AustLit

Kim Wilkins

Dr Kim Wilkins is herself a creative force in Australian popular fiction as the author of numerous popular novels . As a scholar, she is in pursuit of the representation of medievalism in contemporary Australian fiction to contribute to the ongoing mapping of the specific nature of Australian medievalism and to sketch out under-theorised (perhaps even un-theorised) similarities between Australian popular fiction and its more esteemed 'literary' cousin.

Van Ikin

Professor Van Ikin has been a significant editorial influence on Australian science fiction, editing and publishing the journal Science Fiction: A Review of Speculative Literature since its inception in 1977. His Australian Science Fiction (1981) was the first historical anthology of the genre. He has worked as a freelance editor for a number of Australian publishers and has edited two major science fiction anthologies, in addition to being a co-author of the first book-length critical study of Australian Science Fiction (Strange Constellations : A History of Australian Science Fiction, 1999).

Toni Johnson-Woods

Dr Toni Johnson-Woods has considerable expertise in popular fiction research. Her PhD examined Australian popular fiction serials in the major colonial periodicals and she has been investigating Australian 'pulp' fiction, especially crime and romance, for a number of years. In addition to an intensive study of Alan Yates ('Carter Brown'), supported by a recent Australian Research Council Discovery grant, Johnson-Woods has been detailing the extent of Australia's popular publishing industry between 1939 and 1959. For several years she has been a judge for the Ned Kelly Awards (Crime fiction), Aurealis Awards (Speculative Fiction) and Australian Romance Book of the Year awards.

Many members of the AustLit team contribute to the expansion of the available record on the publication of popular fiction in many genres.