AustLit
Latest Issues
Contents
- Hidden Historyi"We are not aware of the past", single work poetry (p. 2-3)
- Kathleen, single work short story historical fiction (p. 4-12)
- A Letter From Botany Bay, single work short story (p. 13)
- Secretsi"Because of the way they came", single work poetry (p. 16)
- Light on the Water, single work short story historical fiction (p. 17-24)
-
The Drover's Wife,
single work
short story
First appearing in The Bulletin in 1892, Henry Lawson's short story 'The Drovers Wife' is today regarded as a seminal work in the Australian literary tradition. Noted for it's depiction of the bush as harsh, potentially threatening and both isolated and isolating, the story opens with a simple enough premise: an aggressive--and presumably deadly--snake disrupts the working life of a bushwoman and her young children. Brave but cautious, the woman resolves to protect her children since her husband is, characteristically, away from home and of no help.
As time passes within the story, tension builds, and the snake's symbolic threat takes on layers of meaning as the sleepless heroine recalls previous challenges she faced while her husband was away. A series of flashbacks and recollections propel the story through the single night over which it takes place, and by the time the climax arrives--the confrontation with the snake--readers have learned much about the heroine's strengths and fears, most of the latter involving the loss of children and dark figures who encroach upon her small, vulnerable homestead. To be sure, this "darkness" is highly symbolic, and Lawson's use of imagery invokes Western notions of good and evil as well as gendered and racial stereotypes.
-
The Loaded Dog,
single work
short story
humour
Dave and Andy create a bomb to blast fish out of the waterhole. However their dog picks the bomb up and begins a deadly, yet hilarious, game of 'fetch'.
- Faces in the Streeti"They lie, the men who tell us, for reasons of their own,", single work poetry (p. 38-40)
-
Reedy River
Ten Miles Down Reedy Riveri"TEN miles down Reedy River",
single work
poetry
(p. 41-42)
Note: With title: Reedy River
- Such is Life, extract novel (p. 43-50)
- The Victim, single work short story historical fiction (p. 51-58)
- Ballad of '91i"The price of wool was falling", single work poetry (p. 59-60)
- I Wishi"I wish I'd known my grandfather", single work poetry (p. 62)
- Gallipoli : The Lonesome Pine, extract non-fiction (p. 63-64)
- The First Battle, single work short story historical fiction (p. 65-71)
- There With the Heroes, single work short story war literature (p. 72-78)
- Kangaroo Feathers and Mozart, single work short story (p. 80-86)
- The Life and Death of Auntie Ruthie, single work short story humour (p. 87-91)
- We Who Are Left, single work short story (p. 98-103)
- Dardenelles, single work short story (p. 104-109)