- Title
- 'A world of fancy fiction and fact': the Frank C. Johnson archive at the State Library of NSW
- Creator
- Franks, Rachel
- Relation
- 6th Annual Popular Culture Association of Australia and New Zealand 6th Annual International Conference (PopCAANZ). Peer Reviewed Proceedings of the 6th Annual Popular Culture Association of Australia and New Zealand 6th Annual International Conference (Wellington, New Zealand 29 June - 1 July, 2015) p. 13-24
- Relation
- http://popcaanz.com/conference-proceedings-2015/
- Publisher
- Popular Culture Association of Australia and New Zealand (PopCAANZ)
- Resource Type
- conference paper
- Date
- 2015
- Description
- Australia has a long history of debating the value of different types of reading, where ideas of ‘literary works’ versus ‘popular fiction’ dominate these debates. In 1939 Australia imposed import restrictions – ostensibly targeting pulp fiction – that lasted two decades. In response to this action a number of publishing houses emerged, almost overnight, to fill the void and supply Australian readers with pulp stories of every kind. One of these publishers was Frank C. Johnson. Johnson’s success ran parallel to efforts to ban the importation of cheap storytelling: when restrictions were lifted in 1959, Johnson could not compete with the influx of overseas material and the introduction of television. The State Library of New South Wales acquired Johnson’s archive in 1965. This article looks briefly at Johnson’s life through an unpacking of some of the materials within this collection, which includes a rich reservoir of correspondence, a stunning array of original artworks and examples of printed materials exemplifying the era of quick and dirty publishing in Australia.
- Subject
- Australia; pulp fiction; Frank C. Johnson; publishing; reading
- Identifier
- http://hdl.handle.net/1959.13/1316242
- Identifier
- uon:23111
- Identifier
- ISBN:9780473345785
- Language
- eng
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