Monash acquires Altman essay collection
Monash University Publishing has acquired world rights to Righting My World: Essays from the Past Half-Century by Dennis Altman.
‘From the inauguration of Richard Nixon to Trump’s America, from Gay Liberation to the AIDS crisis and beyond, Dennis Altman has been both a participant in the changing times and an acute observer,’ said the publisher.
‘This collection captures the sense of Australia and the wider world as it was and as it is, charting the course of a conversation about civil rights and cultural change, while at the same time highlighting the persistence of prejudice and the value of art. Interspersed with personal essays reflecting on Altman’s cultural heritage, grief and ageing, Righting My World is a powerful and illuminating chronicle.’
Altman is the author of numerous books, including Homosexual: Oppression and Liberation (UQP), which has been described as the first serious analysis to emerge from the gay liberation movement. He is a Vice-Chancellor’s Fellow and Professorial Fellow in the Institute for Human Security at La Trobe University. In 2008, Altman was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia for service to education as an academic, social and political commentator, to the community through raising awareness of human rights issues and to the development of HIV/AIDS policy. He is a patron of the Australian Queer Archives and the Pride Foundation.
He said, ‘Last year, my first book, Homosexual: Oppression & Liberation, was republished in Italy, and I did a speaking tour in four cities. Meeting audiences, many of whom were not born when I wrote that book, took me back to sorting through old articles and gave me the idea of collecting them as a record of moments over the past half century that for me is memory while for most of my potential readers is history.’
Monash University Publishing editor David Golding said, ‘America had Gore Vidal, but Australia, according to former Justice of the High Court Michael Kirby, has Dennis Altman. This collection is a thrilling tour and confirmation of Altman’s powers as a writer!’
Righting My World: Essays from the Past Half-Century is scheduled for release on 1 December 2025.
Category: Local news Rights and acquisitions
