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As recently as May, Frank Kermode, writing in the London Review of Books, had the temerity to say, ‘Some writers really are better than others’. This may come as a surprise to the odd professor of English, it seems. You will recall that Raimond Gaita, our La Trobe University Essayist in the previous issue, cited one vigilant professorial leveller who, having purportedly disposed of the illusion that there are great books, was determined to expose the folly of the notion that there are good ones.
It is doubtless unconscionable of ABR, therefore, to present an issue largely devoted to the literary: whether it be reviews of novels, slim volumes and literary criticism, a rich biography of one of the most influential Australian editors of the twentieth century, Peter Porter’s remarkable essay on literary London in the 1950s and 1960s and the careers of two commanding poets, John Mateer’s welcome news from a distant poetry festival, or Paul Kane’s American view of our own recent verse. There is good, there is bad, Paul asserts, incorrigibly. Even worse, there is the bland. Only by investigating the gulf between these shady categories, he reminds us, can we fully appreciate the abiding worth and intellectual challenge of seriously good writing.
Later this month, ABR will be attending the Melbourne Writers’ Festival, that rousing, claustrophobic gathering of readers and writers and publishers at the Malthouse. Again, ABR is pleased to be able to sponsor a couple of sessions. I am particularly looking forward to introducing some of our finest writers at two ABR/Reader’s Feast lunchtime events at the Melbourne Town Hall. On 29 August, I will be in conversation with Robert Dessaix, whose new novel is reviewed in this issue. The following day, at the same time and venue, I will introduce Helen Garner, David Malouf, and Frank Moorhouse – not a bad trio.
In the next issue, we’re off to the theatre, with several features devoted to the performing arts: contemporary drama, opera and pop music.
Finally, our sincere thanks to W.H. Chong, Anne-Marie Thomas and Miriam Wood for their help in assisting us to produce this issue. We hope you enjoy it.
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