Chair in Australian Literature

The University of Sydney's Chair in Australia Literature, located in the Department of English, is the country's oldest, established in response to a fund-raising campaign in 1962 at a time of intense public commitment to the idea of fostering university study of the national literature. At that time, the department was located in the University's historic Quadrangle. It moved to its present home, the John Woolley Building, in 1975. The earliest wing of the John Woolley Building was designed by the Government Architect Col. Walter Liberty Vernon in the style of the arts and crafts movement, and built in 1906-1908.

The foundation Professor of Australian Literature was G.A. Wilkes, who held the chair from 1963 until 1967, when he became Challis Professor of English Literature. From 1968 until 1989 the chair was occupied by Professor (later Dame) Leonie Kramer, who was subsequently Chancellor of the University. From 1990 to 2007, the chair was held by Professor Elizabeth Webby, who was succeeded upon her retirement in 2007 by Professor Robert Dixon. Past members of the Australian Literature staff have included Ivor Indyk, Brian Kiernan, Adrian Mitchell, Noel Rowe, Vivian Smith and Penny van Toorn.

(http://sydney.edu.au/arts/australian_literature/about/index.shtml viewed 18/02/2016)

Following the retirement of Professor Robert Dixon in 2019, the University would no longer fund the Chair in Australian Literature.