This new issue of JEASA is my first to prepare for publication as the general editor and I hope to continue the tradition of a diverse and even unconventional array of texts that offer European, Australian, and, indeed, international perspectives on Australian literature, history, culture and society, marking the ways in which these are intertwined with global histories and knowledges. My gratitude goes to David Callahan, the previous JEASA editor, who for many years managed, single-handedly, to keep the journal going and providing a venue for both established and emerging scholars to publish their work. It is my wish that JEASA builds on this tradition and expands its readership as well as the pool of contributions. I can only invite everyone with a scholarly interest in Australian studies to submit their critical articles, interviews with Australian authors and public figures, and reviews of recently published criticism and fiction, and/or to propose special guest-edited issues on a particular theme related to Australian studies.
The present issue covers a range of topics and perspectives: several articles deal with both colonial and modern(ist) Australian writers and well-known literary texts, while others venture into the realms of cultural studies and social sciences. The methodologies range from providing new interpretations through textual analyses to nuanced biographies, from theoretical and socio-historical investigation to reading and interpreting photography.