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If writers, and creative artists in general, needed confirmation of the nation’s tenuous regard for their contribution, they got it in various forms last month. Most egregious of these was the controversy surrounding Bill Henson’s recent exhibition in Sydney and his use of adolescent models. Mayhem of a kind we haven’t seen in decades ensued, none of it edifying. Much of this was predictable: the reflexive tactics of anti-pornography campaigners, the febrile provocations of some Sydney broadcasters, the facile editorialising from newspapers whose websites resemble lurid peep-shows. More depressing and unexpected was the readiness of politicians (including the prime minister), many of them unfamiliar with Henson’s art, to deride the work of one of Australia’s most distinguished photographers; and the wider public ignorance about artistic intent that was revealed, even gloried in, along the way.
Then we had the Queen’s Birthday honours list. Earlier this year, the Australia Day honours list generated much criticism. Australian Book Review remarked on the paucity of creative artists, a dearth that had become more pronounced in recent years. The Editor, Peter Rose, writing in the March issue, said: ‘If we must have national honours, if we really believe that exceptional people should be lauded in this way, then creative writers should be represented alongside the moguls and the cricketers and the film actors and the swarm of state governors. Otherwise we will end up with a mickey mouse system that no one respects – another cosy club for the wealthy, the powerful and the well affiliated.’
The Queen’s Birthday honours list (surely an anachronism in itself) was even more destitute. Reading these honours lists is one of the least rewarding literary starts to a day, but Advances approached the task diligently and could spot only one author across all the categories: Dennis Altman. We congratulate Professor Altman, a former board member of ABR, a current editorial adviser and a frequent contributor (he has a review on page 34). But what of his contribution to gay rights? What of his ‘service to literature’? Dennis Altman virtually put the homosexual cause on the map in Australia back in the 1970s. He did so bravely, controversially. He has written a dozen books, including the seminal Homosexual Oppression and Liberation (1971). None of this was noted in his citation. ‘Literature’ was thus wholly ignored in this round.
It has been clear for some time that the AC, the crème de la crème, is the redoubt of former prime ministers and other senior politicians, vice-regents, bureaucrats, moguls, businessmen and the odd celebrity. Now it becomes incontrovertible that creative artists (especially those without academic or professional clout) are of little interest to the people who determine the shape of our honours list – at any level.
Perhaps writers’ organisations and writers themselves (not just republican ones too) should boycott this increasingly dubious, philistine process.
In his own good time
Steven Carroll has won the Miles Franklin Literary Award at his third attempt. The Time We Have Taken, published by Fourth Estate, won the Award, worth $42,000, in a field of five, the other shortlisted novelists being David Brooks, Rodney Hall, Gail Jones and Alex Miller. Two of Carroll’s earlier novels, The Art of the Engine Driver (2001) and The Gift of Speed (2004), were shortlisted. It’s not a bad record, really. The Time We Have Taken has also won the Commonwealth Writers’ Prize for Best Book, South-East Asia and South Pacific Region. Christina Hill, who reviewed it in the March 2007 issue, found much to praise: ‘The Time We Have Taken is breathtakingly ambitious, a Proustian narrative, allusive, reflective …’
Free online novel
Fremantle Press and Western Australian author Simon Hayes are giving away complete online copies of the novel Hal Spacejock 1. To coincide with the release of the fourth book, Hal Spacejock: No Free Lunch can now be downloaded. Although the practice is rare in Australia, free online books in the science fiction genre have been given away by overseas publishers with interesting results. Initial reports indicate that releasing ‘freebies’ can lead to increased book sales. To download your free copy of Hal Spacejock 1 go to www.spacejock.com.au.
Bravo, Chong!
Text Publishing’s inimitable designer W.H. Chong, who generously designs all of our front covers, took out the prize for Best Designed General Fiction Book at the 56th annual Australian Publishing Association Design Awards, which were announced in May. Chong’s award-winning design was for Steven Hall’s novel The Raw Shark Texts.
Extension of the Reviewing Competition
This year’s Reviewing Competition – worth $1000 – was due to close on June 30. We’ve become aware that many university students wished to enter but were finding it hard to do so before the semester break in July. Thus we have extended the deadline to 31 July. The three winners will still be announced in the October issue. The guidelines and applications forms are available on our website (www.australianbookreview.com.au).
Gift subscriptions
In recent months we have invited current subscribers, on renewing their subscription, to direct a free six-month subscription to a friend or colleague. Many of you have done so already. This special offer ends on August 31.
See you again in September!
Just a reminder, this is one of our two double issues for the year (the other being December–January).
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