Australian culture is in many respects the product of departures. Most obviously it is a creation of the departures effected by emigrants. But there is more to the concept of departures than just travelling or migrating. No culture can survive without transforming itself to cope with new challenges. This is why tales of departures in Australia are often narratives of progress, of a groping towards something new and the promise of development, regeneration or reinvention. This fascinating collection of essays will appeal to Australians who want to know how their culture has developed and renewed itself, and to those interested in contemporary writing about Australia. It will help to put Australia's cultural evolution in perspective and to provide, as it were, a map of the channels through which the winds of change are, and have been, blowing.