The bibliography of Australian literature K to O.

This important reference work continues to be published and there are now three volumes with two more to go. When completed we will have a new up to date reference work of the books of fiction published in Australia. I must emphasise that the bibliography includes all works of fiction listed by author and is not restricted to 'literature'. All writers are included including those who have written popular fiction and even what is often referred to as 'pulp' fiction.

The book is published by the University of Queensland Press and is up to their usual high standard of publication. It is a heavy tome and not something you can easily browse through while sitting up in bed. It needs a table or desk to rest upon.

The works are listed in a straightforward alphabetical arrangement by author and is easily accessible. Some Bibliographers might quibble at it being described as a 'Bibliography' although this term is used in the popularly accepted term as a 'list of books'. True bibliography, the experts would claim, is the study of the texts of books not their mere listing however detailed.

My special interest in this volume was in the record of books by John Lang. The Mulini Press publications of his work are well represented although the latest newly discovered works by Lang are missing because they were not published in time to fit in with the closing date for inclusion. I was upset to see recorded that the copy of Lang's published poem 'Geraldine' held in the British Library is missing from the Library's collection. It is the only known copy of this work. I hope it is only mis-shelved. I took a hand written copy when I used the book some years ago and will have to use that when I publish the poem in the John Lang Project if it is not found.

Congratulations to the Editors on a job well done. We can now look forward to the next volume of this mammoth undertaking. Some of our most important writers will be represented in the volumes from P to Z. Perhaps when the work is completed there will be scope for a supplementary volume.