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'It is 1977, two years after Australia’s constitutional crisis. The bureaucrats in West Block, home of the Prime Minister’s department, are recovering from the shock of
Gough Whitlam’s dismissal.
'George Harland schemes to preserve his departmental standing. Henry Beeker stakes his career on stalling a policy while Catherine Duffy risks her life rescuing victims of an ill-conceived one. Jonathan Roe sets off the tripwires in textbook economics. And all the while, Cassie Armstrong, head of the department’s women’s unit, is driven to despair.
'Life is tense in West Block. Pigeons nest in the leaking roof. A move is imminent: it’s feared the government plans to tear the building down. Old time bureaucrats are adjusting to a new, feminist presence in its corridors. At one time or other housing most of the federal public service, West Block is more than just a rundown office building. Here is the nation in microcosm.' (Publication summary)
Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of
Other Formats
- Sound recording.
Works about this Work
-
Michele Seminara Launches Sara Dowse’s West Block
2020
single work
essay
— Appears in: Verity La , November 2020; -
Imagining Activist Times in the Historical Novel
2006
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Marking Feminist Times : Remembering the Longest Revolution in Australia 2006; (p. 95-129) -
The Real Scribes of Canberra
1997
single work
column
— Appears in: The Canberra Times , 31 January 1997; (p. 16) -
My Favorite Book : Sara Dowse
1995
single work
column
— Appears in: The Sunday Age , 1 October 1995; (p. 9) -
Between Life and Art
1993
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , February-March no. 148 1993; (p. 8-11)
-
A Novel Approach to Bureaucrats
1984
single work
review
— Appears in: Quadrant , April vol. 28 no. 4 1984; (p. 85-86)
— Review of West Block : The Hidden World of Canberra's Mandarins 1983 single work novel -
Recent Fiction
1984
single work
review
— Appears in: Overland , May no. 94-95 1984; (p. 78-79)
— Review of West Block : The Hidden World of Canberra's Mandarins 1983 single work novel ; Sticks That Kill : A Novel 1983 single work novel ; Slate and Me and Blanche McBride 1983 single work novel ; The Bodysurfers 1983 selected work short story ; Matilda, My Darling 1983 single work novel -
Untitled
1989
single work
review
— Appears in: The Good Reading Guide 1989; (p. 64)
— Review of West Block : The Hidden World of Canberra's Mandarins 1983 single work novel -
Untitled
1989
single work
review
— Appears in: The Good Reading Guide 1989; (p. 64-65)
— Review of West Block : The Hidden World of Canberra's Mandarins 1983 single work novel -
Imagining Activist Times in the Historical Novel
2006
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Marking Feminist Times : Remembering the Longest Revolution in Australia 2006; (p. 95-129) -
My Favorite Book : Sara Dowse
1995
single work
column
— Appears in: The Sunday Age , 1 October 1995; (p. 9) -
Hard-Won Point of View
1991
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Island , Winter no. 47 1991; (p. 12-15) -
Untitled
1987
single work
biography
— Appears in: Imagining the Real : Australian Writing in the Nuclear Age 1987; (p. 146-151) -
The Real Scribes of Canberra
1997
single work
column
— Appears in: The Canberra Times , 31 January 1997; (p. 16)
- Canberra, Australian Capital Territory,
- 1970s