Literary Journalism in Colonial Australia

“At the heart of Willa McDonald’s new text is an enthralling debate about what constitutes literary journalism…But she is careful always to place this debate … in its historical context—after all definitions can change overtime … Alongside the historical narrative goes an impressive attention to specific events and characters… McDonald is also able to blend an attention to broad literary trends with, at times, an impressive, critical analysis of specific texts.” - Richard Lance Keeble, Professor of Journalism, University of Lincoln, UK This book traces the beginnings of literary (narrative) journalism in Australia. It contributes to evolving international definitions of the form, while providing a glimpse into Australia’s early press history and development as a nation. The book comprises two parts. The first examines the forerunners of literary journalism before and during the establishment of a free press, including the letters, diaries and journals of the early colonists, as well as sketches published in the first magazines and newspapers. The book asks if these were “reporting” when there was no thriving press until well into the 19th century -- many were written by women and convicts whose voices otherwise went unheard. The second part examines the first expressions of literary journalism in forms more recognisable today, covering topics as varied as homelessness in Melbourne, the Queensland trade in Pacific Islander labour, and Australia’s involvement in overseas wars, particularly the Boer War. The resulting cultural history reveals important milestones in the development of Australia’s press and literature, while demonstrating the concerns unveiled in colonial literary journalism still resonate in Australia in the 21st century. Willa McDonald teaches and researches literary journalism and creative non-fiction writing at Macquarie University in Sydney, Australia. A former journalist, she is co-editor of Palgrave Macmillan’s Literary Journalism series.