AustLit

'The Melbourne of Fergus Hume's The Mystery of a Hansom Cab (1886) represented the realisation of the dreams of the hopeful men who had emigrated to the city in the 1850s hoping for an educated literary minded populace (Stewart 1975: 129). Hume's bestseller novel reflects the literary culture of the time, simultaneously defined by a consciousness of distance from the centre and an awareness of a burgeoning national culture. Alongside the murders and intrigue of the plot, the novel is dominated by

allusions to popular genre fiction and Victorian novelists, as well as mythical, biblical and classical references that result in the impression that Melbourne is not only a peripheral city, but lacks any discernable sense of identity.

Beginning with an account of Hume's citational style and its relation to the problems of writing in the colony for both local and international readerships, this article draws comparisons between Hume's and Marcus Clarke's work, analysing Hume's attempted filiation with a crime genealogy, his allusion to contemporary cultural events in Melbourne and how Hume's tastes and cultural values betray a colonial anxiety about Australia's relation to established literary traditions. Ultimately, these citations become increasingly self-conscious, and the construction of Melbourne as a cosmopolitan metropolis undertaken by Hume is ultimately undercut by admissions that the colony appears to be resistant to high culture.

'Beginning with an account of Hume's citational style and its relation to the problems of writing in the colony for both local and international readerships, this article draws comparisons between Hume's and Marcus Clarke's work, analysing Hume's attempted filiation with a crime genealogy, his allusion to contemporary cultural events in Melbourne and how Hume's tastes and cultural values betray a colonial anxiety about Australia's relation to established literary traditions. Ultimately, these citations become increasingly self-conscious, and the construction of Melbourne as a cosmopolitan metropolis undertaken by Hume is ultimately undercut by admissions that the colony appears to be resistant to high culture.' (Publication abstract))

'I love it here. This is our turf. I look at the day students and think, I bet they wish they were like me.

'Set within an exclusive residential college in a prestigious city university in Canberra, In Loco Parentis explores a college system’s negligent handling of incidents of rape through the relationship between college President Mitch and concerned senior resident Katy. The former friends’ relationship deteriorates when Katy accuses Mitch of raping a first year student. Head of the college Dr Bryce is initially supportive of an investigation until the implications of what is being uncovered are revealed and Katy’s own motivations are called into question in a world of rapidly shifting allegiances. The entire university community becomes involved, with personal consequences for everyone in the college, before Katy and Mitch are able to speak honestly to each other and assess the damage that has been done.

'Inspired by media revelations of an entrenched culture of violence against women in Australian residential colleges, writer Helen Machalias leads the audience on a journey into human dynamics within a shifting education landscape, and questions who has a duty of care to students in this environment.' (Source: Canberra 100 website)