Edward Vivien (Vance) Palmer, a widely published author and critic, was employed in the late 1930s to review books for the ABC. In early 1941 he began to present a regular radio programme reviewing both literature and literary culture, and this programme continued until his sudden death in 1959.  

Vance Palmer himself was born in 1885 in Bundaberg Queensland. His short stories, poems, novels, sketches and critical essays were widely published in both Australia and England, and Vance and his wife Janet (known as Nettie, a fellow author and essayist) were also active promoters of Australian literature. Vance Palmer's support and enthusiasm for Australian literature is demonstrated by the attention he pays to Australian poetry and novels throughout the talks in this series. He believed that the chief duty of literature was 'to reveal a people to themselves' (item 163), but in the post-war environment he also believed in the value of local literature as a tool for promoting greater understanding - 'There is no way one country can get to understand another so fully as through painting and literature' (item 212). These sentiments are echoed through many of the scripts in this series.

The Palmers were also actively involved in the political sphere - they campaiged against the introduction of conscription in World War I (though Vance himself joined the AIF in 1918), and became closely associated with the Republican cause during the Spanish Civil War.

From 1943 to 1944, Vance Palmer was also employed by the Department of Labour and Industry as a propaganda writer. In this period he also began his association with the Commonwealth Literary Fund. From 1942 he was a member of the Fund's Advisory Committee, and he was Chairman of the Committee from 1947 through to 1953. 

It appears that Vance Palmer's radio programme was principally broadcast on ABC stations 2BL, 3AR and 3LO in Sydney and Melbourne. The programme appeared on a fortnightly basis, though its appearance became more sporadic later in his life. Each broadcast lasted for approximately ten minutes, and generally three to four books were reviewed in this period. Most of his fortnightly presentations were titled 'Current Books Worth Reading', but interspersed among these sessions were lectures he presented on topics ranging from 'Henry Lawson and the Ballad of Ideas', to 'If I Were a Youth Again', to 'Books I'd Like to Burn'.

Vance Palmer's were one of a collection of radio broadcasts administered by the ABC's Talks Department. The Talks Department was formed as the first separate department of the ABC in 1936. The functions of the Talks Department were to arrange and be responsible for all talks on the national programme, and to be responsible for the general supervision of talks on all state programmes.  The Department was effectively abolished in 1969 when it was replaced by the Department of the Spoken Word.

All of the items from this series have been added to the Archives' item level database.

Source of information about Vance Palmer's life and career:
Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 11, pages 126-128


Administrative information
 
Archives file number:     RWS50/4/13