AUSTRALIAN LITERATURE COMPENDIUM:
IT'S NOT ALL ABOUT KANGAROOS, MATE

ABC Radio National and Dr Catherine Cole at RMIT have received $150,000 to fund a joint project developing audiences for Australian literature.

The multimedia project - Australian Literature Compendium - will use pod-casts, an e-journal, and DVD teaching guides to encourage the study and appreciation of Australian literature. It will be funded for two years by Australian copyright management company, Copyright Agency Limited (CAL).

CAL Chair, Brian Johns, said the project offered an exciting new way to approach the study of Australian writers and writing. “This project is not about creating just the one access point to material, instead it provides multiple ways for Australian authors and publishers to engage with their readers,” he said.

The project will be coordinated by Dr Lyn Gallacher (ABC Radio National Producer) and Dr Catherine Cole (Professor of Creative Writing, RMIT University, Melbourne).

“The project will push the boundaries of Australian writing and literary studies,” Dr Cole said. "We certainly need to draw the debate about our country’s writing away from the narrow focus on why people aren’t reading it anymore. This project will venture into a more contemporary domain, examining writing as cultural and creative practice and offering readers different ways to access contemporary texts through new media and e-based sites."

Dr Gallacher said it was the first time a daily radio program, such as The Book Show, had joined forces with an academic institution.

“The alliance will allow our listeners to develop a deeper appreciation of Australian literature. They’ll enjoy it. More in-depth programs are exactly what listeners want,” she said.

The compendium will involve a number of elements including:
• Interviews, documentary features and readings for broadcast on The Book Show. These will appear as podcasts on a special UTS/ABC website.
• A refereed e-journal with articles and essays which explore the programs further will be available on-line to ABC listeners, students and lovers of Australian writing.
• Teaching guides on DVD for both local and international Australian Studies Centres
• Public lectures and events at conferences and festivals.

‘ABC Radio National is leading the world with this kind of multi-modal content delivery,’ Dr Gallacher said. ‘And what better way to use the technology than to make Australian writers and writing available to their readers.’ The Dean of the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences the University of Technology, Sydney, Prof Theo van Leeuwen said: ‘Our students are eager to engage with Australian writing which reflects the world in which they live. Indigenous, multicultural, multi-voiced and using technology they take for granted in their everyday lives. This project will form an excellent teaching tool for writers, researchers, and teachers in universities and schools everywhere.’ The project will be launched during the Sydney Writers’ Festival.

For more information or media contact gallacher.lyn@abc.net.au or catherine.cole@rmit.edu.au.