Writer, publisher and literary critic Geordie Williamson delivered this year’s Fryer Lecture in Australian Literature, which was titled From Capricornia to Carpentaria: the literary legacy of Xavier Herbert.
Geordie Williamson has been chief literary critic of The Australian newspaper since 2008. His forthcoming book, On Alexis Wright: Writers on Writers, is published by Black Inc.
Xavier Herbert
In his book The Burning Library: Our Great Novelists Lost and Found (2012), Williamson states, 'Australian Literature can offer no figure more divided or divisive than Xavier Herbert.'
Xavier Herbert's magnum opus, Poor Fellow My Country, was published 50 years ago, in 1975, to great acclaim, winning the Miles Franklin Award. Described by Randolph Stow as 'an Australian classic', it is the second-longest novel in English after Samuel Richardson’s Clarissa, and is one-third longer than Tolstoy's War and Peace. It famously decries Australia as a land 'Despoiled by White Bullies, Thieves, and Hypocrites'.
Herbert’s novel Capricornia was published in 1938, winning the Australian Literature Society’s Gold Medal. HG Wells described it as, 'the best written and finest spirited novel to have come out of Australia.'
Xavier Herbert’s novels explore the larger context of Australia’s colonial origins, its historical relationship to Britain and its mistreatment of Aboriginal people.
In his lecture, Geordie Williamson discussed the successes and failures of Xavier Herbert's efforts to engage with Indigenous Australia, his ongoing legacy, and his complicated dialogue with contemporary writers, including fellow Miles Franklin Award winner Alexis Wright.
The Sadie and Xavier Herbert Papers are held in the Fryer Library.
Listen to the 2025 Fryer Lecture in Australian Literature
Fryer Lecture in Australian Literature
The annual Fryer Lecture celebrates Australian literature and the library's important role in collecting and preserving our literary heritage.
