A Glassy Sort of Rainbow

There is a hidden history of literary traffic between Australia and Aotearoa (New Zealand) which has been forgotten, partly due to the lack of connection in the present. From the late nineteenth century until WWII there was ongoing and sustained trans-Tasman activity. The Tasman, which is known as Te Tai-o-Rēhua by Maori, has often been invoked when talking about these exchanges because this sea was the zone of transit. Helen Bones observes that the dynamic was ‘trans-Tasman’ rather than ‘Australasian,’ in the sense that cities in New Zealand and on the eastern seaboard of Australia arguably had stronger connections to one another than Sydney did with Perth or Darwin. There have been obstacles to fluid connections that have been challenged by individuals (often people who have lived in both places) who operate as nodes and as bridges within these networks. For a long time, the publishing industry has not been geared to enable direct connections between writers, publishers and audiences in both countries, with rare exceptions. Informal networks of literary sociability, usually between writers themselves, have led to a range of events (both in person and via publications such as special issues) which allow exchanges to take place. I argue that this trans-Tasman literary sociability is usually informal rather than being institutionally managed and offers the possibility for an expanded sense of community.