The Penguin Book of 19th Century Australian Literature

The first sentence of this very useful collection says “The quest for white dominion in Australia has been pursued from the outset in intellectual as well as material terms” If this collection is indicative of the “intellectual” literary output of colonial Australia of the 19th century, that sentence sure makes a good point. I have no memory of mention of anything of the indigenous people in any of the stories or poems presented. The reader was forewarned.

Set up into 5 parts that cover various aspects of colonial writing the editor has covered Part 1, The Challenge of a New Landscape, Part 2, The Burden of The Past, part 3, Renegotiating Sexual Roles, Part 4, The Quest for Fulfilment and my favourite, the final part Existential Anxieties.

Of the authors represented throughout, the more well known to modern readers would be Marcus Clarke, Henry Lawson, A B “Banjo” Paterson and Miles Franklin, all still in print today. Women are well represented, with Ada Cambridge and Barbara Baynton being my favourites.
A short biography of each author and poet is presented, plus textual sources.

All in all, a good compilation for anyone that has an interest in early colonial writings from Australia.