Capricornia

Spanning three generations, Capricornia tells the story of Australia's north. It is a story of whites and Aborigines and Asians, of chance relationships that can form bonds for life, of dispossession, murder and betrayal. 'Capricornia will always be one of the greatest of Australian novels, a defining work in the search for what it is, or was, to be Australian.' Australian Book Review Spanning three generations, Capricornia tells the story of Australia's north. It is a story of whites and Aborigines and Asians, of chance relationships that can form bonds for life, of dispossession, murder and betrayal. In 1904 the brothers Oscar and Mark Shillingsworth, clad in serge suits and bowler hats, arrive in Port Zodiac on the coast of Capricornia. they are clerks who have come from the south to join the Capricornian Government Service. Oscar prospers, and takes to his new life as a gentleman. Mark, however, is restless, and takes up with old Ned Krater, a trepang fisherman, who tells him tales of the sea and the islands, introduces him to drink, and boasts of his conquests of Aboriginal women - or 'Black Velvet', as they are called. But it is Mark's son, Norman, whose struggles to find a place in the world embody the complexities of Capricornia itself. 'My Capricornia is a hymn book written in adoration of Australia ... the Land of the Unshackled Southern Cross, the Australian earth itself, out of a passionate love of which alone can a true Australian Nation grow.' Xavier Herbert

Northern Australian frontier life, 1885-1925, with emphases on railroading and the race problem.

This collection draws together all stories produced by the Australian author Xavier Herbert prior to the publication of his most famous novel, Capricornia, in 1938. Many of the works presented here were originally published in obscure periodicals, often under one of the author's pseudonyms.

This ground-breaking first biography explores the contradictions at the core of Xavier Herbert's turbulent life and career (1901-1984). Charting his lifelong quest to discover the reality of his existence and to forge a larger-than-life identity, it highlights Herbert's compulsion to write and illuminates his abiding themes. Labelled at various times "ratbag" and "mug genius" as well as "master writer", Xavier Herbert led a life characterised by controversy and contradiction. His signature books, Capricornia (1938) and Poor Fellow My country (1975), were to change the face of Australian novel writing.

SIGHTLINES explores Australian drama for its complex negotiations of race, gender, and postcolonialism. Drama scholar Helen Gilbert discusses an exciting variety of plays. Although focused mainly on performance, her insistent interest in historical and political contexts also speaks to the broader concerns of cultural studies. 23 illustrations.