One? Phew, not a wise thing to do. Of course, there is the Oxford Guide to
Australian Literature (or similar title), which covers it all in a broad
sweep. But who knows what use such surveys are. I would suggest buying an
anthology of poetry - like John Tranter's The Penquin Book of Modern
Australian Poetry - and a book of Australian short stories, plus a few
contemporary novels by Peter Carey, Tim Winton, Kate Grenville, Helen
Garner, David Malouf, Patrick White, Jeanette Hospital Turner, Thea Astley,
and Murray Bail. (That's a short list - I'm impressed we have so many I'm
proud of!) Theatre I'll leave up to Alison ... I'd also buy Robert Adamson's
Mulberry Leaves (a collected), Andrew Taylor's Collected Poems, and Les
Murray's Collected. JohnTranter has a 'collected' out through SALT, but I've
temporarily forgotten the title.
Zukovsky once said something along the lines of, 'The true study of poetry
is the poem.' That goes for all literature.
Give yourself a Christmas present: buy up big.
Andrew
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