As Lauris Edmond writes, du Fresne's work is a tapestry of the past and present, storying immigrant life. Flitting in and out of the past is shown to be one way of coming to terms with the present and of understanding the importance of home, as is evident in The Book of Ester and Frederique , both centering on the manifold, complex European cultural traditions that were often overlooked in settler countries. Another is to be an inquisitive spy on the land like the child narrator, Astrid Westergaard, in du Fresne's magnificent stories, many of them originally radio broadcasts, which depict life in a small Danish community in the Manawatu in the 1930's, often in a humorous and ironic manner. --

These proceedings of a 1982 symposium on Scandinavian emigration in Australia include presentations on three general topics: field work conducted in Australia and New Zealand in 1980-82; research progress; and Australian immigration policy. The presentors and their papers are: (1) Hans Norman, "The Emigration to America from the Nordic countries"; (2) Anthony Griffiths, "Australian Immigration"; (3) Olavi Koivukangas, "Scandinavians in Australia: A General Review"; (4) Ulf Beijbom, "Scandinavian Emigration to Australia and New Zealand: A Preliminary Report"; (5) Olavi Koivukangas, "Field Work in Australia, February 9-April 30, 1981"; (6) Ivo Holmqvist, "Field Work in New Zealand and Australia, June 4-August 8, 1981"; (7) Allan T. Nilson,"Field Work in Australia, November 10, 1981-February 6, 1982"; (8) James L. Sanderson, "New South Wales, Australia, Progress Report, February 1982"; (9) Sten Almqvist, "Swedish Pioneers in Australia: A Summary"; (10) John S. Martin, "Ethnic Identity and Social Organization in the Scandinavian Communities in Melbourne 1870-1919"; (11) Mark W. Garner, "Language Use and Ethnicity among the Swedish Community"; (12) Anthony Griffiths, "The Finns in Bunyip"; (13) K.J. Battarbee, "From Finnish Farms to Australian Mines: A Research Proposal"; (14) Peija Ilpola, "Multiculturalism in Australia"; and (15) Jan Reksten, "Australian Immigration Policy." (KH)

In 1924, Sibley and McTavish Townships were set aside for settlement by Danish homesteaders. They were eager to take advantage and the opportunity to own land in this new country. The Danish immigrants underwent great trials to clear the land for farming and build houses in the region. Despite many hardships and setbacks due to fires and the economy, the clearings and buildings emerged. Logging in the area became a main source of income along with farms and the well known strawberry farms. As the settlers began to realize their dreams, the colony started to thrive, thus establishing the community of Pass Lake. This being our 100 year celebration, it is the goal of the Pass Lake Historical Society that we commemorate this occasion by compiling stories from our early pioneers to the present. We acknowledge where we started and continue to embrace as we move forward in the future. This community has roots, even though many have moved away they hold this “Rugged Danish Settlement” deep in their heart.

"Preliminary versions of many of these papers were presented at the CEPR conference "European migration: what do we know?" held in Munich on November 14-15th 1997"--Acknowledgements.

This book examines the formation of colonial social identities inside the institutions for the insane in Australia and New Zealand. Taking a large sample of patient records, it pays particular attention to gender, ethnicity and class as categories of analysis, reminding us of the varied journeys of immigrants to the colonies and of how and where they stopped, for different reasons, inside the social institutions of the period. It is about their stories of mobility, how these were told and produced inside institutions for the insane, and how, in the telling, colonial identities were asserted and formed. Having engaged with the structural imperatives of empire and with the varied imperial meanings of gender, sexuality and medicine, historians have considered the movements of travellers, migrants, military bodies and medical personnel, and ‘transnational lives’. This book examines an empire-wide discourse of ‘madness’ as part of this inquiry.