Hello, I'm Michael S.

I’m a writer​,​ freelance journalist​,​ and private historian based in Fitzroy​,​ though you’re just as likely to find me buried under a mountain of archive boxes. For the last 14 years​,​ I’ve been sifting through more than 400 boxes of dusty old police files​,​ reconstructing the forgotten secrets of Melbourne’s past. My words have appeared in the Herald Sun​,​ The Guardian​,​ Traces​,​ Time Out​,​ and The Victorian Writer. If you prefer your history with a side of audio or visual​,​ you might have caught me on SBS TV’s Secrets of Our Cities​,​ ABC Radio National (Earshot​,​ Books and Arts)​,​ or chatting live on ABC Melbourne and Triple R. I love finding unusual ways to bring history to life. In 2012​,​ I spent four weeks living in a literal prison cell at the Old Melbourne Gaol as a writer-in-residence​,​ and in 2019​,​ I helped build the historical backbone for the augmented reality game Misadventure in Little Lon. I also wrote the 6-part Gangsters of Melbourne series for the Herald Sun​,​ which you can listen to on Jen Kelly’s In Black and White podcast. Right now​,​ I’m wrapping up two true-crime books exploring Melbourne’s underworld between 1890 and 1920. When I’m not writing about the city’s past​,​ I’m out walking it—leading historical street tours that bring the grit and glamour of our underworld history straight to the pavement.