Our eighteenth Annual Fleeman Memorial Lecture was given at the 2012 AGM by inaugural President, Emeritus Professor Clive Probyn. Clive is a renowned international scholar of the 18the Century, specialising in Jonathon Swift and Dr Johnson.

He has also done distinguished scholarly work editing the novels of Australia’s Henry Handel Richardson, and is the winner of the prestigious Centennial Medal for Service to English and Australian Literature. He has published more than 20 books.

Clive treated members and friends to an engaging, scholarly account of Johnson’s and Swift’s view of Wales and the Welch, as revealed in their travel writings and letters.

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The Foundation President of the JSA, Emeritus Professor Clive Probyn, will be guest speaker for this year's David Fleeman Memorial Lecture. The Lecture, entitled Terra Incognita: Jonathan Swift, Samuel Johnson…

The Johnson Society of Australia’s 2012 Annual Seminar offers an exciting program of lectures, “stub papers” and other presentations, following the pattern which has won universal support from members. The…

17th Annual Seminar Program10:30-11am:         Registration and Morning Tea11:00-11:45am      Hester Piozzi’s Grand and Ironic Tour - Dr Chloe Chard11:45am-12:00pm Eighteenth Century words (“stub” paper) - Prof Kate Burridge12:00-12.15pm:    The Patron Saint…

The 17th Annual Seminar of The Johnson Society of Australia will he held on Saturday July 9 at the usual venue, the English Speaking Union, beginning with registration at 11am and the first paper to be delivered at 11.30.
The program, which continues to follow the format introduced two years ago, comprises three full-length papers and four “stub” papers – the feature which has proved so popular with our audiences.
We are honoured this year to welcome the distinguished  scholar, Dr Chloe Chard,  a literary historian who lives in London, and who has published widely on travel writing and art criticism. Dr Chard’s paper is concerned with the book written by Mrs Hester Piozzi (Thrale) about her European tour, Observations and Reflections Made in the Course of a Journey through France, Italy, and Germany (1789). 

Other  speakers will be Daniel Vuillemin, who puts the case for a special joint biography of Samuel Johnson and Sir Joshua Reynolds, and Barbara Niven , who will talk about the development of the forte-piano in the 18th Century and its subsequent influence on music generally.

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With great sadness, we record the death in September of John Wiltshire’s wife Zaiga, after a long illness. John dedicated his 2010 Fleeman Lecture to her memory. Zaiga had been a…

President Barrie Sheppard and Secretary Barbara Niven represented the JSA at an interesting gathering in Sydney on October 8 to discuss the establishment of an alliance of Australian literary societies.

The meeting took the form of a reception at the British Consulate in Sydney, attended by about 80 people representing 11 literary groups.

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