of the multicultural books for youth written in Australia are written by long-resident
Anglo-Celtic Australian writers, whose acute observations of cultural morés articulate
and try to soften or provide alternative resolutions to the conflicts they observe; and who
believe in the capacities of literature to foster respect and knowledge about other
cultures: Allan Baillie and Nadia Wheatley are such writers.
The Bibliography of Australian Multicultural Writers (Gunew et al. 1992) lists 900
writers but very few of them have published for a child audience. David Martin, born in
Hungary, is one such writer whose literature for youth is listed alongside his adult
publications. Published narratives, written for children by people from within the many
different ethnic minority groups are still quite rare: Looking for Alibrandi (1992) by
Melina Marchetta explores the subjectivity of a young Italian girl, her family and friends
and lays open the conflicts between the generations of immigrant Australians. Current
trends suggest that such books could be the new growth area for Australian Children’s
literature, particularly as the Access to Excellence Report calls for market research: ‘with
a view to develop new markets in the literary field within Australia (Papastergiadis et al.
1993:49).
With at least thirty publishers and more than a thousand active writers and
illustrators of children’s books in a population of 17.8 million, the competition for the
promoters’, selectors’ and readers’, attention is considerable—particularly in a nation
where sunshine and outdoor sports dominate the way of life.
ReferencesAlderman, B. and Harman, L. (eds) (1983) The Imagineers: Writing and Illustrating Children’s
Books, Canberra: Children’s Book Council.
Alderman, B. and Reeder, S.O. (eds) (1987) The Inside Story: Creating Children’s Books, Canberra:
Children’s Book Council.
Alexander, A. (1979) Billabong’s Author, Sydney: Angus and Robertson.
Bayfield, J. (comp.) (1994) Pre-1890 Australian Children’s Books (Microfiche), Adelaide: State
Library of South Australia, Children’s Literature Research Collection.
Bigge, J.T. (1823) ‘Report of the Commissioner of Enquiry on the State of Agriculture and Trade in
the Colony of New South Wales in Clark, C.M.H. (ed.) (1950) Select Documents in Australian
History 1788–1850, Sydney: Angus and Robertson.
Bunbury, R. (ed.) (1995) Children’s Choice, Geelong, Victoria: Deakin University Press.
——et al. (1988) Through Australian Eyes. Kinderhücher aus Australien, Geelong, Victoria: Deakin
University.
Children’s Book Council of Australia (1992) At Least They’re Reading. Proceedings of the first
National Conference of the Children’s Book Council of Australia, Sydney: D.W. Thorpe.
Children’s Book Council of Australia (1994) Ways of Seeing. Proceedings of the second National
Conference of the Children’s Book Council of Australia, Melbourne: D.W. Thorpe.
Driver, B.R. L. (1993) Aboriginal Folkspirits in Australian Children’s Literature, MA thesis, Adelaide:
Flinders University.
Gilbert, P. (1991) Girls, Popular Culture and Schooling, Sydney: Allen and Unwin.
Greenwood, G. (1955) Australia: A Social and Political History, Sydney: Angus and Robertson.
Gunew, S., Houbien, L., Karakostas-Seda, A. and Mahyuddin, J. (eds) (1992) A Bibliography of
Australian Multicultural Writers, Geelong, Victoria: Deakin University Centre for Studies in
Literary Education.
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