Monday, September 25, 2006

Australia's Britain (Meanjin volume 63, issue 3, 2004)

A back issue to which I was drawn in various measures owing to my: (a) general interest in the particular subject matter; (b) lifelong vague anglophilia; and (c) having been born in England myself. (Three things which, somewhat against the odds given their respective natures, are probably largely independent of each other.) So it's quite interesting - a few pieces revolving around the Menzies Centre for Australian Studies in London, which emerges as a kind of de facto cultural/diplomatic centre, others dealing with particular historical periods, movements or individuals. None that really grabbed me, either amongst the essays, etc or amidst the fiction (I haven't read most of the poems, being lazy about these things) but the themed reading and resultant partial immersion is always fun.