VIGOROUS AUSTRALIANS
COAST TO COAST, 1953-4, Selected by C. B. Christesen; Angus and Robertson, Australian price 16/-. USTRALIAN writing has a characteristic vigour, bordering on vulgarity; I like it. Our fiction in short Story form tends, by comparison, to suffer from domination by the’ genius of) our fastidious auntie of letters, Katherine Mansfield. One result is that we couldn't publish an annual like this; because we couldn’t produce the bulk, even it is of indifferent merit. And we certainly can’t produce such a handsome looking book for popular consumption, and expect it to sell. ; There are fifteen stories, culled from various sources, including Meanjin and The Bulletin. They give a lively picture of contemporary Australia, a country stil] full of the pioneering spirit, raw edges and all. An extraordinary number of sketches are of New Australians, Bret Hartish characters, undergoing ‘"assimilation" in our lustiest sister Dominion. If I may keep on side-tracking, I am sorry that our own exciting new frontiers haven't produced anything like this. Perhaps Sir James Fletcher should employ a Jack London:at Kawerau, or the Public Works Department get a fiction writer at Mangakino? Right now, our mania is for social surveys, and our cfeative spirits express themselves in dams: except our poets, who put an "n" in the word. Anyway, I recommend these stories to readers, however snooty
our writers may be.
A.
V.
Permanent link to this item
Hononga pūmau ki tēnei tūemi
https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/periodicals/NZLIST19550211.2.25.6
Bibliographic details
Ngā taipitopito pukapuka
New Zealand Listener, Volume 32, Issue 811, 11 February 1955, Page 14
Word count
Tapeke kupu
228VIGOROUS AUSTRALIANS New Zealand Listener, Volume 32, Issue 811, 11 February 1955, Page 14
Using this item
Te whakamahi i tēnei tūemi
Material in this publication is protected by copyright.
Are Media Limited has granted permission to the National Library of New Zealand Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa to develop and maintain this content online. You can search, browse, print and download for research and personal study only. Permission must be obtained from Are Media Limited for any other use.
Copyright in the work University Entrance by Janet Frame (credited as J.F., 22 March 1946, page 18), is owned by the Janet Frame Literary Trust. The National Library has been granted permission to digitise this article and make it available online as part of this digitised version of the New Zealand Listener. You can search, browse, and print this article for research and personal study only. Permission must be obtained from the Janet Frame Literary Trust for any other use.
Copyright in the Denis Glover serial Hot Water Sailor published in 1959 is owned by Pia Glover. The National Library has been granted permission to digitise this serial and make it available online as part of this digitised version of the Listener. You can search, browse, and print this serial for research and personal study only. Permission must be obtained from Pia Glover for any other use.
Log in