AustLit

'What can a writer of fiction steal: a voice, a landscape, some history, a story, a name? Is barefaced best, ficto-critical more honest, slight of hand more deft? Good relationships and elaborate permissions have failed to protect the best of writers. Preparing for hostilities can warp a narrative. ... This paper sets the rights and privacies of others, against the quirks of imagination, and the trust writers invest in themselves in order to create their work.' (Author's abstract)

The author discusses the background to her work in progress, a novel about Irish settlers linked to family history and a play by Edward Geoghegan, The Hibernian Father which itself is linked to an Irish play The Warden of Galway based on a 15th century story.