Australian Pulps 1939–1959: You go high, we go low

Popular during the middle parts of the 20th century, pulp fiction novels and comics were produced in massive quantities by Australian publishers. Most were written by hacks and enthusiastic amateurs willing to sign contracts that demanded an incredibly high output of work. Pulp publications were cheaply made, formulaic and designed to be read quickly and then thrown away. Often noted for their lurid cover art and titillating titles, they satisfied an appetite for fast entertainment in the era before television.

This book explores the pulp publishing scene in Australia from 1939 to 1959. It examines the circumstances that gave rise to this field of ‘low literature’; the major participants in it – publishers, authors and artists – and the different expressions of the pulp genre available to readers, including crime pulps, westerns, sci-fi, romance and ‘weird tales’.

The book is vividly illustrated with covers from the author’s own collection of Australian pulp novelettes. It provides an introduction to an under-regarded and little known sphere of Australian publishing. It is a valuable record of the mostly overlooked Australian writers involved, and the distinctive conditions under which these cultural products were produced.

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