AustLit

'McMullen talks about the Australian Science Fiction's origin which goes back to the mid-nineteenth century, mainly in the form of novels. When the genre began to take on a distinct identity in the American pulp magazines of the 1920s and 1930s, Australians were among the contributors, but early in 1940 that all changed. A wartime import ban cut off the supply of American magazines, and almost overnight a local pulp industry sprang lip and continued until the restriction was lifted in 1958. As a result, Australia was largely isolated from American science fiction for nearly two decades, and when the import ban on American magazines was lifted, the few local SF magazines quickly ceased publication. By 1960, Australia had neither specialist SF magazines nor publishers.' (Editor's abstract)