SOURCE: “Frank Moorhouse: A Retrospective,” in Modern Fiction Studies, Vol. 27, No. 1, Spring, 1981, pp. 73-94.

In the following essay, Kiernan discusses the defining characteristics of Moorhouse's short fiction, in particular the recurring theme of the impact of American culture on Australia.

Publication in the United States today represents for probably most Australian writers, and readers, the same kind of recognition that publication in England did for so long in the past. Until toward the end of the nineteenth century, when the establishment of local presses coincided with conscious efforts to develop a native literature, London or Edinburgh offered the Australian writer virtually his only chance of publication. A consequence of this cultural colonialism for this century has been a tendency to distinguish between “characteristically” Australian writing published locally and the more “international” writing by Australians published elsewhere—even though this has often had similar characters, settings, and themes. The...