I would like to acknowledge the support given to this project in its various incarnations: first, to Veronica Brady and John Hay, who encouraged the initial application for a postgraduate scholarship; the Department of English at the University of Queensland, where much of the original research was completed for the thesis; and the Commonwealth Government which provided the scholarship for that degree. In regard to the latter, I would especially like to acknowledge Dick Whittington, then of the Commonwealth Department of Education in Brisbane, for the support which made completion of a PhD possible in an era of changing regulation. The library of the former Royal Colonial Institute offered a rewarding research environment in which the foundations for the thesis were laid. The transformation from book to thesis was made possible by a research grant from the Faculty of Arts at the University of Southern Queensland, the application for which was encouraged by my then colleague Libby Connors. I would like to acknowledge the Association for the Study of Australian Literature (ASAL), particularly Susan Lever, for their work in ensuring the publication of the book. For this edition I would like to thank my colleagues at Sydney University Press, particularly Agata Mrva-Montoya, for their imagination and dedicaiton.
I have received assistance from Pacita Alexander, Bill Ashcroft, Judy Bailey, David Carter, Clem Christesen, Libby Connors, Mark Cryle, Chris Darvall, Louise D’Arcens, Martin Duwell, Margery Fee, Susan Forsyth, Dorothy Garland, Judith Gibson, Helen Gilbert, Dennis Haskell, John Hay, Lesley Heath, Laurie Hergenhan, Peter Hetherington (London), Veronica Kelly, Adrian Kiernander, Alan Lawson, Sarah Lethbridge, Jenna Mead, Philip Mead, David Neil, Sandra Oxley, Tim Robinson, Denise Russell, Simon Ryan, David Simpson, Jan Swinburne, Glen Thomas, Robert Thompson, Iolanda Tonello, Elizabeth Webby, Gillian Whitlock, Kim Wilkins, and Susan Woodburn. Fiona McKean provided research assistance; Antoinette Bauer helped in countless ways, including with unpaid research assistance; Alma Hartshorn, a 9student of JJ Stable’s, gave valuable insights; Spencer Routh was a guru, as was Helen Tiffin, who supervised the thesis; Chris Tiffin read the typescript for ASAL and gave meticulous comment, as did Elizabeth Webby for Sydney University Press. I would particularly like to thank those professors who responded to my requests for information with promptness and grace: Peter Edwards, Ralph Elliott, John Hainsworth, John Hardy, Colin Horne, Ken Goodwin, Derick Marsh, George Harrison Russell, GA Wilkes and Andrew Gurr. Many of whom I was critical in the first version of this book have become acquaintances and have, unfailingly, been gracious and kind. Biographical details for these and other professorial academics discussed here are drawn from the Australian Dictionary of Biography (ADB), supplemented by information gathered from university calendars; all other sources are acknowledged by in-text references (usually for published sources) or footnotes (usually for manuscript material). In terms of biography, giving dates for appointments is difficult as it is common for months to elapse between advertisement, appointment, and commencement in a position; the year given is usually of the latter.
Most press items relating to Australian literature were sighted in the Australian Literature files at the Meanjin Archive at the Melbourne University. I remain indebted to Meanjin’s editor, Clem Christesen; to those who organised the archive; and to Jenny Lee, who drew its importance to my attention early in the research. Thank you to the following for permission to use quotation: Barr Smith Library, University of Adelaide, from the Colin Horne Papers; Meanjin Archive, University of Melbourne, from the Australian Literature collection and the files of Gustav Cross, Allan Edwards and GKW Johnston; Mitchell Library, Sydney, from the papers of John le Gay Brereton; National Library of Australia, from the papers of H Duncan Hall, AN Jeffares and Colin Roderick; University of Adelaide Archives, from the staff files of AT Strong, press clipping files and Council Minutes; University of Melbourne Archives, from the papers of Enid Derham, Alexandra Daisy Gouldthorpe, Colin J Horne, English Department 1945–76 and Senate Minutes; University of Sydney Archives, from the papers of John le Gay Brereton, ER Holme, Mungo MacCallum, John Woolley and 10Senate Minutes; University of Queensland Archives, from the staff files of AK Thomson, JJ Stable and FW Robinson; and Barbara Wall, from the papers of Charles Jury.