AustLit

'It is argued that the emergence of ‘multiculturalism’ in Australia during the Nineteen-eighties was almost entirely determined by political considerations. An application of the concept to literary culture was not anticipated. Nor was there a discourse of migrant or ethnic literature before post-war immigration.

'As part of the Australia Council’s decision to sponsor a literary culture of ‘New Australians’ it encouraged the creation of a journal for multicultural literature, Outrider. This article is an attempt to characterise a group of perceived ‚multicultural writers’ by raising doubt about their real or assumed status. It is true they employ highly individual creative imagination and variations of literary style by questioning the nature of migration (often without being migrants themselves). However, such writing is hardly unique to inherent characteristics of   ‚multicultural aesthetics’. Formally and thematically these authors’ language frequently employs a wide range of elective affinities, alienation techniques or correlative analogies. They can hardly be considered ‚minority writers’ of limited literary genius. In truth they are creators of sophisticated poetry and prose by overcoming (or ‘integrating’) foreign language restriction.  To them migration is not merely a subject or theme: it is a consciousness manifesting itself in literary form and style. The best ‘migrant writing’ invokes dimensions of alienation shared by a readership whose cultural dislocation is not confined to refugees, asylum-seekers or social outcasts. In the contemporary global end game, migration has become a shared state of mind.

'A brilliant and complex linguistic approach to ‘multicultural writing’ has been argued by Australian sociolinguist Paul Carter. He rejects the negative view of immigration as a form of displacement. Applying his well-balanced analysis of “migrant aesthetic” dialogue promises not only “a new kind of history”. In the end it means refining a new, distinctively migrant poetics.' (Publication abstract)

'Three Suns I Saw is a unique collection of prose, verse and visual art in acknowledgment of the German-Australian writer Manfred Jurgensen and his prodigious literary work over the past 55 years.' (Publication summary)

'What is the nature of human love? Burt enters his office one day to find a large handwritten folder marked "CONFIDENTIAL".

'The unexpected package has come from an old university mate: a charming, successful, and well-loved Australian man named Ted Harris. Twenty-five years post-university, Ted seems to have it all: a partnership in a successful law firm, respect, wealth, and the perfect wife.

'However, as Burt delves deeper into these documents - which turns out to be an intensely personal confessional - he discovers that things are not what they seem, and that Ted harbours a dark and mysterious past relating to his first wife, peculiar Swiss biochemist Yvonne.

'In The Other Wife, Manfred Jurgensen uses his unique writing style and several narrative voices to examine the internal conflicts of disease, our responsibility for those we care for, and the very nature of this undefinable thing we call love.' (Publication summary)

'Brett Sheldon, a middle-aged international art dealer and survivor of a devastating plane crash, and Nanda, a beautiful sixteen-year-old part-time street kid and daughter of a prostitute, meet as fellow passengers on a CityCat ferry on the Brisbane River. Nanda is offended by the obvious interest Brett shows in her.

'From this first abrasive encounter an unlikely and intricate relationship slowly forms, based on their common need for shelter from their present lifestyles. The plane crash Brett survived killed his wife and teenage daughter, and besides enduring his grief, Brett guards a terrible secret connected to a great work of art.

'Despite their contrasting backgrounds and experience of life, Nanda moves into Brett's apartment. Teenage drug culture and social alienation play their parts as the narrative leads to a violent and horrifying finale.' (Publisher's blurb)

'What happens when the war against global terrorism also destroys individual integrity and personal freedom? This is the bold, disturbing theme of Manfred Jurgensen’s The American Brother. Harry Greene, although a serious-minded intellectual, finds himself at times in absurdly humorous situations.

'Set in Australia and America, the novel laments the manipulation of identity when economic globalisation and international terror are intertwined. As we are carried through a series of breathtaking incidents, we confront the grim reality of how a tyranny of political counter-intelligence has set out to destroy the truth of individual, social and cultural self-determination. … A gripping and beautifully written novel which will change the way you think.' (Publication summary)

'This is a novel of friendship, love and corruption. Set in Brisbane during the disastrous 1974 flood, two very different men, the immunologist Mark and the charismatic 'Prince of Spice' Sannes, struggle for the affection of the feisty, fiercely independent lawyer Jessica. In a highly charged, profoundly disturbing relationship, betrayal of friendship and violation of love interact and collide with the ever-increasing moral deterioration of the 'Moonlight State'. Jurgensen's novel depicts evil as a seductively demonic power of rampant decomposition, generating from the realm of personal intimacy to the corruption of civilised society. Its narrative of power and passion takes the reader on a frightening journey, culminating in the apparition of a predatory God. Residing in the eyes of the tiger are the violent beauty and terrible knowledge of an irredeemable love.' (Publication summary)