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y separately published work icon Palu single work   novel  
Issue Details: First known date: 1987... 1987 Palu
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AbstractHistoryArchive Description

"The demon-centered culture of remote hill tribes in New Guinea is the background for much of this exotic novel, the first to be published in the U.S. by Australian playwright Nowra. As he traces the development of Palu, a girl from the highlands who breaks her tribal taboos, into a woman who influences the development of her country as an independent nation, Nowra also develops parallel themes of black/white relationships in the clash of ancient and modern worlds. Palu's precocious sexuality flowers first under the tutelage of an elderly white coffee planter exiled from Australia, who introduces her to Western ways. Later, preparing to become a teacher, Palu meets her soul mate, Emo, a brilliant youth who becomes president of the island on a platform of humanistic ideals, but eventually becomes a despot, corrupted by Australian mentors. Palu's passionate nature, imbued with dark impulses and supported by spiritual alliances with creatures from the underworld, centers this novel in a vibrant framework of decline and death."

Source: Publishers Weekly

Notes

  • Dedication: To Veronica Kelly

Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of

    • Sydney, New South Wales,: Picador , 1987 .
      Extent: 222p.
      ISBN: 0330370826

Works about this Work

Showdown at Stewart's Bruce Nichol , 2005 single work correspondence
— Appears in: The Age , 19 August 2005; (p. 12)
Why I 'Clocked' Dinny O'Hearn Louis Nowra , 2005 single work correspondence
— Appears in: The Age , 17 August 2005; (p. 18)
Perspectives of Contemporary Australian Literature on Culture-Clash Between Australian and the Asia/Pacific Region David A. Myers , 1993 single work criticism
— Appears in: Australian Literature Today 1993; (p. 9-39)
"Speaking the Formula of Abjection" : Hybrids and Gothic Discourses in Louis Nowra's Novels Gerry Turcotte , 1991 single work criticism
— Appears in: Westerly , September vol. 36 no. 3 1991; (p. 61-72) Peripheral Fear : Transformations of the Gothic in Canadian and Australian Fiction 2009; (p. 165-180)
Defiant Visions from the Outer Peter Davis , 1990 single work criticism biography
— Appears in: The Canberra Times , 14 October 1990; (p. 28)
Dark and Primal John Cameron Emery , 1987 single work review
— Appears in: The Adelaide Review , October no. 43 1987; (p. 27)

— Review of Palu Louis Nowra , 1987 single work novel
Lurid Witchcraft, Sex and Politics John Colmer , 1987 single work review
— Appears in: The Weekend Australian Magazine , 8-9 August 1987;

— Review of Palu Louis Nowra , 1987 single work novel
Primitive Culture Overland D. J. O'Hearn , 1987 single work review
— Appears in: The Age , 5 September 1987;

— Review of Palu Louis Nowra , 1987 single work novel
[Review] Palu Meg Taylor , 1987 single work review
— Appears in: Antithesis , vol. 1 no. 2 1987; (p. 108-110)

— Review of Palu Louis Nowra , 1987 single work novel
From Tribal Waif to Old Man's Lover - and Revenge Bill Turner , 1987 single work review
— Appears in: The Sydney Morning Herald , 22 August 1987; (p. 48)

— Review of Palu Louis Nowra , 1987 single work novel
'Perfecting the Monologue of Silence' : An Interview with Louis Nowra Gerry Turcotte (interviewer), 1987 single work interview
— Appears in: Kunapipi , vol. 9 no. 3 1987; (p. 51-67) The AustLit Anthology of Criticism 2010; (p. 48)
Why I 'Clocked' Dinny O'Hearn Louis Nowra , 2005 single work correspondence
— Appears in: The Age , 17 August 2005; (p. 18)
Showdown at Stewart's Bruce Nichol , 2005 single work correspondence
— Appears in: The Age , 19 August 2005; (p. 12)
"Speaking the Formula of Abjection" : Hybrids and Gothic Discourses in Louis Nowra's Novels Gerry Turcotte , 1991 single work criticism
— Appears in: Westerly , September vol. 36 no. 3 1991; (p. 61-72) Peripheral Fear : Transformations of the Gothic in Canadian and Australian Fiction 2009; (p. 165-180)
Nowra On Another Winner David Nethercote , 1988 single work criticism
— Appears in: The Canberra Times , 29 June 1988; (p. 30)
Last amended 5 Sep 2022 11:43:06
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    Papua New Guinea,
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    Pacific Region,
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    Australia,
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