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David Conley David Conley i(A91831 works by)
Gender: Male
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Works By

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1 The Magic of Journalism in George Johnston's Fiction David Conley , 2002 single work criticism
— Appears in: Australian Studies in Journalism , no. 10-11 2002; (p. 106-134) About 200 Australian journalists have written novels in the past two centuries. None has achieved wider popular acclaim than the dual Miles Franklin Award winner, George Johnston. In 1995 his novel My Brother Jack (1964) was named one of the 20th century's twelve most influential Australian books. In 1984, it was voted, by a wide margin, the best novel published in Australia since 1945. Yet Johnston's critical recognition has been comparatively sparse and there has been no detailed examination of how his journalism influenced his fiction. This article argues that Johnston's training and experience in journalism informed and enabled his fiction, thereby helping to shape Australia's national identity. Privileged by journalism's much misunderstood magic, his search for meaning in that identity helped to shape his own identity. In addressing that misunderstanding, this paper calls for a new interdisciplinary partnership between scholars in literature and journalism so that the journalistic inheritance in so many novels can be more comprehensively examined. (Author's abstract)
1 Marcus Clarke: The Romance of Reality David Conley , 2000 single work criticism
— Appears in: Australian Studies in Journalism , no. 9 2000; (p. 51-74) One of Australia's most durable novels, His Natural Life, has its beginnings in Clarke's journalism . This paper examines the extent to which Clarke's journalism influenced his fiction and argues he treated journalism and fiction as companions in language, information gathering, theme and truth telling.
1 Birth of a Novelist, Death of a Journalist David Conley , 1998 single work criticism
— Appears in: Australian Studies in Journalism , no. 7 1998; (p. 46-73) The history of newspapers and novels parallel each other in many ways, yet links between journalism and fiction are often overlooked by The Academy. Founding novels in England and Australia were written by journalists and coincided with the emergence of newspapers. Since the first convict novel was published in 1830, at least 168 Australian journalists have written novels. This article examines journalism-fiction connections with emphasis on the work of Robert Drewe and the realism-fabulism debate.(Author's abstract.) Also includes an appendix of Australian novelists who were also journalists.
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