It is more than coincidence that a number of Australian writers recently have chosen to set their work in Asia. The poles between which Australian life revolves are our European origins and expectations and our Asian neighborhood, but for the past century and a half, we have been too busy defining ourselves in relation to the first that we have had no time to consider the second. It is only now, as we start to accept that we are not ersatz British, that we are prepared to look seriously at where we stand in relation to Asia.