'An early version of this work was delivered as a lecture by Flora Eldershaw to the Australian English Association on 23 April 1931 and first printed in pamphlet form under the title Contemporary Australian Women Writers. It was later revised and expanded for publication in Essays in Australian Fiction (1938). (Editor's note, Plaque with Laurel: Essays ,Reviews and Correspondence. Ed. Maryanne Dever, 1995) Sections of the work also appeared as part of a series on Australian writers published in the Bulletin in 1937.