Literary scout: Ones to watch down under

The character of Australian literary fiction is hard to define. The country’s novelists often take Australia as their setting, but foreign or entirely invented lands are just as likely to feature. An Australian setting might be urban or rural, contemporary or historical. Theme, style and characterisation are equally diverse. Moreover, the genre is becoming increasingly elastic, with publishers arguing that commercial appeal does not preclude literary credibility. One of Australia’s most internationally successful authors, Tim Winton, is proof of that.
Literary fiction is discussed with gusto in Australia’s mainstream press; in 2001, commentators argued about whether our foremost novelists were concentrating on the historical at the expense of engaging with contemporary society and politics. Most recently, the debate has centred on the rise of literary non-fiction, and its effect on fiction. There have been notable successes in non-fiction publishing, and increased sales in the genre. Agents and publishers agree that it is hard to publish literary fiction in Australia right now, particularly by lesser known authors. But quality fiction by emerging as well as established authors is still sought after, and sold, by both large and small houses.
Many new titles from emerging Australian authors are on offer at Frankfurt this year. It is impossible to isolate an overarching trend, but one recurring theme is Australians’ relationship with the land. Indigenous Australians have long felt that they belong to the land rather than vice versa, a cultural perspective brought to the fore by recent Land Rights disputes. Non-indigenous Australians are now also beginning to explore their relationship to the land.
Emerging authors often touch upon the theme of land. Perhaps the best example is Andrew McGahan’s The White Earth (Allen & Unwin, rights through Curtis Brown). Danielle Wood’s Alphabet of Light and Dark (A&U) also explores place and identity. Two novels by emerging Aboriginal authors--Home by Larissa Berendt (University of Queensland Press) and Butterfly Song by Terri Janke (Penguin)--express similar ideas about the land. Another indigenous author, Alexis Wright, uses Aboriginal mythology to create magical realism in Carpentaria (UQP, rights through UQP or Cameron Creswell).
Australian history is central to exploring identity, and authors continue to use historical settings to help unravel the past. Ian Townsend’s Affection (HarperCollins) is set in Australia’s tropical north in the 1900s, while Stephen Orr’s Hill of Grace (Wakefield Press) takes a German settlement in South Australia after the Second World War as its backdrop. Tom Gilling’s as yet untitled third novel (Text) sees him move from historical to the contemporary.
Firmly fixed in the present are Joanna Murray-Smith’s Sunnyside (Penguin), Sarah Armstrong’s Salt Rain (A&U, rights through Curtis Brown), Corrie Hosking’s Ash Rain (Wakefield) and John Charalambous’ Furies (UQP)--each explore contemporary families, in very different ways.
Fables and parables have grown into what may be described as a "mini-trend". Jose Sevilla Ho’s Roses from St Gabriel (Text) is a love story set in a mythical land; Cassandra Austin’s Seeing George (Random House) features a dragon; and Paul Morgan’s The Pelagius Book (Penguin) returns to fifth-century Rome and the life of the philosopher Pelagius.
Some authors who previously only wrote non-fiction have begun to turn a hand to fiction. Susan Kurosawa’s first novel Coronation Talkies (Penguin), set in 1930s India, follows her five previous books in non-fiction. Dianne Armstrong has written two books about her family’s experience of the Holocaust and immigration, and takes up similar themes in her novel Winter Journey (HarperCollins).
With a relatively small population, Australia has a lot of literary awards, some of which provide a fillip for emerging authors. Most prestigious is the Miles Franklin Award, won this year by veteran Shirley Hazzard for The Great Fire. The shortlist also included works by younger, less-established authors: Slow Water by Annamarie Jagose (Vintage, rights through Fran Bryson) and Seven Types of Ambiguity by Elliot Perlman. It’s a safe bet that The White Earth by Andrew McGahan will be shortlisted next year.
There are now several awards for unpublished work. The best known is the Australian/Vogel award for a manuscript by an author under the age of 35--previous winners have included Tim Winton and Kate Grenville. The winner and occasionally the shortlisted titles are published by Allen & Unwin. The publisher is selling rights as usual this year to the latest Vogel winners; canny buyers will also watch out for second and subsequent books by previous recipients and shortlisted authors. Wakefield is the chosen publisher for winners of the Adelaide Festival Award for an unpublished manuscript, while UQP publishes the winners of the Queensland Premier’s Literary Award for Best Emerging Author, and the David Unaipon Award for unpublished works by indigenous authors.
Other titles from lesser known writers that publishers, agents and reviewers rave about include Peter Kocan’s Fresh Fields (HarperCollins), a semi-autobiographical novel by a man who was jailed for an attempted assassination on an Australian prime minister; Kate Lyons’ second literary mystery, Corner of Your Eye (A&U); Charlotte Wood’s The Submerged Cathedral (rights through Bryson Agency), a second novel of love, tragedy and atonement; and the explicit and confronting coming-of-age novel Taming the Beast by Emily Maguire (Brandl & Schlesinger).
Publishers interested in ac- quiring rights to Australian literary fiction should cast their nets far and wide across the Australian divisions of large multinationals to mid-size presses and small imprints, and local literary agencies. And when it comes to buying, Michael Heyward, publisher of Text, reflects the global cry of all those with an eye for a sizzling manuscript--"we want strong stories in which the voice is extremely distinctive".
Lorien Kaye is Australia correspondent for The Bookseller