The literature of Australia is passionately engaged with the land and its history, conveying an often outsized sense of the incomers and the dispossessed, the settlers and migrants, the rebels and the rulers. But Australian writers also look to the world, taking all of history as their canvas. This seminar will study great Australian writers such as Peter Carey, Shirley Hazzard (whose The Great Fire is shown at left), and Gail Jones who have conjured and channeled Australia from both within and without. Discussion will focus on these writers’ diverse and inventive styles and narrative strategies, their social and psychological insights, their sense of their own nation’s terrain and people, and the world beyond its borders. Copies of the recommended editions will be available for registrants to purchase.

Nicholas Birns teaches at the New School and is editor of Antipodes: A Global Journal of Australian/NZ Literature. He is currently co-editing Options for Teaching Australian Literature for the Modern Language Association. He is also the author of Understanding Anthony Powell and Barbarian Memory.

Tuesdays, April 15, May 6, May 27, and June 17

All four sessions (recommended): $50
Per session: $15

Advance registration is required. How to Register