AustLit

Brad Norington reports on a successful defamation case brought by former New South Wales police officer Tim Priest against publisher Allen and Unwin over statements about Priest made by Chris Masters in Jonestown. Priest reached an out-of-court settlement with Allen and Unwin and the offending passages were removed from revised editions of Jonestown.

Malouf recalls the Brisbane of his youth and the changes that the city has undergone since the 1950s. He reflects too on the variety of writers who began their careers in what William Hatherell termed 'the third metropolis'.

Mandy Sayer reveals some of the awkward situations that writers may find themselves in at liteary festivals. She also discloses some unusual encounters generated by the authors themselves.

Pauline Webber argues that it's time for the Australian film industry to grow up and start engaging with ideas beyond the normal range of subjects such as the bush, larrikin criminals and the frontier. Webber notes that in Australia few script writers are given the opportunity to develop their writing over time as is the norm for novelists.