Cirrus@Austlit

Discussing the effect of having to 'tighten belts' on writers, editors, publishers and agents, Matt Zurbo says the (current) economic recession is a bad time for 'writers, creativity and the Australian public, for imagination and kids' as 'books and music are two of the first things to go from the shopping list'. He says that 'Each time there is a squeeze..we, as a culture, lose something more. A little more of the range that stretches and challenges makes a society whole'. He goes on to state that it is from these edges, 'the fringes', that 'the voices of our country and culture grow'.