Australia

Abstract

On the question of progress [in fostering diversity], in Australia at least, Beneba Clarke says: "There are two schools of thought about this: that Australian literature is not diverse enough for Anglo-Australian writers to be even considering writing from other cultures, and the other school of thought is, well, how do we diversify literature then, given that most of our writers are Anglo-Australian? Are we locking ourselves into an inevitably whitewashed world of literature? "And I don't really subscribe to either view; I don't know what the answer is but I can understand both perspectives. But I think what I absolutely can't understand is disregard for any kind of consultation and an inability to understand when people of colour are outraged." (Stephanie Convery, Guardian 15 September) Beneba Clarke's 2016 memoir, The Hate Race, "is a chronicle of the everyday injustices of racism that are always present in this country," writes Fiona Wright; "no matter 731393J CL0010.