Issues in Contemporary Australian Literature :

Transcription

1 38 p Issues in Contemporary Australian Literature : Notes on the Perth International Arts Festival 2012 Keiji Minato Ritsumeikan University Abstract The Perth Writers Festival 2012 was held at the University of Western Australia from the 23rd to the 26th of February as part of the Perth International Arts Festival 2012, which has the longest history as an international cultural festival in Australia. I was lucky to attend a variety of sessions from the 24th to the 26th and hear intriguing opinions and discussions of both Australian and international writers. Subjects discussed were varied and not easy to sum up ; however, several recurrent themes were noticeable. The first was of relationship between fiction and facts. Most writers, especially ethnically-minority authors, confessed that they depended heavily on their family history. On the other hand, they also admitted that the act of writing inevitably curtailed fiction, and they regarded such fictionality as the very source of power of their creation. The second dominant theme was the question of how to depict negative elements in human life. Many participants considered that writers in the post 9.11 world inevitably dealt with the darker side of human history and psyche. As another side of the same condition it was argued that authors in genre fictions like SF, horror, and detective fiction must weigh up the moral and entertainment values of their works more seriously than they used to. The third theme I found important was the strong emphasis on the resilience of Aboriginal culture. Aboriginal writers and artists today are more active agents in their creative process than their predecessors and boldly experiment in traditional and non-traditional forms. Aboriginal artists and their collaborators made clear that their works were also deeply rooted in their communities, which were also seeking out a new way of envisioning their future. The Perth International Arts Festival offered many other events besides the Writers Festival. They also gave the audience a great sense of how literature and arts perform significant functions in today s increasingly fluid world.

2 Perth International Arts Festival Adelaide Festival of Arts 60 Perth Writers Festival The Female Eunuch Germaine Greer Eco-Feminism Then & Now Greer

3 24 11 Negotiating Dark Matter 3 Janette Turner Hospital, Elliott Perlman, Peter Godwin Philip Adams Hospital Perlman Godwin dark matter 9 11 Orpheus Lost 2007 Hospital dark matter The Street Sweeper 2011 Elliot memoir Godwin 12 Craig Sherborne, Michael Sala, Favel Parrett Julienne Van Loon Stories That Spill Out From Real Experiences memoir Sherborne fact emotional truth invest twitter Facebook 2 Alice Pung, Kim Scott, Arnold Zable Welcome Stranger Antonio Casella Mandy Sayer Pung Her Father s Daughter 2011 Kim Scott Miles Franklin Literary Awards Arnold Zable 3 Pung 10 4 Scott

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7 Foster place Ludlam Laurie confrontational ecofascist 14 Making Memoirs Julietta Jameson, Alice Pung, Michael Sala Sarah SchladowPung Her Father s Daughter Pung realities Skype Sala Jameson myth therapeutic 15 Portraying Evil Glen Duncan, Alan Carter, Michael Robotham Naama Amram Robotham evil form Duncan evil good/evil

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10 2012 ticity Heirisson Island Yagan the South West Land and Sea Council Noongar Land C