Buying local (down under)

       In The Age Jane Sullivan reports on efforts to Support Australian authors, trying to drum up support (as government funding dries up ...) for local authors.
       She suggests:

There is a lingering cultural cringe that claims we don't do these things as well as the Americans, or the British, or the Europeans. With a handful of exceptions, a country with a small population will probably produce fewer great writers. But Australian writers in the main are better than the cultural cringers think, and that expectation of inferiority might be dissipated if enough people actually read our books.

       I've got to wonder ... if that "expectation of inferiority" hasn't dissipated by now ... well....
       And while the call to purchase more books by Australian authors seems reasonable (hell, I'd love to be able to get my hands on more books by Australian (and New Zealand, etc.) authors), it really seems state action here would be more helpful -- support for local publishers and authors, purchases for libraries, etc.

       See also the index of Australian literature under review at the complete review, if you need some suggestions.