Literary Australia is angry. Twenty of the 53 books that have won its most prestigious award, the Miles Franklin, are out of print today.
"The nation's literary heritage is gathering dust," declares the Age. "The shabby treatment of these Australian treasures must end."
While plans are being mooted for the establishment of a canon of Australian classics, I decided to find out if the situation was as parlous for the 46 winners of the UK's premier literary prize, the Man Booker (which is of course open to antipodeans, too; it's been won four times, in fact, by an Australian novelist). I expected at least a few of the winners to be out of print, and was all ready to issue similarly dire pronouncements.
But no! A bit of clicking on Amazon tells me that they're all available, bar John Berger's G – and that's due for a reissue in August, so I can't get too exercised.
Our literary heritage, people, is safe for now. Panic averted. Hurrah.
