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AbstractHistoryArchive Description
'A human and pacey novel about marriage, kidnap, courtroom battles, the charm of youth and the tragedy that lurks in a darkened alley. A dynamic work done by one of Australia's most highly regarded Indigenous writers.' Source: Publishers blurb.
Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of
Works about this Work
-
Philip McLaren and the Indigenous-Australian Crime Novel
2016
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Coolabah , no. 20 2016; (p. 22-37) 'This paper locates the postcolonial crime novel as a space for disenfranchised groups to write back to the marginalisation inherent in the process of colonisation, and explores the example of Australia. From its inception in the mid-19th century, Australian crime fiction reflected upon the challenging harshness and otherness of the Australian experience for the free and convict settler, expelled from the metropole. It created a series of popular subgenres derived from the convict narrative proper, while more ‘standard’ modes of crime fiction, popularised in and through British and American crime fiction, were late to develop. Whereas Australian crime fiction has given expression to the white experience of the continent in manifold ways, up until recently it made no room for Indigenous voices – with the exception of the classic Inspector Napoleon Bonaparte series written by the prolific Arthur Upfield in the first half of the 20th century. For the longest time, this absence reflected the dispossession, dispersal and disenfranchisement of the colonised Indigenous peoples at large; there were neither Aboriginal voices nor Aboriginal authors, which made the textual space of the Australian crime novel a discursive terra nullius. This paper will look at the only Indigenous-Australian author to date with a substantial body of work in crime fiction, Philip McLaren, and elucidate how his four crime novels break new ground in Australian crime fiction by embedding themselves within a political framework of Aboriginal resilience and resistance to neo/colonialism. Written as of the 1990s, McLaren’s oeuvre is eclectic in that it does not respond to traditional formats of Australian crime fiction, shifts between generic subtypes and makes incursions into other genres. The paper concludes that McLaren’s oeuvre has not been conceived of as the work of a crime writer per se, but rather that its form and content are deeply informed by the racist violence and oppression that still affects Indigenous-Australian society today, the expression of which the crime novel is particularly well geared to.' (Publication abstract) -
Indigenous Author Shortlisted
2004
single work
column
— Appears in: Koori Mail , 17 November no. 339 2004; (p. 31) - Philip McLaren Mireille Vignol (interviewer), 2002 single work interview
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Paperbacks
2002
single work
review
— Appears in: The Advertiser , 23 February 2002; (p. 20)
— Review of Bitin' Back 2001 single work novel ; There'll Be New Dreams 2001 single work novel ; Miles McGinty 2001 single work novel -
Keeper of Dreams
2002
single work
review
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , February no. 238 2002; (p. 44)
— Review of Scream Black Murder 1995 single work novel ; There'll Be New Dreams 2001 single work novel ; Sweet Water : Stolen Land 1993 single work novel
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CoverNotes
2001
single work
review
— Appears in: The Sunday Age , 2 September 2001; (p. 11) The West Australian , 15 September 2001; (p. 8)
— Review of There'll Be New Dreams 2001 single work novel ; The Eye of Ulam : A Comic Adventure 2001 single work children's fiction -
In Short
2001
single work
review
— Appears in: The Sydney Morning Herald , 6-7 October 2001; (p. 15)
— Review of Swimming with the Jellyfish 2001 single work novel ; ; Forest 2001 single work novel ; There'll Be New Dreams 2001 single work novel ; ; The Seven Rivers 1966 selected work prose autobiography -
Journeys of Many Lifetimes
2001-2002
single work
review
— Appears in: The Bulletin , 18 December - 8 January vol. 119 no. 6306 2001-2002; (p. 106-107)
— Review of There'll Be New Dreams 2001 single work novel ; Death of the Author 2001 single work novel ; Bitin' Back 2001 single work novel ; Abaza: A Modern Encyclopedia 2001 single work novel -
Keeper of Dreams
2002
single work
review
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , February no. 238 2002; (p. 44)
— Review of Scream Black Murder 1995 single work novel ; There'll Be New Dreams 2001 single work novel ; Sweet Water : Stolen Land 1993 single work novel -
Paperbacks
2002
single work
review
— Appears in: The Advertiser , 23 February 2002; (p. 20)
— Review of Bitin' Back 2001 single work novel ; There'll Be New Dreams 2001 single work novel ; Miles McGinty 2001 single work novel - Philip McLaren Mireille Vignol (interviewer), 2002 single work interview
-
Indigenous Author Shortlisted
2004
single work
column
— Appears in: Koori Mail , 17 November no. 339 2004; (p. 31) -
The True Story Behind a Writer of Fiction
2001
single work
biography
— Appears in: Koori Mail , 22 August no. 258 2001; (p. 32) -
Tell 'em I'm Dreaming
2001
single work
criticism
— Appears in: The Sydney Morning Herald , 22-23 September 2001; (p. 16) -
Philip McLaren and the Indigenous-Australian Crime Novel
2016
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Coolabah , no. 20 2016; (p. 22-37) 'This paper locates the postcolonial crime novel as a space for disenfranchised groups to write back to the marginalisation inherent in the process of colonisation, and explores the example of Australia. From its inception in the mid-19th century, Australian crime fiction reflected upon the challenging harshness and otherness of the Australian experience for the free and convict settler, expelled from the metropole. It created a series of popular subgenres derived from the convict narrative proper, while more ‘standard’ modes of crime fiction, popularised in and through British and American crime fiction, were late to develop. Whereas Australian crime fiction has given expression to the white experience of the continent in manifold ways, up until recently it made no room for Indigenous voices – with the exception of the classic Inspector Napoleon Bonaparte series written by the prolific Arthur Upfield in the first half of the 20th century. For the longest time, this absence reflected the dispossession, dispersal and disenfranchisement of the colonised Indigenous peoples at large; there were neither Aboriginal voices nor Aboriginal authors, which made the textual space of the Australian crime novel a discursive terra nullius. This paper will look at the only Indigenous-Australian author to date with a substantial body of work in crime fiction, Philip McLaren, and elucidate how his four crime novels break new ground in Australian crime fiction by embedding themselves within a political framework of Aboriginal resilience and resistance to neo/colonialism. Written as of the 1990s, McLaren’s oeuvre is eclectic in that it does not respond to traditional formats of Australian crime fiction, shifts between generic subtypes and makes incursions into other genres. The paper concludes that McLaren’s oeuvre has not been conceived of as the work of a crime writer per se, but rather that its form and content are deeply informed by the racist violence and oppression that still affects Indigenous-Australian society today, the expression of which the crime novel is particularly well geared to.' (Publication abstract)
Awards
- 2004 shortlisted Prix Litteraire des Lyceens et Apprentis de la Region Provence-Alpes-Cote d'Azur Award for Nouveaux Reves
Last amended 18 Aug 2016 10:28:27
Settings:
- Coonabarabran, Coonabarabran area, Coonabarabran - Gilgandra - Coonamble area, Central West NSW, New South Wales,
- Sydney, New South Wales,
-
New York (City),
New York (State),
cUnited States of America (USA),cAmericas,
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