Patrick Buckridge

Required Reading: Literature in Australian schools Since 1945. Edited by Tim Dolin, Jo Jones and Patricia Dowsett. Monash University Publishing, 2017.

The purpose of this essay is to describe and interpret a cluster of three readerly 'entertainments' conducted in two Perth newspapers, the Western Mail and the West Australian, in the years 1929-1930, and to place them in contexts that…

‘Much of the evidence used in researching the history of individuals’ reading preferences and practices i elusive and transient. Most individuals to not leave material traces - why would they? - of an activity which nonetheless, in many cases, occupies…

THE word 'appreciation' has probably now lost the power it once had to denote sensitive, sympathetic and detailed reflection and commentary on a piece of literature. Its currency as 'liking' or 'gratitude', whether in the vulgar-genteel register of a Kath…

Biographies of writers have maintained their popularity for many years, both here and overseas, a fact sometimes attributed to the chance they give 'busy people' to become acquainted with an author's work without having to read it. The imputation is…

When Henry Handel Richardson died in March 1946 the first and certainly the most substantial Australian obituary was a two-page, illustrated essay in the Sydney Daily Telegraph of 30 March, written by the Editor of the paper, Brian Penton. Almost…

Literary studies has for some time now been rediscovering the value and interest of an analytical style of literary history, one that tries - not without some inferential synthesis and speculation - to place literary texts and events in richer…