York Times, The Guardian, The Toronto Star, The Sydney Morning Herald and Rough Guides among many others. Ben's current academic research focuses on exploring the plurality of the travel writing form.
He has published five books, including Ticket to Paradise: A Journey to Find the Australian Colony in Paraguay Among Nazis, Mennonites and Japanese Beekeepers about the search for the remnants of the Australian utopian colony in Paraguay (ABC Books 2012), After... Read more
About me
Ben is a creative writing and journalism academic with a focus on immersive storytelling. His background is as a travel and features journalist for publications in Australia and overseas. He has written for The New York Times, The Guardian, The Toronto Star, The Sydney Morning Herald and Rough Guides among many others. Ben's current academic research focuses on exploring the plurality of the travel writing form.
He has published five books, including Ticket to Paradise: A Journey to Find the Australian Colony in Paraguay Among Nazis, Mennonites and Japanese Beekeepers about the search for the remnants of the Australian utopian colony in Paraguay (ABC Books 2012), After Dark: A Nocturnal Exploration of Madrid (2016) explores the nocturnal lives of the Madrileños, The Crow Eaters: a journey through South Australia (NewSouth 2019), Creative and non-fiction writing during isolation and confinement: imaginitive travel, shipwrecks, pandemics and war (Routledge 2022) and Re-thinking travel writing: the journey of a genre (Palgrave 2024) with Dr Lee Mylne.
Ben is a member of the Australasian Association of Writing Programs (AAWP) executive committee and he is special issues co-editor of TEXT journal, the leading creative writing program journal in Australasia, which publishes four times per year. He is also a member of the International Association of Literary Journalism Studies.
In addition to this Ben is also currently exploring virtual reality and augmented reality storytelling. He has won more than $150,000 of internal and external funding for his immersive media projects and is currently working with the South Australian Museum and the Adelaide Botanic Gardens.
Ben was awarded the UniSA Creative Research Innovation award for 2022.
About me
Australasian Association of Writing Programs (AAWP), Journalism Education Research Association of Australia (JERAA), Writers South Australia elected board member, editorial board member of Ethical Space: The International Journal of Communication Ethics.
About me
| Date | Title |
|---|---|
| 12/11/2020 |
Radio Adelaide, https://radioadelaide.org.au/program/travelling-life/ |
| 10/11/2020 |
UniSA webinar 'the survival of tourism in a pandemic' , https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4hNh5OhaGbQ |
| 22/04/2020 |
ABC RN The Drawing Room, https://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/drawingroom/travelling-in-isolation/12176314 |
| 31/03/2020 |
The Conversation, https://theconversation.com/great-time-to-try-travel-writing-from-the-home-134664 |
| 12/11/2019 |
5MU, https://www.5mu.com.au/shows/sa-today/podcast/97494-south-australia-underrated-complicated-a-place-to-call-home​ |
| 06/11/2019 |
Words on Water Writing Festival, Mandurah, https://www.regennarration.com/events/words-on-water-crow-eaters-2019 |
| 03/11/2019 |
Jaipur Literature Festival in Adelaide, http://jlflitfest.org/adelaide/speaker/ben-stubbs-1754 |
| 25/10/2019 |
Good Weekend magazine Sydney Morning Herald, https://www.smh.com.au/national/the-best-weekends-away-in-south-australia-20191022-p532xr.html |
| 20/09/2019 |
ABC Life Matters, https://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/lifematters/discovering-dark-secrets-about-the-place-you-call-home/11523192 |
| 23/08/2019 |
ABC RN, https://soundcloud.com/tim-brunero/the-secret-life-of-south-australia |
| 13/08/2019 |
Channel 9 News, https://www.facebook.com/9NewsAdelaide/videos/755790624854752 |
| 04/08/2019 |
Inside Story, https://insidestory.org.au/rolling-thunder/ |
| 03/08/2019 |
The Canberra Times, https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/6301320/an-exhausting-and-thorough-journey-through-periphery-state/ |
| 29/07/2019 |
ABC Radio Myf Warhurst, https://www.abc.net.au/radio/programs/myf-warhurst/myf-warhurst/11336516?fbclid=IwAR3d4nOY4jpA_qQ9EEJm3tAub0N-iBMCB9i6HOk_ytcUqNvANdTTzMEK2Ps |
| 26/07/2019 |
Adelaide Advertiser, https://www.adelaidenow.com.au/lifestyle/sa-weekend/the-one-peculiarity-about-south-aussies/news-story/a3e3d98c1273c4687d0046a42d1ae44d |
| 09/12/2018 |
New Australia story, https://www.adelaidenow.com.au/news/south-australia/the-south-aussies-who-went-in-search-of-a-new-australia/news-story/6b00d1bebd6ef9a24fed9bd66ba384e8 |
| 09/12/2018 |
New Australia podcast, https://player.whooshkaa.com/episode/?id=309183 |
| 17/02/2017 |
4BC Brisbane on Dame Mary Gilmore, http://www.4bc.com.au/podcast/dame-mary-gilmores-new-australia/ |
| 29/01/2017 |
The Guardian on the Cocos Islands Islamic harmony, https://www.theguardian.com/travel/2017/jan/29/history-harmony-and-the-only-muslim-island-in-australia |
| 27/01/2017 |
6PR radio Perth on the Cocos islands , http://www.6pr.com.au/news/premier-flags-cocos-islands-becoming-part-of-wa-20170127-gu0du6.html |
| 12/05/2016 |
ABC News, http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-05-12/big-orange--revival-may-help-other-big-things-sa-riverland-mayor/7407942 |
| 06/07/2012 |
ABC 7:30 Report, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AnFxzFyJcng |
| 09/06/2012 |
Sydney Morning Herald , http://newsstore.fairfax.com.au/apps/viewDocument.ac?page=1&sy=nstore&kw=Ben+Stubbs++&pb=all_ffx&dt=selectRange&dr=5years&so=relevance&sf=text&rc=200&rm=200&sp=nrm&clsPage=1&docID=SMH120609AH6E56D6Q9J |
| 02/06/2012 |
The Canberra Times, http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/down-under-in-paraguay-20120601-1zlh6.html |
| 17/05/2012 |
ABC Life Matters, http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/lifematters/ben-stubbs/4014042 |
Ben was awarded a 2017 Teaching and Learning grant for $20,000 to explore virtual reality in journalism eduction. Due to the success of the project he was also awarded a subsequent $20,000 in 2018 to continue the project. In 2019 Ben was awarded the Ignite SA $10,000 research grant to continue his work in VR. In 2020 Ben was part of the successful RTIS grant for $40,000: Investigating how an applied use of VR technology in culturally responsive learning design adds value to teaching and learning.
Ben is currently working with the South Australian Museum to explore augmented reality and immersive engagement in a museum setting. In 2021/2022 he was awarded an external Yitpi Foundation... Read more
Research
Excludes commercial-in-confidence projects.
Southern Yorke Peninsula Expanded Storytelling Moving Mural Trail Project, Warooka Progress Association, 23/11/2023 - 24/08/2025
The New York Times published Ben's feature about atomic tourism in South Australia (published April 15 2018). Read it here:
Australia's least likely tourist spot
The Guardian published an essay Ben wrote about the Muslim harmony on the Cocos (Keeling) Islands in January 2017. Read it here:
Research
Research outputs for the last seven years are shown below. Some long-standing staff members may have older outputs included. To see earlier years visit ORCID, ResearcherID or Scopus
Open access indicates that an output is open access.
| Year | Output |
|---|---|
| 2022 |
2
68
|
| Year | Output |
|---|---|
| 2024 |
|
| 2022 |
2
68
|
| 2019 |
|
| 2016 |
Stubbs, B 2016, After dark: a nocturnal exploration of Madrid, Signal Books Limited, UK. |
| 2012 |
|
| Year | Output |
|---|---|
| 2024 |
Open access
|
| 2024 |
|
| 2017 |
Open access
1
|
| 2017 |
|
| 2016 |
Open access
2
8
|
| 2016 |
Open access
|
| Year | Output |
|---|---|
| 2025 |
|
| 2024 |
Open access
|
| 2024 |
Open access
|
| 2021 |
|
| 2020 |
Open access
|
| 2019 |
Open access
2
|
| 2018 |
|
| 2018 |
Open access
|
| 2017 |
Open access
|
| 2017 |
Open access
|
| 2015 |
Stubbs, B 2015, 'The Edge of Christmas', Meanjin, vol. 74, no. 1, pp. 36-45. |
| 2015 |
Open access
1
|
| 2014 |
Stubbs, B 2014, 'Borderlands', Meanjin, vol. 73, no. 1, pp. 128-140.
Open access
|
| Year | Output |
|---|---|
| 2016 |
|
| 2015 |
Open access
|
| 2015 |
Stubbs, B 2015, The first victory, Griffith Review, Griffith University. |
NTROs:
Over the past 3 years Ben has been the lead CI on a research project exploring VR journalism and storytelling. He has subsequently collaborated with internal and external stakeholders to create the bespoke Immerse VR editing app. This has lead to multiple collaborations, grants and international engagements (most recently with the University of Leeds). It also forms the basis of the only VR journalism course in Australia.
Books:
In 2012 Ben's book Ticket to Paradise: A Journey to Discover the Australian Colony in Paraguay Among Nazis, Mennonites and Japanese Beekeepers was published by HarperCollins/ ABC Books detailing my time in Paraguay re-tracing the journey of the Australian socialist utopians from 'New Australia'.
In 2016 his second book, After Dark: A Nocturnal Exploration of Madrid was published by Signal Books in Europe and the UK. It was subsequently published in the US and Canada by Interlink Publishers. The book looks at Madrid between the hours of 7pm and 7am and it combines analysis of history, literature and immersive travel writing. This approach allows an examination of the unique history of the city after dark and the stories of the people who aren’t normally given a voice in conventional travel writing.
In August 2019 Ben's book The Crow Eaters: A Journey Through South Australia was published by NewSouth. It digs deeper into the stories of the people and the places of South Australia. Troy Lennon in the Daily Telegraph writes, "Stubbs assembles a fascinating cast of eccentrics, murderers, explorers, politiciansand extraordinary people who make up this fabulous state". Mark Thomas in The Canberra Times writes that Ben's perspective "deserves particular credit for enthusiasm, sincerity and respect".
His latest book Creative and non-fiction writing during isolation and confinement: Imaginative Travel, Prison, Shipwrecks, Pandemics, and War was released by Routledge in 2022. The latest review in Textual Practice journal notes: "The book acts as ‘an auto-theoretical response’ meditating over why we travel and a literary journey through the planes of ‘time, space, culture and genre’ (p. 2). It also profoundly captures an isolating moment amidst the COVID-19 pandemic which so many of us faced where the direction of writerly thought and inspiration turned from external diversion, inwards. There is gravitas in the literary analysis and paired with the relaxed nature of Stubbs’ overall prose this convincingly reflects the meditative nature of enquiry amidst confinement."
Research
Ben was awarded a 2017 Teaching and Learning grant for $20,000 to explore virtual reality in journalism eduction. Due to the success of the project he was also awarded a subsequent $20,000 in 2018 to continue the project. In 2019 Ben was awarded the Ignite SA $10,000 research grant to continue his work in VR. In 2020 Ben was part of the successful RTIS grant for $40,000: Investigating how an applied use of VR technology in culturally responsive learning design adds value to teaching and learning.
Ben is currently working with the South Australian Museum to explore augmented reality and immersive engagement in a museum setting. In 2021/2022 he was awarded an external Yitpi Foundation grant for $13,897, along with internal grants totalling $20,785.
Ben also won UniSA Creative's Research Innovation award for 2022.
In 2022 Ben won the inaugural UniSA Creative Research Innovation award.
His latest book Creative and non-fiction writing during isolation and confinement: Imaginative Travel, Prison, Shipwrecks, Pandemics, and War was released by Routledge in 2022. The latest review of his book in Textual Practice journal notes: "The book acts as ‘an auto-theoretical response’ meditating over why we travel and a literary journey through the planes of ‘time, space, culture and genre’ (p. 2). It also profoundly captures an isolating moment amidst the COVID-19 pandemic which so many of us faced where the direction of writerly thought and inspiration turned from external diversion, inwards. There is gravitas in the literary analysis and paired with the relaxed nature of Stubbs’ overall prose this convincingly reflects the meditative nature of enquiry amidst confinement."
In December 2018 UniSA won the JERAA (Journalism Education and Research Association Australia) award for innovation in journalism at the national conference in Hobart on the 4th of December. The award was for the 'Immerse' VR app and curriculum led by Dr Ben Stubbs, Dr Carolyn Bilsborow and the journalism students at UniSA who were the first to complete our VR Storytelling course.
External engagement & recognition
| Organisation | Country |
|---|---|
| Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham University | INDIA |
| Hong Kong Polytechnic University | HONG KONG |
| Queensland University of Technology | AUSTRALIA |
| Rhode Island School of Design | UNITED STATES |
| University of Canberra | AUSTRALIA |
| University of South Australia | AUSTRALIA |
External engagement & recognition
| Engagement/recognition | Year |
|---|---|
Team Leader of the winning teamJournalism Education and Research Association Australia (JERAA) National Conference, Hobart |
2018 |
MemberAustralasian Association of Writing Programs (AAWP) |
2017 |
MemberJournalism Education Research Association of Australia (JERAA) |
2017 |
Member and MentorSouth Australian Writers Centre |
2017 |
Elected board member of Writers SA from 2019-2022 and elected board member of Ethical Space: The International Journal for Communication Ethics.
Currently the Special Issues editor of TEXT journal and executive committee member of the AAWP (Australasian Association of Writing Programs).
'Ben was a fantastic tutor for this subject. He ran our classes with a clear purpose and intent, while still giving us freedom to follow our own paths with our research and assignments.'
‘Very well informed, knows what he is talking about, is one of the best teacher's I've had this year. He is able to engage students and support them individually, and also provide a different learning atmosphere in class.’
‘Having a tutor that is relevant and passionate is what made this topic so inspiring, he had a genuine interest in our lives and how we could further our careers. In all my years at uni, Ben has been the first tutor to highlight realistic ways of finding a job and keeping it really practical.’
Teaching & student supervision
Teaching & student supervision
Supervisions from 2010 shown
| Thesis title | Student status |
|---|---|
| Girls and rebellion in South Australian reformatory schools | Current |
| Radically re-imagining the Anthropocene: The role of memoir in communicating and resisting the climate crisis | Current |
| They fell somewhere between myth and memory: how war literature influences Australia's collective remembrance and historical understanding of World War One | Current |
| Murder mystery as history: the indomitable Miss Cocks. re-presenting pioneer policewoman Kate Cocks | Completed |
| Pebbles and the great ocean of truth: artificial & unauthorised paratexts of the Discworld | Completed |
