Three hundred people came to hear Brian Matthews read a selection of his short stories and essays at the first `Literary Links' evening of 1996 at Australia House on 15 February. The series continues to be a great success, and we look forward to the visit of Australian poet and historian, Eric Rolls, who will read from his work at a `Literary Links' evening on Thursday 19 September. Eric Rolls will also be speaking at the Centre's Ecology and Empire conference on 19-20 September.
"The Return of the Stolen Generations"
On 30 January, more than 120 people gathered in the Downer Room at Australia House to hear an outstanding lecture by historian Peter Read about the policy of removing Aboriginal children from their families. This is currently the subject of a Human Rights Commission Enquiry in Australia. As co-founder of Link Up, an organisation devoted to helping those Aboriginal children rediscover their families, Dr Read is well placed to assess the long-term impact of the Australian Government's assimilation policies. He estimates that the number of children removed from their communities since 1788 would be at least 50,000. `The worst time in New South Wales was in the 1920s', explained Dr Read, `when something like one in every three children were being removed.' He talked about the challenges for these children of the journey back - to home, family and Aboriginality. `Ladies and Gentlemen', he concluded, `I think that returning to one's Aboriginal family after a lifetime on the other side is the most difficult journey one can undertake in the whole of modern Australia.'
Dr Read's lecture, together with the Menzies Lecture given last November by the Australian High Commissioner, HE Dr Neal Blewett, AC, will soon be available in published form from the Menzies Centre.
Australian Identities: History, Culture and Environment is the title of the conference, which is to be held at University College, Dublin 3-6 July 1996. For more information contact Professor David Day, Department of Modern History, University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin 4, Ireland Ph +353 1 706 8376; Fax +353 1 283 7022 email [email protected].
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Australian Studies and the Shrinking Periphery: Surfing the Net for Australia.The Centre for Australian Studies in Wales 1996 Symposium 8th to 10th July 1996. An assessment of the impact of the World-Wide Web and the InterNet on Australian Studies and studies on Australia.
Papers include:
If you would like further information or wish to attend please contact: Dr. Graham Sumner, Centre for Australian Studies in Wales, University of Wales, Lampeter, Dyfed, SA48 7ED, Wales, UK; Tel.: + 44 (0)1570 424760; Fax: + 44 (0)1570 424714; e-mail: [email protected] by the end of May 1996.
Updates of information about the conference on: http://www.acs.lamp.ac.uk:80/oz/
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OzSource. The School of Australian and Comparative Studies at Griffith University announces the arrival of OzSource.
OzSource is a World Wide Web based directory of Australian studies material available on the internet. The site included links to a wide collection of resources arranged in research areas, Australian government material, and Australian Studies Centres.
OzSource is also in the process of creating a database of researchers in Australian studies. This will create an index of persons and interests which will include links to individual Web pages or email addresses. It will establish an electronic community of researchers.
To visit the OzSource site and add your name to the list of researchers, direct your World Wide Web browser towards: http://www.gu.edu.au/gwis/hum/ac/hum_acs_ozsource.html
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Following the success of Brian Matthews' Literary Links presentation at the Australian High Commission, the Menzies Centre has copies of his books available for purchase.
Titles include Louisa, �10 and Oval Dreams, �6. Price includes postage.
Enquiries to Louise McSeveny SRMCAS, 28 Russell Square, London, WC1B 5DS
Seminars are to be held on Wednesday at 5.30pm (unless otherwise stated) in the Menzies Room, 28 Russell Square, London WC1B 5DS Tel: 0171 580 5876, Fax: 0171 580 9627 Email: [email protected]
May 1
May 8 at 5.30 pm (Menzies Centre):
May 8 at 7.15 pm (Downer Room, Australia House):
May 15
May 22
June 26
Seminar co-ordinator: Tom Griffiths
A Day Conference, 30 May 1996. To be held at the Penthouse, New Zealand House, Haymarket, London.
Speakers will include: Judith Binney on the Making of a Biography of Te Kooti Arikirangi; B.J. Logan on the Irish in New Zealand; Janet Wilson on New Zealand's Autobiographies; Ian Conrich on the Road Movie and Open Spaces in Gods Own Country; Sarah Day on New Zealand film; Don Smith on Robin Hyde and Starkie; Sebastian Black on New Zealand's Modern Melodramas. Poetry readings by Briar Wood and Amanda Eason.
For further details and registration contact Ruth Brown, 12 Ring Road, Lancing, W. Sussex BN15 0QF, Tel 01903 754298, Fax 01903 765684 or Guy Dugdale Tel 0171 620 3831.
In Honor of Professor T.B. Millar.
Edited by Coral Bell, The Research School of Pacific Studies, Strategic and Defence Studies Centre, Australian National University.
This volume of essays is focused round the subjects on which the late Tom Millar (former Head of the Menzies Centre and founder of the Strategic and Defence Studies Centre) promoted Australian research. The first half of the book focuses on immediate Australian and regional issues, the second half on the international and intellectual context within which Australia must live and governments must act. The essays are thus a valuable up-to-date guide to current strategic preoccupations in Australia, as well as to the way policy has been influenced and formulated in the past.
The book is available for A$24 (including postage). Please contact Helen Hookey, Strategic and Defence Studies Centre, ANU, Canberra ACT 0200 Australia.
Thank You
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