Conversations

Vol. 6 No. 2 Summer 2006

The Summer 2006 issue of Conversations is a truly international volume with work by authors whose backgrounds and themes cross borders between Australia, Asia and Europe. Using both personal and public voices, the writers gathered here look to the past, present and future in their engagement with local and global issues. For the reader, the result is a collection that entertains and inspires.

Two poems excerpted from accomplished poet Adrian Caesar's forthcoming collection High Wire (Pandanus Books, 2006) give readers an opportunity to experience the work of a mature and assured writer implementing a witty and moving observational tone. New work by Anita Patel and Carol Jenkins further indicate that the poetic voice is alive and well in Australia.

In 'How to Survive', the highly regarded oral historian Diana Giese provides a compelling oral history account of Sorathy Pouk Michell's experiences in 1970s Cambodia under the Khmer Rouge. Concluding with the anguish of displacement through immigration, this memoir asks important questions about the meaning of home and family.

'How to Survive' is followed by a series of original, amusing and thought-provoking articles by the late Minoru Hokari. The articles describe the social, cultural and ritual life of the Gurindji of the Northern Territory and place that ancient culture in the context of a rapidly changing modern world. Translated from the Japanese and originally written for a Japanese audience, these articles provide a compelling insight into Japanese perceptions of Australia and are a powerful introduction to the thought of an exceptional historian and social commentator.

Jan Borrie's evocative and sensual piece 'Snow' provides a layered environment in which to expose the senses and Subhash Jaireth's short fiction 'Cricket Ball', reminds us why we love summer and, more fundamentally, why cricket is important.

In this issue, we are also delighted to present the second in a series of remarkable lectures, The Allen Martin Memorial Lecture. The 2005 lecture, delivered by Professor Catherine Hall of University College London, is informed by postcolonial, transnational and global perspectives. Exploring the writing of national histories in 19th-centry Britain, this essay focuses on Thomas Babington Macaulay, the most celebrated historian of 19th-centruy England.