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'In her introduction to Southerly 71(1), Elizabeth McMahon notes that "the quality of
work we receive is humbling", a testament to "the richness and diversity of Australian
writing". Despite the world's dire financial state, Australian literature seems to thrive,
albeit sometimes in varied new forms. However, despite Australian politicians' proud
boasts that the Australian economy is the "best in the world", any regular reader of the
annual bibliographies for Australia would note that the last few years have seen a contraction
in the overall quantity of work produced. The endurance of quality, as attested
by Elizabeth McMahon, suggests that this may not be wholly lamentable, but it is a
concern for a literary culture which has always prided itself on being multi-voiced and
diverse. Many publications are now appearing from small but dedicated web-based publishing
houses, and the compilers of this bibliography are exerting maximum effort to
keep track of works from these sources, for they sometimes fail to be noticed in the
mainstream sources upon which we have traditionally depended for our listing.' (Author's introduction)
