Marlene Norst
Encyclopedia
Marlene Johanna Norst (24 March 1930 in Vienna
– 20 December 2010 in Sydney
) was an Australian linguist
, pedagogue
and philanthropist
of Austria
n heritage. Main areas of work: German language
and literature
studies, linguistics
, language pedagogy, English as a second language, socio-linguistics, children’s literature.
She was the daughter of the lawyer Dr. Anton Heinrich Norst (30 December 1900 in Czernowitz – 8 September 1974 in Sydney
) and the English language scholar Dr. Mary Norst, née Widrich (6 August 1900 in Vienna
– 22 September 1967 in Sydney
), and grandchild of the author and journalist Dr. Anton Norst (30 April 1859 in Załuże near Zbarazh
(formerly Galicia, Austria-Hungary
) – 11 April 1939 in Vienna
), who was a brother of Eugenie Schwarzwald
.
Following the Anschluss
(the annexation of Austria by Germany) in March 1938 the Norst family fled Austria because of the threat of persecution by the Nazi
regime. After a short stay from 22 May to 22 June 1938 with Anton’s sister, Else Rubinowicz (1892-1969), wife of the physicist Wojciech Rubinowicz
, in Lwów
/Poland
the Norsts moved on to Denmark
, where they stayed for a few months on the island of Thurø
with the author Karin Michaelis
, a friend of Eugenie Schwarzwald. There they met Bertolt Brecht
and his second wife, Helene Weigel
. After that they travelled on to Canada
and finally settled in Australia
. Marlene’s father was employed in a cannery in Leeton
as food technologist and tasked with establishing a laboratory.
In Leeton Marlene went to a Catholic primary school and then became a boarder at Mt. Erin Presentation Convent
in Wagga Wagga.
After secondary school she studied German
and Linguistics
at Sydney University and later at Newcastle University.
After teaching 1952-1956 at Naremburn Boys’ School, Riverside Girls’ School (both in Sydney) and at Kempsey High School, a co-educational country school, she left for London where she taught for two years at Walworth Comprehensive School
. During this period in Europe she spent about three months in Vienna
and gained her “Universitätssprachprüfung” (university language exam) at Vienna University. One of her students in Kempsey (New South Wales)
was the Aborigine Harry Penrith, later known as Burnum Burnum
.
From 1957 – 1967 Marlene taught at the German department of Newcastle University. She received her PhD from Newcastle University on 17 March 1972. The title of her PhD thesis was: Julius Duboc and Robert Waldmüller. An Enquiry into some Aspects of the Literary Biographical Genre.
In 1964 she was the recipient of a German government grant and studied German Biedermeier
literature at the University of Heidelberg.
From 1968-1986 Marlene lectured in German
, Linguistics
and Children’s literature at Macquarie University
, in the Department of Modern Languages, serving as Associate Professor in German for 10 years.
In 1974 she worked for a year in the Linguistics Department at the University of Edinburgh
, doing research on the perception of intonation patterns by native and non-native speakers, using synthesised and natural speech.
In 1978 she was attached to the Linguistics Department of Vienna University and worked on language planning in multi-lingual societies. Main areas of work: German language and literature studies, linguistics, language pedagogy, English as a second language, socio-linguistics, children’s literature.
Marlene participated in numerous linguistic conferences (e.g. 1982 in Mexico
and the Netherlands) and gave lectures at universities in London
, Vienna, Hamburg
and Oldenburg
.
In 1986 Marlene received a grant from the Austrian government to study the migration patterns of Austrian remigrants from Australia (migrants who had decided to return to Austria). This work as well as extensive research in Australia, including many interviews with Austrian migrants in Australia and Austria formed the basis of the book Austrians and Australia (with Johanna McBride) which was published in 1988.
In 1986 she resigned from Macquarie University and established herself as a freelance writer, multicultural consultant and teacher.
In the Vienna Natural History Museum she discovered the drawings of the Austrian botanic artist Ferdinand Lucas Bauer (1760-1826), who had documented Australian flora and fauna when he was engaged to accompany Matthew Flinders
on the first circumnavigation of the Australian continent. At the invitation of the British Museum
which holds his corresponding colour drawings, she wrote a book about Ferdinand Lucas Bauer in which she brought together the pencil and colour drawings.
In 1989 Marlene embarked on an oral history project entitled Family Reflections, where she supported families in documenting and writing their stories and history. She was a close friend of the Aboriginal activist, Burnum Burnum
(1936-1997) and on his request wrote his biography Burnum Burnum: A Warrior for Peace.
She taught English language and literacy to international students, migrants as well as street kids and ex-prisoners at institutions including Sydney Skill Share, Wesley Skill Share and Street Smart, as well as Sydney TAFE
and Nature Care
.
In 1991 she was awarded the University of Newcastle Convocation Medal for “Outstanding Professional Merit” and 1995 the “Ehrenkreuz für Literatur und Wissenschaft der Republik Österreich” (The Cross of Honour for Literature and Science of the Republic of Austria)
In recent years Marlene translated a number of German plays into English – including works by Igor Bauersima, Falk Richter, Lukas Bärfuss, Roland Schimmelpfennig, Reto Finger, Margareth Obexer, Agnes Gerstenberg. Many of these translations have had public performances. The play Before / After (Vorher / Nachher) was performed by Sydney Theatre Company
in February 2011, less than two months after her death.
As an enthusiastic chorister Marlene was a member of Sydney Philharmonia Choir
and of SUMS (the Sydney University Musical Society
) for many years and took part in many performances and concert tours in Australia and overseas.
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
– 20 December 2010 in Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
) was an Australian linguist
Linguistics
Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. Linguistics can be broadly broken into three categories or subfields of study: language form, language meaning, and language in context....
, pedagogue
Pedagogy
Pedagogy is the study of being a teacher or the process of teaching. The term generally refers to strategies of instruction, or a style of instruction....
and philanthropist
Philanthropy
Philanthropy etymologically means "the love of humanity"—love in the sense of caring for, nourishing, developing, or enhancing; humanity in the sense of "what it is to be human," or "human potential." In modern practical terms, it is "private initiatives for public good, focusing on quality of...
of Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
n heritage. Main areas of work: German language
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
and literature
German literature
German literature comprises those literary texts written in the German language. This includes literature written in Germany, Austria, the German part of Switzerland, and to a lesser extent works of the German diaspora. German literature of the modern period is mostly in Standard German, but there...
studies, linguistics
Linguistics
Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. Linguistics can be broadly broken into three categories or subfields of study: language form, language meaning, and language in context....
, language pedagogy, English as a second language, socio-linguistics, children’s literature.
She was the daughter of the lawyer Dr. Anton Heinrich Norst (30 December 1900 in Czernowitz – 8 September 1974 in Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
) and the English language scholar Dr. Mary Norst, née Widrich (6 August 1900 in Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
– 22 September 1967 in Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
), and grandchild of the author and journalist Dr. Anton Norst (30 April 1859 in Załuże near Zbarazh
Zbarazh
Zbarazh is a city in the Ternopil Oblast of western Ukraine. It is the administrative center of the Zbarazh Raion , and is located in the historic region of Galicia....
(formerly Galicia, Austria-Hungary
Austria-Hungary
Austria-Hungary , more formally known as the Kingdoms and Lands Represented in the Imperial Council and the Lands of the Holy Hungarian Crown of Saint Stephen, was a constitutional monarchic union between the crowns of the Austrian Empire and the Kingdom of Hungary in...
) – 11 April 1939 in Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
), who was a brother of Eugenie Schwarzwald
Eugenie Schwarzwald
Eugenie Schwarzwald, née Nußbaum, was born June 4, 1872, in Polupanovka, near Ternopil, in Austria-Hungary and died on August 7, 1940, in Zurich. She was an Austrian philanthropist, writer and pedagogue developing and supporting education for girls in Austria...
.
Following the Anschluss
Anschluss
The Anschluss , also known as the ', was the occupation and annexation of Austria into Nazi Germany in 1938....
(the annexation of Austria by Germany) in March 1938 the Norst family fled Austria because of the threat of persecution by the Nazi
Nazism
Nazism, the common short form name of National Socialism was the ideology and practice of the Nazi Party and of Nazi Germany...
regime. After a short stay from 22 May to 22 June 1938 with Anton’s sister, Else Rubinowicz (1892-1969), wife of the physicist Wojciech Rubinowicz
Wojciech Rubinowicz
Wojciech Sylwester Piotr Rubinowicz was a Polish theoretical physicist who made contributions in quantum mechanics, mathematical physics, and the theory of radiation...
, in Lwów
Lviv
Lviv is a city in western Ukraine. The city is regarded as one of the main cultural centres of today's Ukraine and historically has also been a major Polish and Jewish cultural center, as Poles and Jews were the two main ethnicities of the city until the outbreak of World War II and the following...
/Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
the Norsts moved on to Denmark
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
, where they stayed for a few months on the island of Thurø
Thurø
Thurø is a small Danish island in the south-east of Funen and belongs to the Svendborg municipality. Connected to Svendborg proper by a small bridge, Thurø has around 3699 inhabitants....
with the author Karin Michaelis
Karin Michaelis
Karin Michaelis was a Danish journalist and author.- Early life :...
, a friend of Eugenie Schwarzwald. There they met Bertolt Brecht
Bertolt Brecht
Bertolt Brecht was a German poet, playwright, and theatre director.An influential theatre practitioner of the 20th century, Brecht made equally significant contributions to dramaturgy and theatrical production, the latter particularly through the seismic impact of the tours undertaken by the...
and his second wife, Helene Weigel
Helene Weigel
Helene Weigel was a distinguished German actress. She was the second wife of Bertolt Brecht, and together they had a son Stefan Brecht and daughter Barbara Brecht-Schall .The daughter of a Jewish lawyer, she became a Communist Party member from 1930 and Artistic Director of the...
. After that they travelled on to Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
and finally settled in Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
. Marlene’s father was employed in a cannery in Leeton
Leeton, New South Wales
Leeton is a town in the Riverina region of New South Wales, Australia. Leeton is situated approximately 550 km west of Sydney and 450 km north of Melbourne in the productive Murrumbidgee Irrigation Area. Leeton is administered by Leeton Shire Council...
as food technologist and tasked with establishing a laboratory.
In Leeton Marlene went to a Catholic primary school and then became a boarder at Mt. Erin Presentation Convent
Kildare Catholic College
Kildare Catholic College is a Roman Catholic Coeducational Secondary College in Wagga Wagga, New South Wales, Australia. Kildare Catholic College works with heritage links to Nano Nagle, the foundress of the Presentation Sisters and Edmund Rice, the founder of the Christian Brothers.Kildare has six...
in Wagga Wagga.
After secondary school she studied German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
and Linguistics
Linguistics
Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. Linguistics can be broadly broken into three categories or subfields of study: language form, language meaning, and language in context....
at Sydney University and later at Newcastle University.
After teaching 1952-1956 at Naremburn Boys’ School, Riverside Girls’ School (both in Sydney) and at Kempsey High School, a co-educational country school, she left for London where she taught for two years at Walworth Comprehensive School
Walworth Academy
Walworth Academy is a mixed, non-selective school for pupils from 11 to 18. It opened as an ARK academy in 2007, replacing Walworth School. This school is split up into three sections, Chaplin, Babbage and Seacole. The Chaplin and Babbage blocks are two separate halves of Key Stage 3...
. During this period in Europe she spent about three months in Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
and gained her “Universitätssprachprüfung” (university language exam) at Vienna University. One of her students in Kempsey (New South Wales)
Kempsey, New South Wales
Kempsey is a town in the Mid North Coast region of New South Wales, Australia and is the council seat for Kempsey Shire. It is located 15 kilometres inland from the coast of the Pacific Ocean where the Pacific Highway and the North Coast railway line cross the Macleay River...
was the Aborigine Harry Penrith, later known as Burnum Burnum
Burnum Burnum
Burnum Burnum was an Australian Aboriginal activist, actor, and author. He was born a Woiworrung and Yorta Yorta man at Wallaga Lake in southern New South Wales...
.
From 1957 – 1967 Marlene taught at the German department of Newcastle University. She received her PhD from Newcastle University on 17 March 1972. The title of her PhD thesis was: Julius Duboc and Robert Waldmüller. An Enquiry into some Aspects of the Literary Biographical Genre.
In 1964 she was the recipient of a German government grant and studied German Biedermeier
Biedermeier
In Central Europe, the Biedermeier era refers to the middle-class sensibilities of the historical period between 1815, the year of the Congress of Vienna at the end of the Napoleonic Wars, and 1848, the year of the European revolutions...
literature at the University of Heidelberg.
From 1968-1986 Marlene lectured in German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
, Linguistics
Linguistics
Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. Linguistics can be broadly broken into three categories or subfields of study: language form, language meaning, and language in context....
and Children’s literature at Macquarie University
Macquarie University
Macquarie University is an Australian public teaching and research university located in Sydney, with its main campus situated in Macquarie Park. Founded in 1964 by the New South Wales Government, it was the third university to be established in the metropolitan area of Sydney...
, in the Department of Modern Languages, serving as Associate Professor in German for 10 years.
In 1974 she worked for a year in the Linguistics Department at the University of Edinburgh
University of Edinburgh
The University of Edinburgh, founded in 1583, is a public research university located in Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland, and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The university is deeply embedded in the fabric of the city, with many of the buildings in the historic Old Town belonging to the university...
, doing research on the perception of intonation patterns by native and non-native speakers, using synthesised and natural speech.
In 1978 she was attached to the Linguistics Department of Vienna University and worked on language planning in multi-lingual societies. Main areas of work: German language and literature studies, linguistics, language pedagogy, English as a second language, socio-linguistics, children’s literature.
Marlene participated in numerous linguistic conferences (e.g. 1982 in Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
and the Netherlands) and gave lectures at universities in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, Vienna, Hamburg
Hamburg
-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...
and Oldenburg
Oldenburg
Oldenburg is an independent city in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated in the western part of the state between the cities of Bremen and Groningen, Netherlands, at the Hunte river. It has a population of 160,279 which makes it the fourth biggest city in Lower Saxony after Hanover, Braunschweig...
.
In 1986 Marlene received a grant from the Austrian government to study the migration patterns of Austrian remigrants from Australia (migrants who had decided to return to Austria). This work as well as extensive research in Australia, including many interviews with Austrian migrants in Australia and Austria formed the basis of the book Austrians and Australia (with Johanna McBride) which was published in 1988.
In 1986 she resigned from Macquarie University and established herself as a freelance writer, multicultural consultant and teacher.
In the Vienna Natural History Museum she discovered the drawings of the Austrian botanic artist Ferdinand Lucas Bauer (1760-1826), who had documented Australian flora and fauna when he was engaged to accompany Matthew Flinders
Matthew Flinders
Captain Matthew Flinders RN was one of the most successful navigators and cartographers of his age. In a career that spanned just over twenty years, he sailed with Captain William Bligh, circumnavigated Australia and encouraged the use of that name for the continent, which had previously been...
on the first circumnavigation of the Australian continent. At the invitation of the British Museum
British Museum
The British Museum is a museum of human history and culture in London. Its collections, which number more than seven million objects, are amongst the largest and most comprehensive in the world and originate from all continents, illustrating and documenting the story of human culture from its...
which holds his corresponding colour drawings, she wrote a book about Ferdinand Lucas Bauer in which she brought together the pencil and colour drawings.
In 1989 Marlene embarked on an oral history project entitled Family Reflections, where she supported families in documenting and writing their stories and history. She was a close friend of the Aboriginal activist, Burnum Burnum
Burnum Burnum
Burnum Burnum was an Australian Aboriginal activist, actor, and author. He was born a Woiworrung and Yorta Yorta man at Wallaga Lake in southern New South Wales...
(1936-1997) and on his request wrote his biography Burnum Burnum: A Warrior for Peace.
She taught English language and literacy to international students, migrants as well as street kids and ex-prisoners at institutions including Sydney Skill Share, Wesley Skill Share and Street Smart, as well as Sydney TAFE
Technical and Further Education
In Australia, training and further education or TAFE institutions provide a wide range of predominantly vocational tertiary education courses, mostly qualifying courses under the National Training System/Australian Qualifications Framework/Australian Quality Training Framework...
and Nature Care
Nature Care College
Nature Care College is a private college in St Leonards, New South Wales specialising in natural therapies. Established in 1973 by founders, Catherine McEwan and Alan Hudson, its origin is derived from the term "nature care", used throughout Europe in the 18th century to describe naturopathy...
.
In 1991 she was awarded the University of Newcastle Convocation Medal for “Outstanding Professional Merit” and 1995 the “Ehrenkreuz für Literatur und Wissenschaft der Republik Österreich” (The Cross of Honour for Literature and Science of the Republic of Austria)
In recent years Marlene translated a number of German plays into English – including works by Igor Bauersima, Falk Richter, Lukas Bärfuss, Roland Schimmelpfennig, Reto Finger, Margareth Obexer, Agnes Gerstenberg. Many of these translations have had public performances. The play Before / After (Vorher / Nachher) was performed by Sydney Theatre Company
Sydney Theatre Company
The Sydney Theatre Company is one of Australia's best-known theatre companies operating from The Wharf Theatre near The Rocks area of Sydney, as well as the Sydney Theatre and the Sydney Opera House Drama Theatre....
in February 2011, less than two months after her death.
As an enthusiastic chorister Marlene was a member of Sydney Philharmonia Choir
Sydney Philharmonia Choirs
Sydney Philharmonia Choirs is Australia’s largest choral organisation. It presents its own annual concert series in the Sydney Opera House and City Recital Hall, as well as acting as chorus for the Sydney Symphony....
and of SUMS (the Sydney University Musical Society
Sydney University Musical Society
The Sydney University Musical Society is an undergraduate choral society at the University of Sydney. Founded in 1878, it is one of the oldest secular choirs in Australia, and the oldest Australian University Choir. It claims to have given the Australian premiere of such pieces as Handel's Dixit...
) for many years and took part in many performances and concert tours in Australia and overseas.
Books
- Marlene Johanna Norst and Johanna McBride, Austrians and Australia, Athena Press, Potts Point 1988 ISBN 0-7316-4361-5
- Marlene Johanna Norst, Ferdinand Bauer: the Australian Natural History Drawings, British Museum of Natural History/Lothian, London/Melbourne, 1989, ISBN 0-565-01048-4.
- Marlene Johanna Norst, Burnum Burnum: A Warrior for Peace, Simon and Schuster / Kangaroo Press, 1999 ISBN 0-86417-978-2
Publications (selection)
- Stifter's ‘Nachsommer' and Biedermeier in: German Literatur, ed. J.M. Ritchie, vol.2; Wolff, London, 1969, pp. 147-64.
- How Does Your Lexicon Grow? in: Language Learning in Australian Society eds. D. Ingram and T. Quinn, Australian International Press, Melbourne, 1978, pp.166-72.
- Bücher für das bilinguale Immigrantenkind in Australien in: Schriftenreihe des Börsenvereins des deutschen Buchhandels 13, Frankfurt, 1978, pp. 166-72.
- Origins: Story Traditions in the Multicultural Society in: Through Folklore to Literature ed. M. Saxby, IBBY Australia Publications, Sydney, 1979, pp.203-12.
- Australian National Survey of Ethnic Schools, Macquarie University, Sydney, 1982, (commissioned by the Commonwealth Schools Commission)
- Vol.1 Report with Recommendations, pp.1-218
- Vol.2 Data Digest, pp.1-159
- Vol.3 Annotated Bibliography, pp.1-52
- Vol.4 Register of Organisations, pp.1-65
- Humour: A Marker of National Identity? in: "The Austrian Problem Working Papers", Monash University, Melbourne, 1982, pp.141-55.
- Kinder- und Jugendliteratur in; A Glossary of German Literary Terms, eds. E.W. Herd and A. Obermayer, University of Otago, Dunedin, 1983.
- Language Needs Research in Australia in: Research into Foreign Language Needs eds. Theo van Els and Maria Oud-de Glas, Augsburger 1&1 Schriften, Bd.29, Universität Augsburg, 1983, pp.139-50.
- The Significance of Language in a Multicultural Society in: Proceedings of the First National Congress of the Federation of Ethnic Communities Councils of Australia, Melbourne, 1985, pp.57-58.
- Kooperative Spracherziehung als Gemeinschaftsaufgabe in Australien: Auf dem Weg von der monolingualen zur multilingualen Gesellschaft in: Einwanderungsland Australien: Materialien aus der australischen Migrationsforschung ed. W. Weber, Athenaum Verlag, Frankfurt a Main, 1987, pp.184-201.
- Bert Brecht Welcomes Karin Michaelis into Exile: Towards a Literary Vade-Mecum for Political Refugees in: Antipodische Aufklärung, Antipodean Enlightenments: Festschrift für Leslie Bodi, Walter Veit, Peter Lang Frankfurt a,M., 1987, pp~317-21.
- Language Prejudice and Fear: affective barriers to language learning by adults. (with Yair Cohen). 8th World Congress of Applied Linguistics (AWA) University of Sydney, 1987, Programme p.50
- Through Australian Eyes: Kinderbücher aus Australien, translation of the catalogue of the Australian Children's Book Exhibition at the International Youth Library, Munich, ed. R. Bunbury, Deakin University, Victoria, 1988, pp. 1-94.
- Entry on Ethel Pedley in Australian Dictionary of Biography vol.11, 1988.
- Strauss to Matilda: Viennese in Australia 1938-88, ed. K. Bittman, Wenkart Foundation, Sydney, 1988, Introduction, pp.xiii~vii, Not by Bread Alone: The Story of Bettina McDuff pp.87-98, A Country Child's Perspective pp.247-52.
- The Austrians: Experienced Multiculturalists in: History, The Royal Australian Historical Society, Sydney, 3/1989, pp.11-14.
- Fear, Dependence and Loss of Self-Esteem: Affective Barriers in Second Language Learning among Adults (with Y. Cohen), in: Relc, Seamo Regional Language Centre, Singapore, vol2/2, 1989.
- Editor of Ethnic Schools Bulletin vol.5, no.1, NSW Federation of Ethnic Schools, Sydney, July/August 1991.
- Editor of No Fixed Address, magazine of the Street Kids of Wesley StreetSmart Youth Centre, Wesley Mission 1.Edition, March 1992.
- Editor of Mirage, Magazine of the Street Kids of Oasis Refuge (The Salvation Army), September 1993.
- Language Ego, Language Fear and Regression in Adult Language Learning (with Y Cohen) in Psycholinguistics for Applied Linguistics compiled by I.A. Stevenson, Dept. of Linguistics, Unisa, University of South Africa, Pretoria, 1993.
- Editor of No Fixed Address , magazine of the Street Kids of StreetSmart Youth Centre, Wesley Mission, 2. Edition. 1995
- Editor of Gnome Tome for Street Kids of StreetSmart Youth Centre, Wesley Mission, 1997.
- Let's Meet at StreetSmart, Interviews with Street Kids from StreetSmart Youth Centre, Wesley Mission recorded on video, October-November 1998.
- Translation into English of Norway. Today by Igor Bauersima, S.Fischer, Frankfurt/ a.M, 2000 for the Goethe Institute, Sydney, 2001.
- Translation into English of Nothing Hurts by Falk Richter, Fischer Verlag, Berlin.
- Translation into English of Seven Seconds (In God We Trust) by Falk Richter, S. Fischer, Frankfurt/a.M, 2002 for the Goethe Institute, Sydney, 2003
- Translation into English of Electronic City by Falk Richter, S.Fischer, Frankfurt/a.Main, 2004 for the Goethe Institute, Sydney, 2004.
- Translation into English of Vorher/Nachher by Roland Schimmelpfennig, S.Fischer, Frankfurt/a.M, 2001 for Goethe Institute, Sydney, 2004.
- Translation into English of Seven Seconds (In God We Trust) by Falk Richter in: Theatre 35.1, Harvard University, March 2005.
- Translation into English of Schwerelos oder Rücksicht auf Verluste (Weightless or With Regard to Any Losses Incurred) by Agnes Gerstenberg, 22.4.2005 published: http://www.worldinterplay.org/file_banks/scripts/script319.pdf - May 2005.
- Translation into English of Der Bus (The Makings of a Saint) by Lukas Baerfuss, Hartmann und Stauffacher, Verlag für Bühne, Film, Funk und Fernsehen, 30.9.2005.
- Translation into English of Fernwärme (Remote Warmth) by Reto Finger, Fischer Verlag, 2006. ... June 2006.
- Translation into English of Geisterschiff (Ghost Ship) by Margareth Obexer, Hartmann und Stauffacher Verlag, Cologne 2009.
- Translation into English of Lotzer. Eine Revolution (Lotzer. A Revolution) by Margareth Obexer, Hartmann und Stauffacher Verlag, Cologne 2009