AustLit
Latest Issues
Contents
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See Me Showing You Me,
single work
essay
'The month of March marked the fifty-first anniversary of an official change in Australia’s view of itself. In an effort to ‘populate or perish’, the absolutely Right and unquestionably Honourable men who ran this country on 24 March, 1966 made a pragmatic, yet momentous, leap towards inclusion and cultural diversity. An illuminating discussion took place in the House of Representatives that led to the passing of the Migration ACT 1966, officially ending the White Australia policy.' (Introduction)
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The Beauty Regimen of a Woman Writer,
single work
essay
'Last week, the Guardian started a new series interviewing women writers about beauty products, because it is 1957. It’s called ‘Beauty and the Book’ (so clever!). Inspired by this tie-in marketing genius, Overland editor Jacinda Woodhead, a petite redhead with porcelain skin, invited me to share my daily beauty regimen with you. It won’t mention any products by name because we are anti-capitalists and also I don’t use them. Time for refresh yourself with Hershey’s Special™ cease and desist orders!*' (Introduction)
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You Can Be a Successful Writer, but Only If You Live in Melbourne or Sydney,
single work
essay
In Wendell Berry’s recent collection of essays, The World-Ending Fire, he writes of his decision to leave New York and return home to Kentucky.
That day I had been summoned by one of my superiors at the university, whose intention, I had already learned, was to persuade me to stay on in New York ‘for my own good’ … I had reached the greatest city in the nation; I had a good job; I was meeting other writers and talking with them and learning from them; I had reason to hope that I might take a still larger part in the literary life of that place. On the other hand, I knew I had not escaped Kentucky, and had never really wanted to.
The first essay in the collection sets the tone for Berry’s idiosyncratic literary life. But surely the senior writer had a point – wasn’t Berry sabotaging his career by moving back to the sticks? (Introduction)
- April in Nonfiction, single work column
