The first IASPR conference begins tomorrow, in Brisbane, and the schedule's available from the IASPR website. One of the events on the schedule is a special session on the Flesch collection of Australian Romance Fiction in the Fryer Library. Elsewhere on the University of Queensland's website I discovered a page titled "Collections Seeking a Researcher! @ Fryer" which "promotes research on topics suggested by collection strengths in UQ and Brisbane libraries and museums." Skimming through it, I was delighted to see that the Flesch collection was on the list: Our Fryer Library in the UQ Library has recently acquired a collection of 1500 popular Australian romance novels published between 1950 and 2005. Many were published by Mills and Boon. The collection also includes a small number of books by English and North American authors with Australian settings or Australian heroes/heroines. A list of all items in the collection can be obtained by searching on the title “Australian Romance Fiction Collection.”A list of possible topics and supervisors is also provided.
I wonder how long it will be before we can add a thesis inspired by the Flesch collection to the Romance Wiki's list of completed theses and dissertations? Perhaps it'll be joined by dissertations which make use of other romance collections at academic libraries?
Map courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.
Looks fantastic! Thanks for positng laura.
ReplyDeleteand Eric -- if you are reading this -- I would love a copy of your paper since I am about to embark on my first attempt to teach a romance novel.