AustLit
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Contents
- A Century of Australian Short Stories : Introduction, single work criticism (p. ix-xvi)
-
Fisher's Ghost
The Ghost upon the Rail,
single work
short story
crime
The tale of Fisher's Ghost's originally from John Lang's Botany Bay, or, True Stories of the Early Days of Australia . Penrith, NSW, was the scene of Edward Smith's murder of his neighbouring farmer John Fisher, both of them ex-convicts. Smith's plan is foiled by suspicions aroused by Fisher's apparition, the skills of a black tracker, and the sagacious magistrate, Mr Cox. Smith is hanged. (PB)
- How a Claim was Nearly Jumped in Gum-Tree Gully, single work short story (p. 20-33)
- The Parson's Blackboy How the Reverend Joseph Simmondsen Lost His Character, single work short story humour (p. 34-37)
- The Heart-Breaking of Anstey's Bess, single work short story historical fiction (p. 38-49)
-
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'.
-
The Union Buries Its Dead,
single work
short story
humour
Describes a bush funeral.
- The Night We Watched for Wallabies, single work short story humour (p. 69-71)
- Squeaker's Mate, single work short story (p. 72-85)
- A Saturday at Spats', single work short story humour (p. 86-92)
- The Birthday, single work short story (p. 93-99)
- The Dingo, single work short story (p. 100-110)
-
The Cooboo,
single work
short story
Set on the wide plains of the Murndoo station, 'The Cooboo' is the story of Rose, a Wongana woman, mother, and stockwoman.
- The Grown-Up Ball 'And Women Must Weep', single work short story (p. 115-120)
- Sojourners, single work short story (p. 121-133)
- The Woman from the Bend, single work short story (p. 134-140)
- Short-Shift Saturday, single work short story (p. 141-171)
- Solemn Mass, single work short story (p. 172-174)
- The Three Jolly Foxes, single work short story (p. 175-183)
Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of
Works about this Work
-
Short Story Anthologies and 'the Solid Body of Australian Fiction'
2000
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Australian Literary Studies , May vol. 19 no. 3 2000; (p. 279-294) -
[Review] A Century of Australian Short Stories
1963
single work
review
— Appears in: Advocate: A Weekly Catholic Journal , 11 April 1963; (p. 10)
— Review of A Century of Australian Short Stories 1963 anthology short story -
[Review] A Century of Australian Short Stories
1963
single work
review
— Appears in: Walkabout , vol. 29 no. 7 1963; (p. 41)
— Review of A Century of Australian Short Stories 1963 anthology short story -
What's Stories For?
1963
single work
review
— Appears in: Dissent , vol. 3 no. 3 1963; (p. 29-31)
— Review of A Century of Australian Short Stories 1963 anthology short story -
[Review] A Century of Australian Short Stories
1963
single work
review
— Appears in: Twentieth Century , vol. 17 no. 1963; (p. 372-373)
— Review of A Century of Australian Short Stories 1963 anthology short story
-
Stories, Now and Then
1963
single work
review
— Appears in: Overland , Autumn no. 26 1963; (p. 42-43)
— Review of Coast to Coast : Australian Stories 1961-62 1962 periodical issue short story ; A Century of Australian Short Stories 1963 anthology short story -
Don't Shoot the Anthologist
1963
single work
review
— Appears in: The Bulletin , 30 March vol. 85 no. 4337 1963; (p. 37)
— Review of Creative Writing in Australia : A Selective Survey 1945 single work criticism ; A Century of Australian Short Stories 1963 anthology short story -
Morris West and Martin Boyd
1963
single work
review
— Appears in: Nation , 27 July 1963; (p. 21)
— Review of The Shoes of the Fisherman 1963 single work novel ; A Century of Australian Short Stories 1963 anthology short story -
[Review] A Century of Australian Short Stories
1963
single work
review
— Appears in: Quadrant , Spring vol. 7 no. 4 1963; (p. 73-77)
— Review of A Century of Australian Short Stories 1963 anthology short story -
The Growth of the Short Story
1963
single work
review
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , April vol. 2 no. 6 1963; (p. 100)
— Review of A Century of Australian Short Stories 1963 anthology short story -
Short Story Anthologies and 'the Solid Body of Australian Fiction'
2000
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Australian Literary Studies , May vol. 19 no. 3 2000; (p. 279-294)