Free lecture explores Australian landscape through literature
A round-trip plane ticket to Australia at this time of year can cost upwards of $3,000. However, there’s a less expensive way to take in the sights of the land down under—by reading a sampling of the many great works of Australian literature. At the very least, it will hold you over until you can save enough money for the plane fare.
Join Per Henningsgaard, assistant professor of English at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, as he examines the Australian landscape through literary works in a free presentation at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 10. A part of UW-Stevens Point’s College of Letters and Science 2011-12 Community Lecture Series, the lecture will be held at the Pinery Room of the Portage County Library, 1001 Main Street, Stevens Point, and is open to the public.
Henningsgaard will take a look at Australia’s six major features—desert and ocean, rainforest and bush, city and suburb—as they are represented in Australian literature. Australian history and culture, photography and film, will also take a pass under the microscope.
“Images of the Australian landscape are regularly used by American travel companies to represent an exotic and faraway destination,” said Henningsgaard. “But Australian writers are equally fascinated by the Australian landscape, and in their representations of this landscape we find the key to a set of unique insights into Australian history and culture.”
Henningsgaard received his doctorate in English and cultural studies from The University of Western Australia and teaches courses in Editing and Publishing, Book History and Australian Literature. His research areas include the history of the book, publishing history, Australian literature and postcolonial literature.
Additional information about the Community Lecture Series can be found online.
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