Contemporary Australian Writing (LIT302)
Semester 2 / 2011

Texts

y separately published work icon The Best Australian Essays 2007 Drusilla Modjeska (editor), Melbourne : Black Inc. , 2007 Z1434576 2007 anthology essay (taught in 4 units)
y separately published work icon Writing from the Fringe : A Study of Modern Aboriginal Literature Mudrooroo , Melbourne : Hyland House , 1990 Z818610 1990 single work criticism (taught in 2 units)
y separately published work icon Sixty Lights Gail Jones , London : Harvill Press , 2004 Z1136231 2004 single work novel historical fiction (taught in 15 units)

'Sixty Lights is the captivating chronicle of Lucy Strange, an independent girl growing up in the Victorian world. From her childhood in Australia through to her adolescence in England and Bombay and finally to London, Lucy is fascinated by light and by the new photographic technology. Her perception of the world is passionate and moving, revealed in a series of frozen images captured in the camera of her mind's eye showing her feelings about love, life and loss. In this confident, finely woven and intricate novel Jones has created an unforgettable character in Lucy; visionary, gifted and exuberant, she touches the lives of all who know her.' (Publication summary)

y separately published work icon Dead Europe Christos Tsiolkas , Milsons Point : Vintage Australia , 2005 Z1186455 2005 single work novel (taught in 14 units) 'The novel comprises two separate narratives. The first, told in the style of a fairytale, is set in a traditional Greek peasant village during and after World War II. Its world is still magical. ... The second narrative is set in the present time. The narrator is a 36-year-old gay, Greek-Australian photographic artist named Isaac. We meet Isaac at a time when he has travelled to Greece for what turns out to be a rather dismal officially funded exhibition of his works.'

Source: Manne, Robert. 'Dead Disturbing'. The Monthly. (June, 2005)
y separately published work icon Gangland : Cultural Elites and the New Generationalism Mark Davis , St Leonards : Allen and Unwin , 1999 Z306210 1999 single work criticism (taught in 1 units)
y separately published work icon Love and Vertigo Hsu-Ming Teo , St Leonards : Allen and Unwin , 2000 Z514595 2000 single work novel (taught in 4 units)

'For the first time in my life, I saw my mother in relation to her family, and I didn't recognise her any more . . . These Singaporean roots of hers, this side of her—and possibly of me too—were unacceptable. I was determined not to belong, not to fit in, because I was Australian, and Mum ought to be Australian too. The tug of her roots, the blurring of her role from wife and mother to sister and aunt, angered me.

'On the eve of her mother's wake, Grace Tay flies to Singapore to join her father and brother and her mother's family. Here she explores her family history, looking for the answers to her mother's death. This beautiful and moving novel steps between Singapore, Malaysia, and Australia, evoking the life, traditions, and tastes of a forceful Chinese family as well as the hardship, cruelty, and pain. Written in a fresh, contemporary voice tinged with biting humor, this is a story about resilience and a story about migration, but in many ways it is a story about parents' expectations for their children.' (Publication summary)

y separately published work icon El Dorado Dorothy Porter , Sydney : Pan Macmillan Australia , 2007 Z1362160 2007 single work novel crime detective thriller (taught in 10 units)

'There is a serial killer stalking the streets of Melbourne. The victims are killed gently, lovingly, a gold mark traced on their forehead. This killer doesn't hate children. This killer believes in childhood innocence at any cost...El Dorado is the story of a friendship under siege, and the very long shadows that jealousy and betrayal can cast.' - back cover

Description

This subject aims to provide students with an opportunity to study some of the most recent Australian writing. It is intended that this subject will complement the Australian Literature subject. Because of the necessity for drastic selection only poetry and prose will be covered.

Other Details

Enrolment Restriction: Not available to students who have previously completed LIT202

Offered in: 2010, 2009
Current Campus: Riverina
Levels: Undergraduate
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