Quarantined in his cluttered den to prevent the spread of a nasty flu, all kinds of long- forgotten treasures are being found inside as our blogger , lurching about like the tipsy waiter in the Dinner for One skit, explores dark corners, boxes , folders , albums , drawers. His lightheadedness is part due to the impact of the resurrection , from files , of Pete Steedman , once regarded as Melbourne's ALP Black Knight because of his dark leather gear , lack of a tie in parliament .
Tucked away in a forgotten folder in a sliding filing cabinet drawer , who should next surface but one of the most controversial , combative figures in Australian literature, publishing and politics , Percy R. "Inky" Stephensen , who played a leading part in the production and contents of the above monthly publication, the masthead describing it as the paper loyal to Australia First , a political movement he founded .
The following covers are a broken run from the l930s and include the first issue of The Publicist plus a prominent reference to Xavier Herbert's novel about the Northern Territory , Capricornia , which won the Commonwealth Sesquicentenary Literary Competition in l938.
A Queensland Rhodes Scholar , Stephensen played a large part in the long drawn out battle to get Capricornia published . As a result , Inky fiercely defended the novel and issued one of the greatest blasts in Aussie literature when he tore into a Sydney Daily Telegraph review of the book.
On the other hand , he applauded good reviews ,like the one below , which contains more information about Capricornia .
The following segments indicate that Inky was a dynamic figure in the Sydney literary , political, publishing scene . Xavier Herbert gets another mention and points out that Abo Call , journal of the Aboriginal Progressive Association is now published monthly by The Publicist Publishing Company of which Inky was the key .
While digging about in The Publicist folder , out jumped a spider . Mindful of the Curse o f the Pharaohs and what happened to the British archaeologist Howard Carter in 1922, excavation of the tomb came to an abrupt halt .
Stephensen stirred up Queensland University , where he edited its magazine, changing its name to Galmahra, Aboriginal for messenger. In London , at Oxford , he upset the academics , demonstrated for Gandhi, was the subject of questions in the House of Commons , written up in the media.
While working on a Brisbane newspaper , the Daily Standard, he is said to have written the first substantial review of D. H. Lawrence's novel, Kangaroo ; later he had a close literary relationship with the famous author .
Stephensen , often engaged in strong debate , deliberately , provocatively referred to Canberra in print as Kambra , was interned because of being perceived a s a threat to Australia during WWll due to anti-British , pro- Japanese, pro-German and anti- Semitic views run in The Publicist .
