ANU icon James Grieve finishes magnum opus

The ANU Library is thrilled to have accepted The One-Stop Fiche-Shop - the long-awaited magnum opus by ANU icon James Grieve – into our collection.

James Grieve is an author, translator and long-time lecturer and academic at the Australian National University. James has taught French language and literature since 1962, and has been a member of the University without a break ever since.

James has long been developing The One-Stop Fiche-Shop – an advanced students’ guide to writing better sentences in French. This text is now available in the ANU Open Research Repository, meaning it can be accessed by anyone, anywhere, for free!

On Friday 13 December, an event was held in the Menzies Library to celebrate the launch of this resource. A number of students, colleagues and friends of James spoke – and it is clear that he has made a profound impact on the ANU community and beyond.

Dr Matthew Dowling, a former student and colleague of James, has been using his 1997 copy of The One-Stop Fiche-Shop so often, the folders are literally falling apart. Matthew spoke of how James was a teacher who inspired and gave students the keys to discovery; saying “his door was always open”.

Dr Gino Moliterno of the College of Arts and Social Sciences, said James never liked book launches where people spoke endlessly about the author – believing all that needed to be said was “Here it is – just read it”. He wanted the work to speak for itself. Given that in the week since it has been uploaded, The One-Stop Fiche-Shop has already been downloaded hundreds of times from the ANU Repository – it seems that James will get his wish.

University Librarian Roxanne Missingham was deeply appreciative of this kind donation to the ANU Library – “I would like to express my sincere gratitude on behalf of the University to James for his unparalleled teaching, inspiring generations of students.”

The event ended with a lengthy standing-ovation. A fitting tribute on such a monumental occasion.

You can download The One-Stop Fiche-Shop in the ANU Open Research Repository.

The ANU Library holds a selection of works by James, which were on display during the event. You can search for James’ books, including his thesis, in the ANU Library Catalogue.

You can access an interview with Grieves as part of the ANU Emeritus Faculty Oral History Project in the Open Research Repository.