A Fleeting Infatuation with All Things Australian: American Editions of Australian Novels, 1979–1989

Abstract

A Fleeting Infatuation with All Things Australian:American Editions of Australian Novels, 1979–1989 Roger Osborne (bio) In the closing months of 1988, the literary agent Rosemary Creswell wrote of a "mini-boom in Australian books in North America," directing attention to the work of the New York publicist Selma Shapiro, who, three years earlier, had been commissioned by the Literature Board of the Australia Council to promote Australian writing in the United States of America. Shapiro's work had made her the "hub of Australian literary activity in North America," a "crowded, competitive . . . market [where] there is a need for specialist public relations companies promoting books and authors" (Creswell 8). Assessing this period three decades later, Louise Poland and Ivor Indyk acknowledged the buzz that Shapiro's work had generated but pointed to the shaky foundations of this late-1980s enthusiasm, which "was also crossed by tensions and contradictions which led to confusion, disappointment, lost opportunities, and sometimes the outright rejection of important authors and their books" (309). Poland and Indyk identified three difficulties: the promising but limited role played by Penguin Books offering Australian titles through its US affiliate, Viking Penguin; the interventions of literary agents; and the difference in values between the two cultures. Peter Carey recognized the difficulty of Shapiro's job under such conditions, suggesting that the promotion of Australian literature in New York was like "pushing shit uphill" (Carey). This essay proceeds from such judgments to more closely examine the reported "mini-boom" within the context of a general increase in awareness of all things Australian among New York's culture industries. Australian writers, or their representatives, were certainly present and active in this cultural field, and a few benefited financially or consolidated their literary reputations; but, as a collective, not as many "flourished" as Nicholas Birns's more positive account of the decade has suggested, despite the benefits introduced by the rise of the trade paperback. Two publishing case studies, Colleen McCullough's The Thorn Birds and Roger McDonald's 1915, demonstrate the extremes of New York's literary marketplace for Australian novels in the 1980s and reiterate that, despite the best efforts of individuals and networks, fostering a permanent place for Australian books in the American marketplace is never an easy proposition. As the "hub of Australian literary activity in North America" during the late 1980s, Selma Shapiro aimed to attract authors, editors, publishers, and readers to Australian-themed events or to events specifically designed to raise the profile of [End Page 49] Australian writers. Similar promotions had occurred earlier than Shapiro's tenure, such as the readings at the Guggenheim Museum on 12 October 1984, chaired by Glenda Adams and featuring David Malouf, Thea Astley, and Rodney Hall (Seabrook). The event was held in association with the "Australian Visions" exhibition of Australian art within the 1984 Exxon International Exhibition. In a similar move four years later, Shapiro organized a three-week series of readings by nine Australian writers at the prestigious literary venue the 92nd Street Y Poetry Center. The writers included Robert Hughes, Les Murray, Chris Wallace-Crabbe, Thomas Keneally, Glenda Adams, Shirley Hazzard, David Malouf, Peter Carey, Rodney Hall, and Elizabeth Jolley. Shapiro also liaised with editors, publishers, reviewers, and officers at the Australian embassy in order to strengthen the network of possibilities radiating from her hub. Her efforts later secured a writers panel at the weeklong Festival Australia, held at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC, during October 1994. Many of the same names from 1988 also appeared at this event (i.e., Hughes, Keneally, Carey, and Malouf), with the addition of Kate Genville as the only newcomer. Demonstrating the narrow view of Australian writing in the United States of America, a Washington Post writer quipped, "If Washington had been destroyed by a nuclear bomb 10 days ago, much of modern Australian literature would have been vaporized as well" (Streitfeld 15). In addition to such events in North America, Shapiro also encouraged American editors and publishers to visit Australia with all expenses paid, but the immediate effect of this or any of the other promotional events was never clear. Publishing Australian writers in the United States remained a...