Gale Group

Dictionary of Literary Biography Volume 289: Australian Writers, 1950-1975' edited by Selina Samuels

June-July 2004, no. 262

This is the third volume in this US reference series that is dedicated to Australian writers. It includes writers who produced their first important book between 1950 and 1975. The Dictionary, which is held by all the major reference and research libraries around the world provides a welcome opportunity to display Australian writing in an international setting.

Forty writers are represented, from Robert Adamson to Patricia Wrightson. Each entry consists of a critical essay, a comprehensive bibliography of the author’s works, a select listing of the secondary literature and a note on the location of the author’s papers. There is also a portrait of each writer. The entries are written by Australians, many of whom have previously published on their subjects.

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Dictionary of Literary Biography Volume 230 edited by Selina Samuels & Dictionary of Literary Biography Volume 260 edited by Selina Samuels

by Paul Brunton •

June–July 2003, no. 252

Paul Brunton reviews ‘Dictionary of Literary Biography Volume 230: Australian literature 1788–1914’ and ‘Volume 260: Australian Writers 1915–1950’ edited by Selina Samuels

The Biographa literaria, to coin a phrase, began publication in 1978 and has now reached volume 272, Russian Prose Writers between the World Wars. It is a major work of reference that not only includes creative writers but also critics, publishers, journalists, historians and book collectors: ‘figures who in their time and in their way influenced the mind of a people.’ Most of the volumes deal with American and British literature, but others cover the literatures of Canada, a number of European countries, Latin America, Russia, Africa, Japan, and the literatures of classical Greece and Rome. Now Australia has been honoured with a place in this monumental work and the chance to have its literature on show around the world. The two Australian volumes published to date cover writers whose first important work was published up to the end of 1950. Two more volumes are planned to bring the story up to 2000.

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