I da Rentoul Outhwaite, Minnie Rowe, Ethel Jackson Morris, May Gibbs, Pixie O'Harris and Peg Maltby are our most well known of fairytalers but less is known of those early fairy talers of whom Ernst was one. Approximately twelve books appeared sporadically over thirty years between the appearance of the first fairy tale in 1870, three published in Melbourne, one in the Victorian Gold Rush town of Ballaarat, one in Hobart and four in Sydney and two in London by Australian authors. Twelve books is a very small sample and it should be mentioned that there were also short stories: fairy tales in annuals and other children's collections. There are a number of differences between those tales written by men and those written by women and one I explore is the difference between the articulated motive of men and women writers. The male writers do not seem to have the same concerns about the worth of their book while female writers seek approval and acknowledgement and seem ex
Imagining Australia in fairy tales: My PhD journey and beyond