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Notes
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A companion volume to Short Stories of Australia : The Moderns (ed. Beatrice Davis).
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Includes brief biographical notes on the authors.
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Author's Introduction: 'The publishers asked Stewart 'to make this selection, which is the first book of an anthology intended to cover, in two volumes, the best Australian short stories from the beginning of European settlement to the 1960s,...' and he decided that rather than an essentially historical approach 'it could be essentially literary in approach, based on quality.' Douglas Stewart (vii-xiv).
Contents
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Bill, the Ventriloquial Rooster,
single work
short story
humour
Mitchell relates the sorry tale of Bill, a rooster mystified by the echo of his crowing.
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The Drover's Wife,
single work
short story
First appearing in The Bulletin in 1892, Henry Lawson's short story 'The Drovers Wife' is today regarded as a seminal work in the Australian literary tradition. Noted for it's depiction of the bush as harsh, potentially threatening and both isolated and isolating, the story opens with a simple enough premise: an aggressive--and presumably deadly--snake disrupts the working life of a bushwoman and her young children. Brave but cautious, the woman resolves to protect her children since her husband is, characteristically, away from home and of no help.
As time passes within the story, tension builds, and the snake's symbolic threat takes on layers of meaning as the sleepless heroine recalls previous challenges she faced while her husband was away. A series of flashbacks and recollections propel the story through the single night over which it takes place, and by the time the climax arrives--the confrontation with the snake--readers have learned much about the heroine's strengths and fears, most of the latter involving the loss of children and dark figures who encroach upon her small, vulnerable homestead. To be sure, this "darkness" is highly symbolic, and Lawson's use of imagery invokes Western notions of good and evil as well as gendered and racial stereotypes.
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The Bush Undertaker,
single work
short story
An old shepherd discovers his mate, Brummy, dead and mummified in the bush. Saddened, he feels compelled to bury him.
- A Golden Shanty, single work short story (p. 22-33)
- A Visit to Scrubby Gully, single work short story humour (p. 34-42)
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The Deeply Poetic Account of a Midsummer Night's Idyll
A Midsummer Night's Idyll,
single work
short story
humour
(p. 43-50)
Note: With title: 'The Deeply Poetic Account of a Midsummer Night's Idyll'. Minor variants in text from original version.
- Starting the Selection, single work short story (p. 51-54)
- The Night We Watched for Wallabies, single work short story humour (p. 55-57)
- Lieutenant Darrell's Predicament, single work short story (p. 58-74)
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The Chosen Vessel,
single work
short story
Following a similar thread to Henry Lawson's "The Drover's Wife" (and many believe, a direct response to it), "The Chosen Vessel" follows a young mother left alone in her outback hut who becomes growingly concerned for her own safety following the arrival of a menacing swagmen. The story also follows for a short time a man riding in to town to place his vote and his struggles with religious guilt.
- Billy Skywonkie, single work short story (p. 82-94)
- Piety's Monument, single work short story (p. 95-98)
- Destiny, single work short story fable (p. 99-102)
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The Methodical Mr Burr of Majuru
The Methodical Mr. Burr,
single work
short story
(p. 103-107)
Note: With title: 'The Methodical Mr Burr of Majuru'
- The Cast-Iron Canvasser, single work short story humour satire science fiction (p. 108-116)
- Wharf Labourers, single work short story (p. 117-120)
- The Outcasts, single work short story (p. 121-133)
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Adventure
Adventure : A Fantasy of the Ranges,
single work
short story
(p. 134-135)
Note: With title: Adventure
- The Bath : An Aquarelle, single work short story (p. 136-139)
- The Duel, single work short story war literature (p. 140-142)
Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of
Works about this Work
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Lawson and the Short Story in Australia
1968
single work
review
— Appears in: Westerly , July no. 2 1968; (p. 83-87)
— Review of Short Stories of Australia : The Lawson Tradition 1967 anthology short story -
[Review] Short Stories of Australia : The Moderns [and] Short Stories of Australia : The Lawson Tradition
1968
single work
review
— Appears in: Australian Left Review , no. 2 1968; (p. 40-45)
— Review of Short Stories of Australia : The Moderns 1967 anthology short story ; Short Stories of Australia : The Lawson Tradition 1967 anthology short story -
The Bush - The Home of the Weird
1967
single work
review
— Appears in: The Sydney Morning Herald , 3 June 1967; (p. 19)
— Review of Short Stories of Australia : The Lawson Tradition 1967 anthology short story -
[Review] Short Stories of Australia : The Lawson Tradition [et al]
1967
single work
review
— Appears in: The Advertiser , 17 June 1967; (p. 20)
— Review of Short Stories of Australia : The Lawson Tradition 1967 anthology short story ; Henry Lawson 1967 single work biography ; Henry Lawson's Humorous Stories 1967 selected work short story ; Henry Lawson : Collected Verse : Vol.I 1885-1900 1967 selected work poetry -
[Review] Short Stories of Australia : The Lawson Tradition
1967
single work
review
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , June vol. 6 no. 8 1967; (p. 122)
— Review of Short Stories of Australia : The Lawson Tradition 1967 anthology short story
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[Review] Short Stories of Australia : The Moderns [and] Short Stories of Australia : The Lawson Tradition
1967
single work
review
— Appears in: The Age , 11 November 1967; (p. 23)
— Review of Short Stories of Australia : The Moderns 1967 anthology short story ; Short Stories of Australia : The Lawson Tradition 1967 anthology short story -
[Review] Short Stories of Australia : The Moderns [and] Short Stories of Australia : The Lawson Tradition
1968
single work
review
— Appears in: Australian Left Review , no. 2 1968; (p. 40-45)
— Review of Short Stories of Australia : The Moderns 1967 anthology short story ; Short Stories of Australia : The Lawson Tradition 1967 anthology short story -
[Review] Short Stories of Australia : The Lawson Tradition
1967
single work
review
— Appears in: Advocate: A Weekly Catholic Journal , 6 July 1967; (p. 18)
— Review of Short Stories of Australia : The Lawson Tradition 1967 anthology short story -
Book Reviews
1967
single work
review
— Appears in: Biblionews and Australian Notes & Queries , vol. 2 no. 2 (2nd Series) 1967; (p. 35-38)
— Review of Short Stories of Australia : The Lawson Tradition 1967 anthology short story ; Remember 'Smith's Weekly'? : A Biography of an Uninhibited National Australian Newspaper, Born 1 March 1919, Died 28 October 1950 1975 single work criticism ; Sheaf Tosser and Other Poems 1967 selected work poetry ; Happiness : Selected Short Stories 1967 selected work short story -
[Review] Short Stories of Australia : The Lawson Tradition [and] Happiness
1967
single work
review
— Appears in: The Canberra Times , 3 June 1967; (p. 13)
— Review of Short Stories of Australia : The Lawson Tradition 1967 anthology short story ; Happiness : Selected Short Stories 1967 selected work short story