Robin Freeman Robin Freeman i(A28028 works by)
Also writes as: Robin Ann Freeman
Gender: Female
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Works By

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1 Disruption and Resonance in the Personal Essay Robin Freeman , Karen Le Rossignol , 2015 single work criticism
— Appears in: New Writing , vol. 12 no. 3 2015; (p. 384-397) 'The personal essay, as one of the most delightfully subjective manifestations of creative nonfiction, explores what is real and tangible, refined through the intimate perspective and curiosity of the writer. In her best works, the personal essayist has the capacity to disrupt her narratives in ways that will resonate with readers who are themselves adjusting to the disruption of their own personal narrative interactions by social media tools. This paper explores the process by which fragmentary episodes become segments of a linked narrative through the capacity of the personal essayist to leap associatively from personal into universal ‘truths’. Segments coalesce into cogent entities, drawn together as a resonant narrative by themes as echoes, or the deliberate juxtaposition of fragments of story. Such segments-as-narrative are based on perceptions of the essay as a disruptive text, which by the nature of its structure reverberates metaphorically beyond the known and the familiar.' (Publication abstract)
1 Writer-as-Narrator : Engaging the Debate around the (Un)reliable Narrator in Memoir and the Personal Essay Robin Freeman , Karen Le Rossignol , 2015 single work criticism
— Appears in: TEXT : Journal of Writing and Writing Courses , April vol. 19 no. 1 2015;

'Subjective and personal forms of nonfiction writing are enjoying exponential popularity in English language publishing currently, as an interested public engages with ‘true’ stories of society and culture. Yet a paradox exists at the centre of this form of writing. As readers, we want to know who the writer is and what she has to tell us. Yet as writers we use a persona, a constructed character, a narrator who is only partially the writer, to deliver the narrative. How is a writer able to convey ‘true’ stories that are inherently reliant on memory, within a constructed narrative persona?

'We find a ‘gap’ between the writer and the narrator/protagonist on the page, an empowered creative space in which composition occurs, facilitating a balance between the facts and lived experiences from which ‘true’ stories are crafted, and the acknowledged fallibility of human memory. While the gap between writer and writer-as-narrator provides an enabling space for creative composition, it also creates space for the perception of unreliability. The width of this gap, we argue, is crucial. Only if the gap is small, if writer and writer-as-narrator share a set of passionately held values, can the writer-as-narrator become a believable entity, satisfying the reader with the ‘truth’ of their story.' (Publication summary)
1 Cross-cultural Editing and Critique : Confronting White Estrangement from Indigenous Texts Robin Freeman , 2013 single work criticism
— Appears in: The International Journal of Diverse Identities , vol. 12 no. 4 2013; (p. 13-21)

'While it is evident that the work of the book editor and the literary critic are different, they share important synergies around the publication of the literary text. An editor’s role is one of critical friend to the manuscript and its writer during the processes of publication. Commensurate with this are budgetary, scheduling and marketing concerns owed to the publisher. The critic’s job is to interpret, to contextualize, and to critique the published text within both public sphere and university. The critic’s responsibility is to current and following generations of writers, editors, and readers, as well as to the market for literature. As Indigenous writing enlarges its niche status within mainstream settler society publishing, the questions of cross-cultural editing and criticism have become increasingly significant discourses within the academy and the industry. Indigenous writers, as indeed do all writers, require competent and conscientious editing in order, as Emma LaRocque has observed, to advance their skills. Their books too, require perceptive critique in order to improve publishing standards and to sustain and increase markets for Indigenous works. This paper considers the symbiotic role of cross-cultural editors and critics in the development of the publication of Indigenous authors in Australia and Canada, seeking to elucidate changes since the late 20th century when critics and writers like Judith Wright, Stephen Muecke, Penny van Toorn and Emma LaRocque began to critique the nature of the dominant white society’s relationship with Indigenous texts.'

Source: Abstract.
1 The Reader as Audience : The Appeal of the Writers' Festival to the Contemporary Audience Katya Anne-Madsen Johanson , Robin Freeman , 2012 single work criticism
— Appears in: Continuum : Journal of Media & Cultural Studies , vol. 26 no. 2 2012; (p. 303-314) 'The contemporary popularity of the writers' festival might appear something of a contradiction, given that such festivals are based around an art form that has been chiefly a solitary experience for the reader for several centuries. Taking the 2009 Eye of the Storm Writers' Festival in Alice Springs as its case study, this article examines the motivations of the audience for participating in community-based writers' festivals. Interviews with audience members suggest that the writers' festival serves a much larger cultural and social role for the audience participant than simply increasing their enjoyment of literature.' (Authors abstract)
1 Black and White : In Search of an ‘Apt’ Response to Indigenous Writing Robin Freeman , 2010 single work criticism
— Appears in: TEXT : The Journal of the Australian Association of Writing Programs , October vol. 14 no. 2 2010; 'The good editor,' suggests Thomas McCormack in his Fiction Editor, the Novel and the Novelist, 'reads, and ... responds aptly' to the writer's work, 'where "aptly" means "as the ideal appropriate reader would".' McCormack develops an argument that encompasses the dual ideas of sensibility and craft as essential characteristics of the fiction editor. But at an historical juncture that has seen increasing interest in the publication of Indigenous writing, and when Indigenous writers themselves may envisage a multiplicity of readers (writing, for instance, for family and community, and to educate a wider white audience), who is the 'ideal appropriate reader' for the literary works of the current generation of Australian Indigenous writers? And what should the work of this 'good editor' be when engaging with the text of an Indigenous writer? This paper examines such questions using the work of Margaret McDonell and Jennifer Jones, among others, to explore ways in which non-Indigenous editors may apply aspects of McCormack's 'apt response' to the editing of Indigenous texts.' (Author's abstract)
1 'We Must Become Gatekeepers' : Editing Indigenous Writing Robin Freeman , 2009 single work criticism
— Appears in: New Writing , July vol. 6 no. 2 2009; (p. 133-149)
'With the proliferation of Indigenous texts currently published by specialist and mainstream publishers, non-Indigenous editors increasingly find themselves negotiating the uncomfortable territories of race, politics and power for which current training (in an Australian context) leaves them poorly prepared. Indigenous writer Anita Heiss advocates the employment of Indigenous editors as an 'ideal' solution, though few are currently working in the Australian industry. Margaret McDonell, an experienced non-Indigenous editor of Indigenous texts, suggests non-Indigenous editors need to 'undertake a journey of learning' during which 'assumptions, biases, tastes and preconceptions' are examined. Yet this presents a difficult task within a postcolonial society, when, as identified by Clare Bradford, even the classification of texts into genres such as fiction and the short story represents an entirely Eurocentric construct, 'not readily correspond[ing] with Aboriginal schemata'. The Australian Society of Authors' discussion paper 'Writing about Indigenous Australia: Some Issues to Consider and Protocols to Follow' provides practical guidelines that may be adapted for editorial use. This article canvasses these and other ideas with a focus on establishing an ethical and appropriately sensitive cross-cultural approach to editing Indigenous writing.'
1 The Fiftieth Gate : An Australian Case Study in Twentieth-Century 'Popular' Publishing Robin Freeman , 2005 single work essay
— Appears in: TEXT Special Issue Website Series , October no. 4 2005; '...[This] paper explores the mechanisms by which the Australian publishing subsidiary of an international conglomerate, with its profit imperatives and consequent adoption of risk-averse publishing strategies, created a bestselling book from the unlikely source of a second-generation literary memoir.' - The author.
1 y separately published work icon Holocaust Literature : An Exploration of Second Generation Publication in Australia Robin Ann Freeman , Melbourne : 2004 Z1306594 2004 single work thesis At the beginning of the 21st century, a confluence of elements has made the genre of second-generation Holocaust writing publishable in a way that would seem unlikely based on its major themes and the risk-averse publishing strategies of the multinational conglomerates that control the Australian publishing industry. This thesis examines the contemporary Australian publishing industry and attempts to explain the popular publication of second-generation Holocaust writers. Case studies include Lily Brett, the earliest and most prolific of the second generation, and Mark Baker, a writer made immediately successful by his mainstream publisher using all the marketing tools at its disposal.
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