AUSTRALIA AS A nation is a mere 125 years old, Australian citizenship even younger. Until the Nationality and Citizenship Act of 1948, all Australians were categorised as British subjects, even those who may not have considered themselves British at all. This included the Irish, but also, of course, the many First Nations peoples who had their own conceptions of communal rights and responsibilities going back millennia. Since the citizenship act, waves of migrants from across the globe have come to call Australia home, bringing their cultures and stories with them in varying ways – including on the page. 

Making sense of the complexity of cultural heritage in the Australian literary tradition is not easy. Indeed, the more I think about it, the more complicated it becomes.