THE ANU has become home to the respected journal ‘Australian Literary Studies’.

It shouldn’t be such a surprise as the ALS was in part the brainchild of Australian poet A D Hope who worked at ANU as an English Professor until his retirement in 1968.

Dr Julieanne Lamond of the ANU School of Literature Languages & Linguistics, who has become just the third editor in the journal’s 53 year history, said the publication has had a major influence on the Australian literature landscape and had published some of the earliest academic scholarship on works by writers like Les Murray, Gwen Harwood, Tom Keneally and Robert Drewe.

“The first academic essay on Oodgeroo by Kath Walker was published in ALS in 1978, and the 1992 special issue on her work has been incredibly influential, so ALS has made a real difference to the study of Aboriginal literature in Australia, too,” she said, adding that the new focus of the publication would to provide access to the journal’s content, which includes more than 1,000 essays.

“Going digital is really important. Until now most of our content has only been available by going to the library and photocopying. Students don’t do that anymore,” Dr Lamond said.

Subscriptions for ‘Australian Literary Studies’ are available at australianliterarystudies.com.au and new essay content will be available free for 4-6 weeks.