Under Cover: Adventures in the Art of Editing
Craig Munro began his blue-pencil adventures at the University of Queensland Press in 1971. Over the next thirty years, he became friend, counsellor, and occasionally foil to some of the country's leading authors.
From a champagne-fuelled telegram to Patrick White to a run-in with Xavier Herbert, Craig's editorial life was punctuated by encounters with remarkable writers. Championing the early works of Peter Carey, right up to the Booker-winning True History of the Kelly Gang, Craig also edited David Malouf's first novel, Johnno. He was teased by Murray Bail's tantalising mind games, discovered a passion for Olga Masters' fiction, and helped create UQP's acclaimed Indigenous list.
Blending book history with memoir, Under Cover explores the invisible art of editing from an insider's perspective. Told with warmth and humour, it is a wise, entertaining tour of three audacious, intoxicating, and ultimately inspiring decades of publishing mayhem.
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"It was such a pleasure to be reminded of the generous spirit which fuelled Australian independent publishing in the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s...But best of all, Craig Munro understands and writes about what lies at the heart of good publishing and editing: relationships."
--Sophie Cunningham, writer and publisher
"[C]ompelling...entertaining...This is compulsive reading for anyone interested in Australian books and culture." Four Stars
--Books & Publishing
"Munro takes a delighted relish in stories from the wild west days of Australian letters...[but] behind the anecdotes and great fun, there is another story: that of a brief window in which Australia first developed a local publishing industry, when editors and not literary agents had the closest relationship with their authors, and when governments of the day were willing to make the modest investment that provided those startling returns in books such as Carey's Oscar and Lucinda, Malouf's An Imaginary Life and Helen Garner's The Children's Bach...[Y]ou can't help finishing [Under Cover] without mourning, just a little, the time when a nation found its narrative feet. Shining off its pages is a sense of the fun and the sheer delight we once took in telling stories to ourselves and the wider world. We are so much richer now--but though Munro is too polite to say it, poorer too."
--Geordie Williamson, The Australian
"[A] relaxed, engaging memoir about being the man with the blue pencil, which should open the eyes of people interested in the publishing business and entertain anyone who picks it up...A charming breeze of a book...[Munro] has a born raconteur's ear for anecdote."
--Sunday Age
"Reading Under Cover feels like eavesdropping on some of the most fascinating conversations in the history of Australian publishing--how lucky for Craig Munro to have lived it, and how lucky for us that he's chosen to share it."
--Fiona McFarlane, author of The Night Guest
"Craig Munro has been a notable catalyst in the fermentation of Australia's literary culture for over four decades. His book is in particular an enchanting celebration of the rollicking 1970s and 1980s, when Australian writers really hit their straps and dedicated publishing people, like Craig, were their exuberant accomplices."
--Richard Walsh, publisher and editor
"With his formidable forceps, Craig Munro has brought to birth many lusty infants of Australian literature--and this book shows how it's done."
--Barry Oakley, writer and editor
"Under Cover draws you in to an occupation rarely disclosed--indeed, rarely brought to life in the way Munro has. These were the Renaissance years of Australian literature, and Carey is just part of it...The momentous shift to champion black writers was part of a retelling still unfolding, vital to the national identity."
--Ellen van Neerven, editor and the author of Heat and Light
"This book is an invaluable piece of writing for writers, aspiring (or developed) editors, and those hoping to find their way in the publishing industry. There are so many wonderful quotes and pieces of advice; I devoured Munro's words with a great hunger...Under Cover reveals the importance of knowledge, patience and understanding and the power and potential between author and editor."
--The Book Kat
"If you've always thought that editors lead quiet lives involving nothing more exciting than neatly pencilling corrections on a page, this entertaining and fascinating book will show you how varied and exhilarating the life of an editor can be."
--Good Reading
"A must-read behind-the-scenes look at the publishing industry...Often funny, sometimes shocking and once or twice verging on scandalous...I can't help feeling that with editors like Munro, giving so much passion to their work with authors, book publishing in a paper format has a long history in front of it as well as behind."
--Salty Popcorn
"A clear-eyed, engaging memoir offering a unique perspective on the passionate and occasionally unhinged world of Australian literature."
--Jacqueline Kent, editor and the author of A Certain Style: Beatrice Davis--a literary life
"The appearance of an energetic local publishing scene in the 1970s (UQP was an early significant player but only one) was more than an exercise in naive "us-too"-ism. Publishing Australian stories in all their diversity aided the development of an inclusive, multicultural and Indigenously aware Australian identity. Taking cues from the zeitgeist, independent publishing houses certainly needed editors who believed they were engaged in a shared cultural adventure, and Craig Munro was definitely one of those. I happily thank him for that commitment, and for this book."
--Sydney Morning Herald
