Cirrus@Austlit

'These gripping stories reflect the concerns of many Australians during rapid changes in our idea of Australia. The ‘personal’ is always ‘political’ because many people feel pushed around by events. They are in effect road kill, and in turn some are perpetrators of it. Cathy in ‘The Voice’ is frightened. In ‘Nowhere’, Kevin has little idea of where his home is. Shawn in ‘Down the Mountain’ has idealistic solutions to the environmental crisis, but overarching his life is a crippling sense of powerlessness. Sharon in ‘The Chinese Woman’ is frightened of ‘foreigners’, and in ‘Ralph’ in Kevin wants us to be different. These ‘magic realist’ emotionally candid stories are life affirming.' (Publication summary)

'These stories range across Australia today. Warwick in The Soapbox tries to make sense of Australia’s cultural cringe. In Magpies the well-meaning Jeff resists intimacy, and The Town Halfway Across Australia sees Julius traverse the continent, only to find that as a white man, he is a stranger. Foxes introduces us to an ex-Nazi, seeking to escape from his past. In The Green Valiant we are reminded of the Vietnam War. These passionate, artful and emotionally candid stories show a country caught in its own trauma.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'Up until the late 1960s the story of Australian literary magazines was one of continuing struggle against the odds, and of the efforts of individuals, such as Clem Christesen, Stephen Murray-Smith, and Max Harris. During that time, the magazines played the role of 'enfant terrible', creating a space where unpopular opinions and writers were allowed a voice. The magazines have very often been ahead of their time and some of the agendas they have pursued have become 'central' to representations, where once they were marginal. Broadly, 'little' magazines have often been more influential than their small circulations would first indicate, and the author's argument is that they have played a valuable role in the promotion of Australian literature.' (Publication summary)