The Association for the Study of Australian Literature (ASAL) is an Australian organisation which promotes the creation and study of

Australian literature Australian literature is the written or literary work produced in the area or by the people of the Commonwealth of Australia and its preceding colonies. During its early Western history, Australia was a collection of British colonies; as such, ...

and literary culture especially through the interaction of Australian writers with teachers and students. It administers several awards, holds a yearly conference, publishes a newsletter and journal, and has sponsored several publications."Association for the Study of Australian Literature" in William H. Wilde, Joy Hooton, and Barry Andrews (eds) (1994) ''The Oxford Companion to Australian Literature'' vi
Oxford Reference Online
Oxford University Press. Retrieved 20 August 2011."Association for the Study of Australian Literature" i
AustLit
The Australian Literature Resource, National Library of Australia and Australian Studies Centre, Department of English, University of Queensland, 002 -/ref>

Awards

The Australian Literature Society, which had been formed in Melbourne in 1899, merged into ASAL which, since 1982, has administered the

ALS Gold Medal The Australian Literature Society Gold Medal (ALS Gold Medal) is awarded annually by the Association for the Study of Australian Literature for "an outstanding literary work in the preceding calendar year." From 1928 to 1974 it was awarded by the ...

. In addition, ASAL administers the following awards: * Mary Gilmore Award * A.D. Hope Prize, awarded annually for the best paper delivered by a postgraduate student to the ASAL annual conference * Walter McRae Russell Award, for the best book of literary scholarship on an Australian subject published in the preceding two calendar years; before 1994, it was awarded to a young or unestablished author for an outstanding work of literary scholarship * the

Magarey Medal for biography Professor Susan Margaret Magarey (born 23 April 1943) , is an Australian historian and author, most notable for her historic works and biographies of Australian women.

, a biennial prize for the best published biographical writing by a female author on an Australian subject in the preceding two years * the A.A. Phillips Award, an occasional award for a work or the work of an author which the ASAL executive considers an outstanding contribution to Australian literature or literary studies

History

In May 1978, writer and academic Mary Lord organized the inaugural ASAL conference at

Monash University Monash University () is a public research university based in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Named for prominent World War I general Sir John Monash, it was founded in 1958 and is the second oldest university in the state. The university has a ...

.History, in , Retrieved 18 December 2019 At this conference, the Association adopted its constitution and appointed

A.D. Hope Alec Derwent Hope (21 July 190713 July 2000) was an Australian poet and essayist known for his satirical slant. He was also a critic, teacher and academic. He was referred to in an American journal as "the 20th century's greatest 18th-century ...

and

Judith Wright Judith Arundell Wright (31 May 191525 June 2000) was an Australian poet, environmentalist and campaigner for Aboriginal land rights. She was a recipient of the Christopher Brennan Award. Biography Judith Wright was born in Armidale, New Sou ...

as patrons.

Life members

ASAL has conferred life membership upon

Clem Christesen Clement Byrne Christesen (28 October 1911 – 28 June 2003) was the founder of the Australian literary magazine ''Meanjin''. He served as the magazine's editor from 1940 until 1974. Biography Early years Clement Byrne Christesen was born and sp ...

, Mary Lord,

Thea Astley Thea Beatrice May Astley (25 August 1925 – 17 August 2004) was an Australian novelist and short story writer. She was a prolific writer who was published for over 40 years from 1958. At the time of her death, she had won more Miles Franklin ...

, Peter Cowan, Rosemary Dobson,

Gwen Harwood Gwen Harwood (née Gwendoline Nessie Foster, 8 June 19205 December 1995) was an Australian poet and librettist. Harwood is regarded as one of Australia's finest poets, publishing over 420 works, including 386 poems and 13 librettos. She won nu ...

Eric Irvin Eric Irvin (30 November 19081 July 1993) was an Australian writer and historian of Australian theatre. His ''Dictionary of the Australian Theatre 1788–1914'' is an essential reference work. He was also an anthologised poet who published two bo ...

, Ken Stewart,

Julian Croft Julian Croft (born 31 May 1941) is an Australian poet and Emeritus Professor of English, University of New England. He was a founder of the Association for the Study of Australian Literature and co-edited its journal, ''Notes and Furphies'' for m ...

, and

Ian McLaren Ian Francis McLaren (30 March 1912 – 17 April 2000), M.A., Dip. Com., D. Litt., , F.R.H.S.V., was an Australian politician, accountant, businessman, historian, bibliographer and book-collector. Early life He was born at Launceston in Tasm ...

Publications

From October 1978 until October 2000, ASAL published 43 issues of a bulletin, ''Notes and Furphies''. The bulletin was merged with ASAL's publication of conference proceedings to form the ''Journal of the Association for the Study of Australian Literature''. ASAL initiated the ASAL Literary Studies Series of specialist monographs on Australian writing. The following volumes have appeared: * Paul Genoni, ''Subverting the Empire: Explorers and Exploration in Australian Fiction'' (2004) * Anne Pender, ''Christina Stead: Satirist'' (2002) * Susan Lever, ''Real Relations: The Feminist Politics of Form in Australian Fiction'' (2000) * Alison Bartlett, ''Jamming the Machinery: Contemporary Australian Women’s Writing'' (1998) * Leigh Dale, ''The English Men: Professing Literature in Australian Universities'' (1997) * David Carter, ''A Career in Writing: Judah Waten and the Cultural Cringe'' (1997) Other publications ASAL has sponsored are: * ''The Oxford Literary Guide to Australia'' (1987, revised 1993) * the ''Penguin New Literary History of Australia'' (1988) and * the ''Macquarie Dictionary of Australian Quotations'' (1990).

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Association for the Study of Australian Literature Learned societies of Australia 1977 establishments in Australia Organizations established in 1977