Gender and the accumulation of prestige in Australian book publishing

This thesis explores the relationship between gender and 'agents of consecration' that create prestige in Australian book publishing. Drawing on 50 years of data from Australian book reviews, prizes, literary festivals and high school reading lists, this study uses an adapted Bourdieusian framework to interrogate the values and perceptions of gender and literary worth that pervade the Australian field. It finds that while the representation of women within consecratory institutions has increased since the mid-1960s, in a number of sectors progress toward parity with male authors has plateaued. Moreover, it appears these agents - prescribed text lists, pook reviews, literary festivals and literary prizes - have an increasingly overlapping relationship; today there is greater interaction between agents of consecrations than ever before.