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HANOI
–
Expert comment on JD Salinger and his legacy –
Professor Catherine Cole, Chair of Creative Writing at RMIT University, is available
for comment on the death of JD Salinger and the continuing impact of his greatest
work, The Catcher in the Rye.
“Salinger's death is much mourned,” Professor Cole said.
“The Catcher in the Rye became a formative text for millions of young readers.
“It shaped adolescence and adolescent angst like no other text and continues to do
so. Nothing has captured so well the poetics of self doubt, anxiety and alienation.
“As a teenager, it was a revelation to me that someone could write so actively of
the great shift towards adulthood.
“My students still read it with a kind of surprised recognition, in the same way.”
Professor Cole is the Head of Writing and Communication in RMIT’s School of
Media and Communication.
She has published three novels and two non-fiction books, and her research
activities include critical and theoretical studies of literature as well as research for
creative publications.
Professor Cole is a founding member of the Asia Pacific New Writing Partnership
and project coordinator and journal editor for The Australian Literary Compendium,
a co-project with ABC Radio National.
She is available for interview on the legacy of JD Salinger’s The Catcher in the
Rye.
For interviews: RMIT University’s Professor Catherine Cole, 0404 787 502.
For general media enquiries: RMIT University Communications, Gosia
Kaszubska, (03) 9925 3176 or 0417 510 735.
29 January, 2010
NEWS 
