''Writers, their friends, enemies, editors, and publishers began to materialise out of the library's archive boxes, and I found myself setting off in search of these elusive, eccentric, and often quarrelsome characters.'
'In this unique and entertaining blend of memoir, biography, and literary detective work, highly respected former fiction editor Craig Munro recreates the lives and careers of Australia's most renowned literary editors and authors, spanning a century from the 1890s to the 1990s.
'Famous figures featured in this book include A.G. Stephens, who helped turn foundry worker Joseph Furphy's thousand-page handwritten manuscript into the enduring classic Such Is Life; P.R. Stephensen, who tangled with the irascible Xavier Herbert, working closely with the novelist to revise his unwieldy masterpiece Capricornia; Beatrice Davis, who cut Herbert's later novel Soldiers' Women in half, and whose lively literary soirees were the talk of Sydney; and award-winning fiction editor Rosanne Fitzgibbon, who was known as a friend and champion to her authors, including the prodigiously talented young novelist Gillian Mears.
'Throughout it all, in beguiling and elegant style, Craig Munro weaves his own reminiscences of a life in publishing while tracking down some of Australian literature's most fascinating and little-known stories. Literary Lion Tamers is a delight for anyone interested in the wild outer edges of the book world.' (Publication summary)
'Craig Munro’s latest book shines a spotlight on the work of some very different Australian book editors. It begins in the 1890s, when A.G. Stephens came into prominence as literary editor of The Bulletin’s famous Red Page. It continues through the trials and tribulations of P.R. (‘Inky’) Stephensen in publishing and radical politics in the interwar period and his internment during the war for his association with the Australia First Movement. Literary Lion Tamers then moves on to Beatrice Davis’s long career as a professional book editor with Angus & Robertson after World War II. It concludes with Rosanne Fitzgibbon, with whom Munro developed fiction and poetry lists at the University of Queensland Press.' (Introduction)
'While researching editing history in Australia, I found some of Craig Munro’s early advocacy on behalf of editors on the endpapers of a now obscure collection of conference proceedings. Printed on a textured, peach-coloured stock is a facsimile of Munro’s handwritten notes for his talk entitled ‘Final Working Draft’ from the 1990 ‘Editing in Australia’ conference. The conference was concerned with textual editing and the commonly held supposition of textual editing, that the author’s intention is key and that editors interfere, constrict, or even ruin a work, clearly irked Craig Munro, editor of some of Australia’s most celebrated authors such as Peter Carey and Frank Moorhouse. He was keen to point out that textual editing can ignore the processes through which a book passes on its way to the reader . Munro knew these processes intimately from his time at UQP, the house where he started as a junior and went on to become publishing manager. Munro was disappointed that the star speakers at the conference spoke as if the publishing editor and publishing process were not inextricably linked to the author and the author’s work. His comments continue on the endpaper at the back of the book:' (Introduction)
'Craig Munro examines the author-editor relationship through the lives of four Australian editors.'
'Craig Munro examines the author-editor relationship through the lives of four Australian editors.'
'While researching editing history in Australia, I found some of Craig Munro’s early advocacy on behalf of editors on the endpapers of a now obscure collection of conference proceedings. Printed on a textured, peach-coloured stock is a facsimile of Munro’s handwritten notes for his talk entitled ‘Final Working Draft’ from the 1990 ‘Editing in Australia’ conference. The conference was concerned with textual editing and the commonly held supposition of textual editing, that the author’s intention is key and that editors interfere, constrict, or even ruin a work, clearly irked Craig Munro, editor of some of Australia’s most celebrated authors such as Peter Carey and Frank Moorhouse. He was keen to point out that textual editing can ignore the processes through which a book passes on its way to the reader . Munro knew these processes intimately from his time at UQP, the house where he started as a junior and went on to become publishing manager. Munro was disappointed that the star speakers at the conference spoke as if the publishing editor and publishing process were not inextricably linked to the author and the author’s work. His comments continue on the endpaper at the back of the book:' (Introduction)
'Craig Munro’s latest book shines a spotlight on the work of some very different Australian book editors. It begins in the 1890s, when A.G. Stephens came into prominence as literary editor of The Bulletin’s famous Red Page. It continues through the trials and tribulations of P.R. (‘Inky’) Stephensen in publishing and radical politics in the interwar period and his internment during the war for his association with the Australia First Movement. Literary Lion Tamers then moves on to Beatrice Davis’s long career as a professional book editor with Angus & Robertson after World War II. It concludes with Rosanne Fitzgibbon, with whom Munro developed fiction and poetry lists at the University of Queensland Press.' (Introduction)
