northerly Autumn 2022

northerly Byron Writers Festival Member Magazine Autumn 2022

SCOTT LUDLAM

SJ NORMAN

WILL KOSTAKIS

MATT OTTLEY

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Contents Autumn 2022

northerly northerly is the quarterly magazine of Byron Writers Festival.

Byron Writers Festival is a non-profit member organisation presenting workshops and events year-round, including the annual Festival.

Held on the land of the Arakwal Bumberbin People of the Byron Shire. We pay respect to the traditional owners of this land and acknowledge them as the original storytellers of this region.

Features 008 End of an era Tributes to Marele Day as she steps down from the Festival’s Residential Mentorship.

010 Multi-modal mind An interview with writer, artist and musician Matt Ottley.

014 Rebel rebel A chat with acclaimed YA author Will Kostakis.

016 Family matters An extract from SJ Norman’s new collection of stories, Permafrost.

018 Confronting climate Scott Ludlam in conversation with northerly’s Rebecca Ryall.

LOCATION/CONTACT P: 02 6685 5115 F: 02 6685 5166 E: info@byronwritersfestival.com W: byronwritersfestival.com PO Box 1846, Byron Bay NSW 2481 EDITOR Barnaby Smith, northerlyeditor@gmail.com CONTRIBUTORS Jenny Bird, Laurel Cohn, Marele Day, Polly Jude, John Kinsella, Nic Margan, Ali Rayner, Rebecca Ryall BYRON WRITERS FESTIVAL BOARD CHAIRPERSON Adam van Kempen VICE CHAIR Lynda Hawryluk TREASURER Cheryl Bourne SECRETARY Hilarie Dunn MEMBERS Daniel Browning, Marele Day, Lynda Dean, Grace Lucas-Pennington LIFE MEMBERS Jean Bedford, Jeni Caffin, Gayle Cue, Robert Drewe, Jill Eddington, Russell Eldridge, Chris Hanley, John Hertzberg, Fay Knight, Irene O’Brien, Sarah Ma, Jennifer Regan, Cherrie Sheldrick, Brenda Shero, Heather Wearne MAIL OUT DATES Magazine is published in MARCH, JUNE, SEPTEMBER and DECEMBER

Regulars

PRINTING Summit Press

002 Director''`’s note

ADVERTISING

003 News & Events Edwina Johnson departs, a new director emerges; Kyogle Writers Festival returns; Festival dates locked in and more.

We welcome advertising by members and relevant organisations. A range of ad sizes are available. The ad booking deadline for each issue is the first week of the month prior.

Email northerlyeditor@gmail.com

006 Feature poet Poetry and illustration by John Kinsella.

012 From the Reading Chair Laurel Cohn’s latest column looks at the myth of the ‘overnight success’.

021 What YA Reading?

Polly Jude on the latest picks in young-adult fiction.

022 The violence of glamour Delia Falconer’s Signs & Wonders reviewed by Jenny Bird.

024 Voice of a movement Matt Garrick’s Writing in the Sand reviewed by Nic Margan.

026 Southern Cross University Showcase Prose from Ali Raynor.

DISCLAIMER The Byron Writers Festival presents northerly in good faith and accepts no responsibility for any misinformation or problems arising from any misinformation. The views expressed by contributors and advertisers are not necessarily the views of the management committee or staff. We reserve the right to edit articles with regard to length. Copyright of the contributed articles is maintained by the named author and northerly.

CONNECT WITH US Visit byronwritersfestival.com/members to find out more about becoming a member.

twitter.com/bbwritersfest facebook.com/byronwritersfestival instagram.com/byronwritersfestival ISSN 2653-4061

027 Workshops 028 Competitions northerly AUTUMN 2022 | 01

Director’s note Warm greetings to you all and a farewell...

As I write, our beautiful Northern Rivers region is struggling with the unprecedented and devastating floods that have inundated our towns, homes and farmland, impacting the lives of so many, so tragically. But there is a dogged resilience and powerful connectedness in our community and it is truly inspiring to see the tenacity, generosity and care expressed by friends, neighbours and total strangers.

The floods coincide with the final days of my tenure as Director of Byron Writers Festival. As I reflect on past Festival programs, I feel both satisfaction and delight and a yearning for the Festival’s live return this year. I will look forward to joining you in the audience. I am thrilled to hand over the reins to the new Artistic Director and creative powerhouse Zoë Pollock who I have known and admired for a long time. Together with my esteemed colleague, the talented Emma Keenan as Executive Director, I know that they will lead the Festival team to a much-anticipated return to the stage in 2022.

Being custodian of this much-loved regional event that celebrates writers, big ideas, community and connection has been the most rewarding eight years of my career. My inestimable thanks go to all the authors who have participated in the Byron Writers Festivals over these past life-affirming years. It has been an honour to showcase your writings and trigger those vital conversations that examine the world as it is – and imagine how it might be.

In closing my final northerly contribution may I congratulate our colleague Emily Brugman on the publication of her brilliant first novel The Islands and thank the fabulous Byron Writers Festival team and the Board for their trust and support. Indeed, my heartfelt thanks to everyone I have worked with during this time – for your creativity, professionalism, support, and friendship.

And by way of farewell I would like to quote past Festival guest, poet Lemn Sissay: There are big tents and little tents and a Green Room and it's absolutely perfect. All a writers' festival need do is show love for its authors and that will radiate to the audience and gather an energy of its own. That energy is here!... Goodbye Byron Bay Festival you absolute beauty.

May the big heart of Byron Writers Festival find its way to the stage again in 2022.

With thanks and best wishes to you all,

Edwina Johnson Director, Byron Writers Festival

02 | AUTUMN 2022 northerly

NEWS

End of an era As Edwina Johnson steps aside from her role as Director of Byron Writers Festival, Marele Day pays tribute to a pioneering figure who will leave a lasting mark on the organisation.

The wonderful Edwina Johnson, Byron Writers Festival’s longestserving Director, is leaving. Since taking the position in 2014, Edwina has been instrumental in making the Festival the truly world-class event it is today. Her care for and nurturing of invited writers and her attention to detail, have also made Byron Writers Festival the writers’ favourite.

she was able to determine the big issues of interest to audiences as well as being sensitive to small delicate things that would delight and bring joy. Her vision for the Festival was a forum for social justice, and a platform for diverse voices to be heard. In the past two years, she introduced guest-curated sessions to promote even greater diversity and authenticity.

As a former publicist, she brought to the job a love of all things literary, plus an address book to die for – her personal contacts with publishers, agents, and writers. For Edwina, being Festival Director was never a nine-to-five job, but a role she fully inhabited. Always switched on, plugged in, listening to broadcasts, podcasts, reading books, connecting to her vast network of friends and industry professionals,

Edwina also brought to our region a program of literary events not just at Festival time but throughout the year. StoryBoard, the travelling creative writing program for kids, which was spearheaded by our beloved Board Member Jesse Blackadder, became the huge success it is under the direction of Edwina.

But more than any of these extraordinary achievements,

Edwina will be remembered for her personal qualities – generosity of spirit, warmth, compassion and empathy. With both French and Italian in her language repertoire Edwina added cosmopolitan flair to the office. Although a reluctant speechmaker, each year she delivered a confident and witty opening address for the Festival.

The last year presented Edwina with difficult personal challenges. A time to reassess priorities.

Edwina, we will miss your warmth, your creative flair, and wish you a well-deserved time of rest and recuperation before you embark on the next stage of your life. May the friendship with you continue.

Image: Edwina onsite at Byron Writers Festival 2017.

Photo: Kate Holmes

northerly AUTUMN 2022 | 03

NEWS

Margin Notes News, events and announcements from Byron Writers Festival

In the wake of the floods

Key Festival dates announced

The Byron Writers Festival team is devastated by the impact of the recent floods in the Northern Rivers region and beyond. We are deeply concerned for the many, many individuals, families, businesses and organisations that have been affected by this tragedy.

The wave of volunteer support from our local community for those in need has been extraordinary and testimony to the tenacious, loving spirit of all who call the Northern Rivers’ home. As we go to print, the long road to recovery is only just beginning, and we remain committed to playing our part in rebuilding our region. Should you wish to support the relief effort, we encourage you to consider donating to one of the campaigns listed on our website at: byronwritersfestival.com/flood-relief

Meet our new Artistic Director Please join us in welcoming our new Artistic Director Zoë Pollock, who will helm the 2022 Festival.

This coincides with the departure this month of the Festival’s longestserving Director, Edwina Johnson, who is acknowledged as one of Australia’s arts leaders.

Zoë Pollock (pictured above) is a senior arts and cultural sector leader with more than fifteen years of experience in creative programming, strategic

04 | AUTUMN 2022 northerly

organisational development and audience engagement. Prior to joining Byron Writers Festival, Zoë was CEO & Artistic Director of Brisbane Writers Festival. She also led development and fundraising at the Australian Museum and Sydney Living Museums and was Executive Director of the History Council of NSW. ‘I am delighted to be joining Byron Writers Festival as Artistic Director and am looking forward to working with the team to build on the solid foundation that Edwina created during her tenure,’ said Zoë. ‘Now more than ever, people are looking for opportunities to connect and celebrate our ability to come together once again.

‘I can’t wait to create a special event for those who love literature to meet their favourite authors, discover brilliant new writers and soak up the atmosphere of being in a place where ideas are cherished. I can think of no better setting to do this than the beautiful Byron Shire.’

After two reluctant years off, we are excitedly planning for Byron Writers Festival 2022, set to take place this August 26-28 at a new site, the beautiful North Byron Parklands.

In other good news, 3-Day Passes are back! Early Bird 3-Day Passes will be on sale for one week only from June 15. A limited amount of Sunday Locals’ Passes will go on sale June 30, and general release tickets will go on sale when the full program is announced on July 13.

So mark your calendar and help us spread the word – we simply cannot wait to celebrate three days of ideas, storytelling and conversation with you all. It’s been too long!

Thank you members Thank you to everyone who joined or returned as a member with Byron Writers Festival for 2022 – your membership contributes directly towards sustaining the arts in regional Australia and creating a vibrant community of readers, writers and storytellers. It’s the generosity of people like you that allows us to do what we do.

A shout-out also to our generous prize partners for supporting our Membership Drive: Allen & Unwin, Bask & Stow, Brookfarm, Byron Bay Chocolate Co., Byron Bay Gifts, Byron Farmers Market, fallenBROKENstreet, Griffith Review, Ink Gin, Jenn Johnston Ceramics, Loco Love, Milligram,

NEWS

Cover story The artwork for this issue of northerly comes from Matt Ottley and his book, The Tree of Ecstasy and Unbearable Sadness. Turn to page 10 for an interview with Matt about his life and work.

LAUREL COHN Editing and Manuscript Development ~ Manuscript assessment and development ~ Mentoring ~ Editorial consultations ~ Structural and stylistic editing ~ Copy editing and proofreading ~ Publishing consultations Feedback from a professional editor helps you see your work with fresh eyes and provides valuable guidance on how to take your work to the next level of development.

“Thank you so much for the insightful assessment of my manuscript. I found the comments spot on. They resonated with areas I had felt disquiet about.

The problems identified with the end of the novel are glaring with help from your precise feedback. It was so helpful having both the positives and negatives pointed out. As a newbie writer, discovering the strengths was equally enlightening. I will be looking to your agency for future support.”

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Vale Craig McGregor All at Byron Writers Festival were saddened to learn of the death of writer and friend Craig McGregor, who passed away on January 22.

Look out for an article that pays tribute to Craig in the June issue of northerly.

Congratulations Emily The team at Byron Writers Festival couldn't be prouder of our colleague and talented young writer Emily Brugman, whose debut novel The Islands launched in February.

Inspired by her Finnish family's experiences living and working on the Abrolhos Islands in the 1960s, The Islands is the culmination of many years of hard work, resulting in an absolutely stunning piece of storytelling. Published by Allen & Unwin and available through all good bookshops now. Well done Em!

Kyogle Writers Festival returns

festival will feature its first Festival Ambassador in Mirandi Riwoe.

Other names announced include Delia Falconer, Patti Miller, Chelsea Watego, Jackie Huggins, Brandon Jack, Mandy Beaumont, Ellen van Neerven, Melissa Lucashenko, Jazz Money, Chris Mansell, Stuart Cooke, Richard Tipping and many more.

For more information visit kyoglewritersfestival.com

Sydney Writers Festival Live & Local We are looking forward to once again partnering with Sydney Writers Festival and Byron Theatre to bring Sydney’s Live and Local program to Byron Bay. Stay tuned for more info on featured session(s), which will be streaming live to the theatre in early May.

Workshop price increase From mid-April 2022, Byron Writers Festival workshop fees will see a marginal increase to cover a rise in workshop presenter fees in line with industry standards. Member rates will increase by ten per cent and non-member rates by twenty per cent, and subsequent increased revenue passed on directly to the workshop presenter. We are committed to continuing to offer affordable, small group workshop experiences, while valuing the intellectual property of our authorpresenters, and acknowledging the considerable preparation time that goes into any workshop.

Kyogle Writers Festival will return for 2022 over May 13-15. The Festival seeks to bring the best of contemporary Australian writing to our region to explore the question: ‘Close to Home?’

After a warmly received first year, with authors and festival-goers alike praising the small-town vibes and focus on writers, the northerly AUTUMN 2022 | 05

POETRY

Feature Poet: John Kinsella Graphology Kaleidoscope 2 I went to a country toy store yesterday to buy a kaleidoscope. The woman showed me a telescope and said, That’s what they use these days.

To see the colours of the universe.

It’s not the same thing, really, I said.

She also sold magnifying glasses and microscopes and science kits with the promise of crystal growth.

We made do with fantasies back in the ‘old days’, she implied.

But look, she insisted, kaleidoscopes aren’t even listed on the computer.

Gone from the inventory. I wondered if she’d typed in Collide-o-scope, but didn’t want to patronise her, to offend, or face up to my own failure to grip that creation’s beautiful shapes coaxed by our own hands have fallen out of favour.

06 | SPRING AUTUMN2021 2022northerly northerly

POETRY

This poem is taken from Saussure’s Kaleidoscope: Graphology Drawing-Poems, published in 2021 by Five Islands Press (an imprint of Apothecary Archive).

For more information see apothecaryarchive.com John Kinsella has been working on his series of Graphology Poems for almost thirty years, and published the first of these in the mid1990s. Concerned with issues of orthography, handwriting, typing, modes of discussing and conveying experience, and with issues of perception and modes of writing, there has also been concurrently, mainly in journal-form, an accruing catalogue of visual commentary, illustration, scribbles, sketches, colour codings, and drawing-poems.

This book represents work from a recent series of ‘drawing-poems’ composed in a continuous sweep often interlinked with journalwriting. .

northerly AUTUMN 2022 | 07

FEATURE

Marele Day farewells Residential Mentorship After twenty years, celebrated local author Marele Day is stepping down from her role as leader of one of Byron Writers Festival’s key longstanding initiatives, the Residential Mentorship. In that time, she has nurtured the talents of countless writers from both near and far – and here we present messages from just a few of them, paying tribute to how Marele’s mentorship has encouraged, motivated, transformed and inspired.

Participating in the mentorship with Marele was a real turning point for me. It boosted my confidence and increased my skill in fine-tuning prose and structure. Even though it’s a long time ago now, Marele’s careful attention to finding the perfect word for every occasion has stayed with me. Her supportive feedback allowed me to feel like a true writer for the first time.

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Marele’s quirky sense of humour, which manifests in her own fiction, also made the mentorship a lot of fun. When I try to think of an elevator pitch for my novels, I often remember her pitch for Lambs of God – ‘three feral nuns’. How could you go past it?

— Lisa Walker, author of Trouble Is My Business (Wakefield Press, 2021). Residential Mentorship 2004.

Marele is a wise, welcoming, and generous mentor and friend to many. She’s given her writerly support to countless budding manuscripts, gently suggesting ways to tighten slips of logic, untangle woolly ambiguities, galvanise unwieldy structures, and distil voice, theme and plot. Her encouragement to keep on going and her integrity, clarity, and worldly savoir faire have

FEATURE

made all the difference in putting Northern Rivers writers’ work into the hands of publishers and new books on to shelves. Thank you Marele for picking the locks on so many doors and for keeping those doors open for others yet to come.

Merci beaucoup.

— Emma Ashmere, author of Dreams They Forgot (Wakefield Press, 2020). Residential Mentorship 2010.

Quite simply, I don't think my manuscript Harry Mac would have been in good enough shape for publication if it hadn't been for Marele's input. I took part in two Residential Mentorships under Marele; once as a raw emerging writer, and the second with a greater awareness of what's required to make a manuscript sing. Marele's great strength is her astonishingly sharp eye for what works and what doesn't, and an open mind to the wonderful possibilities of stories.

That much is self-evident through her own writings, from hard-boiled crime to the dreamy inner life of exotic characters. She manages to deliver often tough comment to her writing wards with a gentleness that belies her unyielding commitment to excellence. It always leaves the writer inspired, not discouraged, and that's why I'll always treasure the time working with Marele.

— Russell Eldridge, author of Harry Mac (Allen & Unwin. 2015).

Residential Mentorship 2010 and 2013.

I was honoured to be invited to one of the final years of Marele’s Mentorship Program, run through Byron Writers Festival. Marele was about more than assessing manuscripts. Her passion was honing the craft and helping writers to harness the voice within.

On arrival at the mentorship, Marele met with me to discuss my manuscript. She probed, she questioned, she held a light to my work and showed me where the fabric was snagging, where it was strong. She treated our manuscripts with the same care, critique and seriousness with which she treated her own. And she said to her four mentees, ‘Time spent staring out the window is never wasted. It’s an essential, productive part of the creative process for a writer. We must permit ourselves to do it.’ To this day, I refuse to feel guilty for staring out of windows!

participants were sometimes set free into the garden with exercises to both expand and fine-tune our awareness. Marele’s guidance informed the way I could read as a writer. Her quiet presence at the table as we offered critiques of each other’s work provided a foundation for joining a writers’ circle. With commitment to the craft there was every reason to embrace my future as a writer. Having Marele as mentor made for a transformative residency. I have since published a memoir, a novel and a companion volume of poetry, and have a second novel in the wings.

— Hayley Lawrence, author of The Other Side of Tomorrow (Scholastic, 2022). Residential Mentorship 2019.

— Helen Burns, author of Andal’s Garland (Odyssey Books, 2021).

Residential Mentorship 2004.

When Marele Day picked my story out of many and offered me my first Byron Writers Festival Residential Mentorship, she changed my life.

No longer did I dream of becoming a writer. She made me one. For that week anyway. She recognised something in me that gave me the courage and the confidence to pursue a dream. Many years and many stories later, Marele remains a valuable champion of my work. One day, I hope I get the chance to officially thank her in the acknowledgements section of a novel. Until then, this will have to do.

Marele. Thank you for your support and guidance during the 2015 residency. Your words of encouragement, enthusiasm for my writing, and gently delivered feedback all helped me along the road to publication. Thank you too for the bonus advice along that road (lending an ear as I processed/ melted down over my last-minute novel title change was particularly appreciated) and your advice post-publication on navigating festivals, second book syndrome, post-publication blues, and all the other challenging aspects of a writing life. Myself and many other mentees have been in the most capable hands over the last twenty years. Wishing you well-deserved retirement from the program.

— Polly Jude, YA writer and northerly critic. Residential Mentorship 2014, 2017 and 2019 Marele played a pivotal role in the early days of my writing life.

We met in 2004 at the Residential Mentorship. I had applied with the beginnings of a memoir and no formal writing experience. I still remember our conversations: a mix of inquiry, considered feedback and encouragement. We four

— Jarrah Dundler, author of Hey Brother (Allen & Unwin, 2018).

Residential Mentorship 2015.

Image: Marele Day with Residential Mentorship writers in 2021.

northerly AUTUMN 2022 | 09

INTERVIEW

Multi-modal healing: An interview with Matt Ottley Matt Ottley’s The Tree of Ecstasy and Unbearable Sadness is a groundbreaking, large-scale, multi-medium project that weaves literature, music and visual art together in the story of one boy’s journey into mental illness. This pioneering work, created by Northern Rivers-based Ottley, had its musical component recorded with one of Europe’s leading choirs and orchestras, giving this project a truly international scope. Ottley is an award-winning artist, writer and 10 | AUTUMN 2022 northerly

composer, with The Tree of Ecstasy representing a landmark moment in his illustrious career.

How did the idea for The Tree of Ecstasy and Unbearable Sadness first emerge, and how long was the process of bringing the project to fruition?

The seed of the project came from a poem I wrote in 2010 during a period of recovery from a particularly serious episode of illness. I have type one bipolar

disorder and had been hospitalised after a psychotic episode. I was in recovery for several months and kept a journal in which I often wrote poetry. Five years later, I showed one of those poems to my friend and editor Margrete Lamond. She suggested the poem would work well as a picture book text for young adults and adults. Her publishing house, Dirt Lane Press, which is a not-for-profit publisher, agreed to publish the work. It was to be a large scale multi-modal book and

INTERVIEW

musical work giving audiences an aesthetic insight into the agonies and the ecstasy of bipolar disorder.

The narrative itself is in the form of a fable.

For the first two years of the project, I immersed myself in the writing of the music. I felt the score needed the depth and breadth of a full symphony orchestra, even though we knew it was going to be difficult to find funding for such a largescale work. Both Margrete and I were operating on blind faith at that point. My starting place for the music was a score I had begun in 2008, a completely unrelated work for a seventy-four-piece orchestra, which I felt was appropriate for this project because it had been written during a previous bipolar episode, so it genuinely reflected my unwell mind.

Following this I spent three years producing the seventy-four large paintings that comprise the book component of the work. These works are a mixture of oils on canvas and digital works that have then been printed out and drawn or painted over with graphite, pen and ink, or acrylics.

How does it build upon or depart from ideas or aesthetics explored in your previous books?

This work is similar to an earlier multi-modal work of mine, Requiem for a Beast in that the music adds thematically to the text and images, but I’ve taken the concept further in that The Tree of Ecstasy and Unbearable Sadness can only be understood in its fullest by experiencing both the book and the music. This can happen either concurrently, or in any order.

Can you describe how the musical component developed and how the Brno orchestra and choir got involved?

About eight years ago I developed, with author/drama teacher Danny Parker and in partnership with

The Literature Centre in WA, a performance initiative called The Sound of Picture Books in which I write music for each of the picture books I have illustrated, and the music is performed by members of the West Australian Symphony Orchestra. Each one-hour show is a true multi-modal performance involving music, visual arts and physical theatre. The keyboard player who came on board right at the beginning, and has been a staple of the performance team ever since, was Alf Demasi. Alf and I became very good friends and I offered him a part in co-composing sections of the score for The Tree of Ecstasy and Unbearable Sadness. Because of Alf’s other commitments however, he was only able to contribute to about ten percent of the score. This he did with piano scores, which I then orchestrated.

Alf did however, play a very important role in the whole work coming to fruition in that he introduced me to Sam Silipo, who, through the Gabby Arts Legacy Trust (GALT) funded the entire project.

Alf was the godfather of Sam’s daughter Gabriella, who tragically lost her life several years ago and to whom the book and score are dedicated. Sam immediately felt a great simpatico with the project and without his incredible generosity and trust in me, the book and musical work would certainly not have been afforded the very high production values that it does. We were, for example, able to record the score with one of Europe’s leading orchestras – the Brno Philharmonic Orchestra – and Europe’s most highly acclaimed choir, the Czech Philharmonic Choir, Brno, all under the baton of extraordinary British conductor, Mikel Toms. The choir and orchestra agreed to recording the work after sighting the score. We

were also able to fly local Northern Rivers singer, Ben Reynolds, to the Czech Republic to record with the orchestra and choir.

What have been the biggest challenges of getting the project off the ground?

Finding funding was immensely difficult, but once I had the support of GALT, and with the extraordinary logistical support of my partner Tina Wilson, the rest was just sheer hard work. The process was, at times, emotionally challenging because it meant revisiting times and aspects of my life that have been extremely traumatic.

What are some of the most important things you hope the project imparts about mental health?

Through the art and music, and through the film version I’ve also made of this project, I want to take audiences on a metaphorical journey into the mind of someone suffering psychosis. This may for some people be challenging, but I’ve tried to do it in a way that is beautiful and poignant and is imbued equally with light as it is with darkness. The most important thing for me, is that the project contributes to the ongoing discussion around mental illness in a way that leads to greater understanding (both socially and medically), to empathy and compassion. I want audiences to feel, to understand, through luminosity in art and music the ecstasy, the pain and bewilderment of an illness like bipolar disorder.

For more information visit: www.mattottley.com/multi-modal A flood fundraiser film screening and Q&A for The Tree of Ecstasy and Unbearable Sadness will take place Wednesday 30 March at The Regent Cinema, Murwillumbah. the-regent.com.au

northerly AUTUMN 2022 | 11

FEATURE

From the Reading Chair: Behind the successful debut

Sometimes it feels like certain authors come from nowhere to become the next big thing. However, this is almost always not the case. Laurel Cohn examines the myth of the overnight success.

‘Douglas Stuart’s Booker win heralds arrival of a fully formed voice’ (Alison Flood, ‘Douglas Stuart wins Booker prize for debut Shuggy Bain’, The Guardian, November 20, 2020). It’s the sort of headline – and success – that writers dream about. Alongside the Booker Prize, Shuggy Bain went on to win a host of other awards in the US, UK and Europe. But it wasn’t the only debut to hit the big time in 2020. Alka Joshi’s The Henna Artist quickly made it to the bestseller lists of The New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, USA Today, and Publishers Weekly. It became a Reese Witherspoon Bookclub pick, and is currently in development for a Netflix series.

We are right to be dazzled by stories of authors bursting onto the scene with debut novels to win major prizes or become bestsellers; such spectacular successes are indeed newsworthy, because they are rare. But let’s not lose perspective: these writers haven’t ‘come from nowhere’. Behind the fairytale success you will find backstories of years of hard work, diligence and determination.

The ten-year overnight success Joshi’s The Henna Artist was hailed as an ‘overnight’ success, yet as she has pointed out in many interviews, that success was built on a manuscript development process spanning a decade.

Joshi had been toying with a book idea based on her mother’s life and an early draft became her thesis for an MFA. A few years after graduation one of her thesis advisors contacted her to see how the writing

12 | AUTUMN 2022 northerly

was going. Joshi had had a break from writing, but the advisor put her in touch with an editor, who read the manuscript, and Joshi worked on those recommendations for the following year. The advisor then sent the work to her agent, who agreed to take her on. The agent worked with Joshi for several more years, honing the story, trimming and tightening. There was major culling. After getting through that process, the agent suggested it was now ready to send to a developmental editor. The editor came back with fifteen pages of suggestions. That feedback knocked over Joshi’s confidence and her will to keep rewriting. She put the manuscript away. For a year. When she revisited it, and reread the editor’s advice, she could see how encouraging the feedback had been, and she pushed through the next draft. Finally, her agent agreed it was ready to submit to a publisher.

The nub of it is that it takes time to master the craft. In an interview Joshi said, ‘It took me ten years to really learn how to write The Henna Artist, how to layer it with all of the complexities, and how to grow a character in order for the story to come alive and make it meaningful to so many people.’

While there will be differing levels of natural talent and experience that writers bring to their projects, you can’t bypass doing the work.

The apprenticeship Writing takes practice and the more you write, the better you get at it. You can think of your time spent on unpublished manuscripts as an apprenticeship. My use of the plural – unpublished manuscripts – is deliberate.

Very few of the published writers I know or have

FEATURE

worked with found success with their first book-length manuscript. Alka Joshi’s story with The Henna Artist caught my attention not because of the ten years it took to develop the work to a publishable standard (which is common) but because it was her first completed manuscript (which is uncommon). In most cases, the ‘debut’ novel is the writer’s second or third manuscript, or sixth or seventh.

Most writers have a literal or metaphoric bottom drawer containing manuscripts set aside at various stages.

The hard truth is that the first ‘developed’ manuscript, the one you have worked and reworked over a number of years, may not be the right one to submit for publication. It can feel excruciating to let go of something you have slaved over for an extended period, but it can also be liberating to set it aside if you are able to see that your future as a writer does not depend on only one story. Sometimes you run out of ideas or run out of energy for a particular story you’re working on.

If so, set it aside. Sometimes you can see a problem but can’t find the solution. Sometimes you can’t even find the problem, but know it is there after multiple rejections. Set it aside. You can always come back to it later. I know several writers whose first manuscripts, after significant rewriting, have turned into their second or third published books.

Keep in mind also that for many writers their debut novel was not the first thing they had accepted for publication. Publishing short stories, essays or magazine articles is an accepted and encouraged pathway to support the pursuit of a book contract: it’s considered part of the apprenticeship. I don’t know how many manuscripts Douglas Stuart exiled to the bottom drawer before submitting Shuggy Bain, but

he had honed his writing skills with stories and essays appearing in major journals, including The New Yorker.

‘Fully formed’ voices don’t appear out of nowhere, they arise from sheer hard work. And Douglas’s voice would not have appeared at all without dogged determination.

It has been widely reported that Shuggy Bain was rejected by over thirty publishers in the US and UK before it was picked up. I’m sure there was tweaking, trimming and revising between the first rejection and the eventual offer of a contract.

I’m all for celebrating writers’ successes – the fabulous ones that grab the headlines, the quiet ones shared over a private toast. But let’s be real about it: no writer – however many books they sell, however many awards they receive – gets there without persistence, commitment and patience.

Laurel Cohn is a developmental book editor passionate about communication and the power of stories in our lives. She has been helping writers prepare their work for publication since the mid 1980s, and is a popular workshop presenter. She has a PhD in literary and cultural studies. www.laurelcohn.com.au

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INTERVIEW

New inspirations: An interview with Will Kostakis Will Kostakis is an award-winning writer of YA novels and a passionate and active advocate for reading and writing in schools. His latest novel is The Greatest Hit, and others include The Sidekicks, Loathing Lola, Rebel Gods and Monuments. His books have won the Gold Inky Award and IBBY Australia Ena Noel Award, while

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in 2020 he was awarded the 2020 Maurice Saxby Award by the School Library Association of New South Wales for service to children’s and young adult literature. He is also an ambassador for the NSW Premier’s Reading Challenge. Kostakis was due to appear at the cancelled Byron Writers Festival 2021.

Firstly, in the absence of Byron Writers Festival and other literary events in recent times, what projects have taken up your time lately?

My big lockdown project has been staring into middle distance, pondering the futility of making plans. I’ve also found time for

INTERVIEW

writing. I started a new novel in February of last year, so that if we were plunged into another lockdown and tours were cancelled, I wouldn’t feel as sad about it. I was grateful in those first few weeks to have a half-finished project to dive into. I also enlisted a dozen or so authors and put together a virtual festival called Literary Lockdown, a mixture of live panel events and writing workshops to make up for the absence of authors in high schools for Book Week.

How has COVID/lockdown affected your writing life over the last year and a half?

One word: terribly. I source so much inspiration from connecting with teens at live events and socialising in person, that early on in 2020, writing felt impossible. I had to find new sources of inspiration. I read more, walked more, traded politics podcasts for audiobooks, and slowly, inspiration came.

I had two books due for submission during lockdown, Rebel Gods and The Greatest Hit, and I was running on fumes by the end. A big chunk of my process is stepping away from the computer, preoccupying myself and allowing my subconscious to do the work in the background.

Without things to preoccupy myself, I had to find other ways to tease the words out. I became much more of a planner, breaking the story down into bite-sized pieces so the writing was about solving small problems and meeting achievable goals.

Otherwise it became too daunting.

Can you name some of the books you read in your youth that had a particular influence on your recent work?

Rebel Gods, like its predecessor Monuments, was heavily inspired by the fantasy novels I read in high school. Like any kid with aspirations

of becoming a professional writer, I was a big Tolkien fan, but I think Terry Pratchett’s Discworld series had the bigger influence. Pratchett’s work often had something to say, but never at the expense of a good story or humorous set-up, and that’s something I often reflected on when writing my fantasy series.

What key pieces of advice would you give to people aspiring to write YA fiction in an Australian context today?

Read. If you think you’ve read enough, read more. There is a rich history of Australian YA fiction, and it’s important to not only know your place in it, but to learn from the stories that have come before you.

Read Melina Marchetta, Simmone Howell, Barry Jonsberg, Claire Zorn, Cath Crowley, Ellie Marney, Vikki Wakefield, Shivaun Plozza. Read.

Read. Read.

How important is it to you that you are successful in the vast YA market that is the United States?

Honestly, my one US release was a total flop. But I made more money from The Sidekicks flopping there than I did from the same book here, where it was a bestseller. So, seeking success in that market is important in a food-on-thetable way. It doesn’t help that the Australian market really is an outpost of the US and UK markets.

It’s rare when there’s more than three local titles in the top fifty. That all said, I’m currently wrestling with what it means to write something that, forget being successful in the US market, is actually accepted for publication in that market to begin with. Do I want to write books like that? Am I capable of writing books like that? I don’t have answers yet.

mode of writing do you regard as your ‘natural’ preference, the one you feel at home in?

On the page, I think I’m most at home writing realistic fiction. My fantasy novels have been described as fantasy novels for people who prefer to read contemporary realism, and I don’t disagree there. I’m big on character and fleshing out quiet moments… But having that said, my past life as a celebrity gossip journalist surfaces occasionally in a pithy comment or two.

Finally, what writing projects are you working on at the moment?

I have finished the first draft of my in-case-of-lockdown book, and I’m currently working through a second draft before sending it off to publishers. I’m tempted to write something for younger readers, and I have an idea percolating that it might be time to commit to the page.

For more information on Will Kostakis and his books, visit willkostakis.com.

You’ve written both fantasy and realistic fiction, and you have a background in journalism: which

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Extract: Permafrost by SJ Norman

SJ Norman’s debut collection of short fiction, Permafrost, is a critically acclaimed exploration of desire, loss and longing. Norman, a visual and performance artist and the winner of the inaugural Kill Your Darlings Manuscript Award, has performed across the globe. They are based between Sydney and New York.

Stepmother.

They picked me up in their new car. It smelt of leather conditioner and perfume. Hers. French. Thick. She stunk, as my mother liked to put it, like a fuckin’ pole cat. Everything about this woman, it was made clear to me, was to be despised. Everything, especially her expensive secretions. It was Madame Rochas, I think, and I secretly liked it. It smelt like the David Jones Christmas catalogue. It smelt like the holidays.

They didn’t come to the door; my mother didn’t go out. Their arrival was signalled by a single, sharp beep.

The car, black and shiny as a leech, sat on the cracked concrete driveway, revving its engine like it couldn’t wait to get away. It didn’t look right in our scrappy, wire-fenced yard. The two Rottweilers were circling, sniffing its tyres. I could see her face through the tinted windows, nervously watching the dogs, and watching me as I approached. The dogs barrelled up to me, almost slamming my knees out from under me with their joyful heft. I gave them each a nuzzle before sliding into the cream leather embrace of the back seat.

Immediately, she pulled a packet of Wet Ones out of the glove box and handed them to me.

I looked back and saw my mother’s backlit figure through the half-open side door. Hair, a halo of black static. Sucking her teeth.

My father fiddled with the stereo. Iggy Pop’s ‘Lust for Life’ came on. This was Dad’s driving jam. Track six on the Trainspotting soundtrack. It was actually my CD. My older brother had given it to me, at my request, for my birthday. It was perhaps a precocious choice for an eleven-year-old, but I’d seen the movie with my cousins 16 | AUTUMN 2022 northerly

and liked the sounds. She had seized it, seconds after I slid off the wrapping, and examined the cover before handing it to my father with a look. It was theirs now.

A special soundtrack for weekend getaways in their German sports car. They showed me the moonroof. It was different to a sunroof, which was what my mother’s car had. A plane of grey glass separated you from the sky.

It was chilly. They were in their smart casuals. My father in a taupe windbreaker with lots of zippers and empty pockets. She was encased in a crop coat of black rabbit fur, and more gold than usual. Dragging the tips of her red enamel fingers over the contours of a map.

I never knew how to act with them so most of the time I kept quiet. I felt like a spy behind enemy lines. My silence made them (and her, especially her) even more nervous. I was surly and antisocial. Or withdrawn might have been the word she used. When they spoke to me it was loud, over-the-shoulder and over-articulated. The same way I’d heard them talk to Ngoc, their Vietnamese cleaner. When they spoke to each other in my presence it was all whispers. They slipped between the two modes like ventriloquists.

The sun visor on her side was down and in the little mirror I could see her tits. She wears them like they’re on sale, my mother had said. Thrust to the front of the shelf.

Overripe. They were permanently festooned with gold pendants. A Buddha from Cambodia. An ornate crucifix from her dead mother. She’d wear up to seven at a time, all clattering and glittering in her cleavage. The size and texture of her breasts fascinated me. They’d spent a lot of summers exposed on foreign beaches, basted in Reef oil. The loosening brown crust of her décolletage

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contained the globes of soft tissue, like the skin of a baked dessert contains the custard. I thought that maybe breasts would be a nice thing to have. A flesh mantle to protect the heart.

door, the one I’d chosen. My twin room was adjacent to their double, separated by a door that locked on their side. They had the minibar and the television. I was happy to be alone but I wanted a Snickers.

‘So, the big One-Two!’ my father said, referring to my recent birthday. ‘Almost a teenager.’

‘Can I have this?’ I made my way into their room and opened the minibar to find the chilled chocolate bars, lined up in size order in their creaseless wrappers. I pulled one out. ‘Dad? Can I?’

I nodded. Almost.

By this stage the CD had been changed. It was George Michael singing ‘Freedom’. Another one of my father’s favourite highway tunes.

To our left, there was the cold expanse of Lake George.

Of all the scenery on the road to Canberra, that’s the stretch that I always remember. How suddenly the void of that lake appears. It’s unquiet country. To the right, a steep bluff, crowded with dark trunks of ironbark gums and grey boulders, fringed with shivering grass. A burntout car body. A high fence of barbed wire. Everything silver and black.

There was a storm coming. When we stepped out of the car you could feel the electricity in the air. We had spent an hour following the maddening concentric loops of the nation’s capital before we found the turn-off to our hotel. Behind a dense hedge, it was as hushed and guarded as the embassies that surrounded it. Clocks behind the front desk indicated the time in ten different countries. The receptionist’s badge glinted. It smelt the way that hotels smell.

She was at the window cracking the neck of a baby bottle of Gordon’s, preparing a couple of G and Ts. They always had one at this time. A cigarette between her fingers, she looked at the chocolate bar in my hand, then at my father. Rolled her eyes.

My father’s face contorted with pity and disgust. ‘You don’t need it, sweetie.’

Permafrost is published by University of Queensland Press.

You could hear muffled claps of thunder outside. By the time we got to our suite, heavy rain was pelting the windows. I sat on the quilted bedspread of one of the two single beds in my room. The one closest to the

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INTERVIEW

Network thinking: An interview with Scott Ludlam Former senator and deputy leader of the Australian Greens Scott Ludlam speaks with Rebecca Ryall about his acclaimed book Full Circle, as well as climate anxiety, the communication of science and the potential of activism.

Scott Ludlam may be Australia’s political answer to David Attenborough. The journey of reading Full Circle is akin to watching A Life On Our Planet – the going’s rough, the visualisations uncomfortable – the situation seems hopeless. But somewhere, around three quarters of the way in, they both manage to instil hope and empower their audience to think global, act local.

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Ludlam’s work is meticulously researched and draws from disparate fields, such as geo-history, politics and systems theory. His narrative rendering of deep history, woven throughout the book, could work as a standalone story, but here he uses it, regularly inserted, to refocus the gaze. The global story he tells sits within the embrace of the local, his local – landscape,

community and life experience.

Full Circle introduces activists and campaigners from all parts of the globe, with such evocative writing of place and space, that they could be any one of us. In fact, his referencing of the Bentley campaign, in several places, directly links this farreaching work to our little corner of the world.

INTERVIEW

This book delivers a crash course in network thinking and then applies this understanding to systems change, empowering and affirming each and every action directed toward change. Ludlam proposes a model for regenerative economy as not only achievable but inevitable.

I spoke to Scott recently about his work, the COVID pandemic and his career in politics and beyond.

The book engages with elements of system theory, in understanding how a knowledge of the behaviour of biological systems may help us to create more equitable social systems.

It seems reasonable to me that COVID is a perfectly legitimate, systemic response to ecological decline – a symptom of a system in crisis. It could even be framed as an attempt to eradicate the species which is so directly responsible for the ecological crisis the planet is dealing with.

Ecosystem decline – such as the thawing of permafrosts – is bringing us into contact with all sorts of pathogens that we don’t have any experience dealing with, so you definitely could say that smashing down rainforest, cornering creatures in ever-diminishing pockets of viable ecosystems is exposing us in ways we haven’t experienced before.

I’m not comfortable with the idea of some overreaching consciousness or planetary agency that is trying to wipe us out. That takes us into some quite dangerous terrain where we feel like the people who are dying by the millions of this disease must somehow deserve it because we are the plague. The moment you start treating human beings as a pathogen on the face of the earth, that could maybe do with a bit of a cull, you are squarely in the domain

of eco-fascism. It is distressing to me, as someone who came through the lineage of deep ecology, to see these lines of argument taking us into some really dangerous territory. A virus has no agency.

It is not being sent out by some kind of Gaian super-consciousness to make sure that there are less people. I am much more interested in the systems, in how our society is organised industrially, to point the finger at that, than to think that maybe there’s too many humans and maybe it would be better if the planet killed a few of us off. I think we have to be really careful about a) assigning agency to the planet as a whole, and b) justifying COVID as some kind of revenge happening on the species.

The book feels like an empowerment for activism, for small actions that will contribute to a larger change. There’s been much written about this term ‘acedia’ which attempts to explain our collective sense of apathy in the face of the overwhelming size of the problem of ecological decline. Many of us seem to want government to legislate for change, rather than demand it and choose it as a consumer.

I don’t like to think of us as consumers. You know this whole idea originated with the carbon footprint calculator, which was invented by an oil major – BP. It was invented by BP to push responsibility back onto us and to make us feel even more guilty as failed human beings if we’ve used a throwaway coffee cup while these oil majors are out deliberately creating demand for new plastics, new uses for oil. They’ve corrupted politics such that the real transition we need is now decades late. So, I feel a bit resistant, as an individual person, a) to being referred to as

a consumer, and b) being told that the responsibility is mine because I didn’t recycle. That’s been fabricated by a very specific, and very clever, set of communications professionals. While I’ve been over here sorting my yoghurt containers into different coloured bins, ALCOA has just been able to set up a smelter down the road that’s going to poison an entire watershed. So, let’s be really clear – I will use a keep cup, if the hundred corporations that are responsible for seventy per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions are abolished. I feel like that should be the agreement.

The oil and gas industry in America has been outed (in the Amy Westervelt podcast Drilled) as using the pandemic to drive more consumption of plastic. There’s been a real push around rolling back so many initiatives targeting singleuse plastics. I feel like we need to be aware of what industry is doing to create demand, at the same time as looking over our own patch. I don’t like the idea of playing one side of that campaign against the other.

I do not want to be lectured at by an oil major about my personal responsibility while they’re still out there drilling more of this stuff.

Do you experience climate despair, and if so, how do you deal with it?

I always feel better, have less anxiety, when I’m working on something. My go-to coping strategy is finding others of like mind and just doing the work. Finding somewhere useful to be, in the midst of it, somehow quiets a lot of the background anxiety. The fires changed something though. There’s often an abstraction to the idea of climate change, because it’s so slow-moving and it’s on graphs, or

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INTERVIEW

its parts per million. When you are under this plume that can be seen from space, that will snuff the sun out for weeks and weeks... there’s something different about that.

Can you talk about the impact your political career had on your activism?

We had an agreement amongst my little team to try to not get arrested, not because of the optics or anything, but because the Constitution actually has some stuff to say about whether or not you’re allowed to hold office. I’m only now realising how ironic that it is.

Being in office allowed me to be an activist legislator. I took all the campaigns I’d been working on, all the networks, and stepped it up.

Suddenly I had a budget, could travel wherever I needed to go, could help other people to get around. And we have a platform, from which we can raise the voices of people who are frequently shut out from those channels. It gave us the opportunity to still take on the biggest bastards in the country, with this big megaphone we didn’t have before.

Probably the biggest impact on my activism at that time was that, as a senator, your schedule is locked in for as long as you’re in there, with all the sitting days, committee work, all the background stuff you don’t see and have to deal with as an activist.

The Greens party, since way back in its history, is an activist political organisation so it’s not like being elected as part of the Labor Party or the Liberal/Nationals – you’re not going to be discouraged from campaigning by party structures and the like. It’s formed as a campaigning organisation.

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You argue very convincingly in the book that capitalism is on the way out. What about democracy? You also clearly examine democracy and show it up as corrupted through state capture. Can democracy be recovered?

Well, democracy is far older than capitalism and I think it is dangerous to conflate the two and think that we can’t have democracy without capitalism. We’re living through a particular strain of capitalism at the moment which is largely parasitic on the structures of democracy.

Currently, I’d say capitalism has got a hold on democratic structures, you know it keeps some of them there to keep us pacified, to keep us thinking that we’ve got some kind of agency within those structures.

Of course, mostly we do have some agency there, but we don’t choose to exercise it.

One of the appeals of your writing in this book is that it is incredibly visual. I wondered if you had ever thought about there being a visual element to that work?

That’s a really wild question. [Scott takes a moment to send me a YouTube link for his Tedx talk in Perth in 2017, which uses some of the imagery he was working with in the book.] I’m glad that you picked up the visual element of the work.

My background is not as a writer at all. I trained as a designer. The reason that the book reads in such a visual way is that I am describing visual imagery. The imagery used in the Tedx talk displays my state of mind in the time just prior to setting out on the travel which informed the writing of this book. I’m describing images that I had made, and that I continue to make, because I continue to work visually. It helps me to understand stuff, if I can see it. So, if it reads that way, that makes me really happy.

You reference the School Strike for Climate movement several times in the book. As I was reading, I felt there was a lot in your work which would be extremely valuable to these young campaigners, but the book might not be very accessible to them. I wonder if there is a way to further simplify some of the systems theory, and the statistics, to create some campaign objectives to guide the school strikers? Such as amplifying the mathematics of participation.

You mention in the book that for a campaign to be successful and lead to change, only requires 3.5 per cent of the population to be actively participating. I found that to be an incredibly inspiring piece of information that I want every activist to know.

I hadn’t considered doing that.

If there is a way to make it more accessible, I do think it is to present it visually. I have started doing that.

I have presented to Tipping Point a couple of times and to School Strike organisers, but I haven’t done yet what you are suggesting.

I am thinking on it though. I don’t want it to stay in a book. I want to communicate it more legibly, because I acknowledge that the book is pretty dense in parts and I don’t want that to put people off the message.

Full Circle by Scott Ludlam is published

by Black Inc.

REVIEW

What YA Reading?

Reviews by Polly Jude knew existed.

Worse still, Joanie discovers there are humans searching out monsters. And hot Nick from work, is leading the hunt to find and destroy Joanie’s family.

There’s a devastating battle between the monsters and the humans and Joanie finds herself on the run with Aaron Oliver, heir to the great, evil Oliver family. Her rare and dangerous powers make Joanie a threat to the twelve monster families and Nick’s not the only one hunting her down.

Only A Monster

by Vanessa Len Sixteen-year-old Joanie Chang-Hunt has the perfect summer ahead of her. She’s staying with her eccentric extended family in London while her dad is away for the summer.

Joanie’s scored her dream gig, working at the historical Holland House. When super nerdy but hot co-worker, Nick, asks her out on a date, Joanie can’t believe her luck.

But a strange encounter while she waits to meet Nick, throws her whole life and everything she thought she knew into chaos.

No one really believes in monsters, right? But when Joanie finds herself in the middle of an epic battle between good and evil, between human and monster, she discovers that monsters are real. And worse, she is one.

To survive, Joanie and Oliver are going to have to go back in time, uncover ancient secrets and change history. But can Joanie really trust Oliver?

Joanie is going to have to become the monster, not the hero, in her own story.

This is Vanessa Len’s debut fantasy novel for young adults.

She’s presented her audience with fast-paced action, loveable characters you can get behind, a hero you don’t want to win and a time-travelling page turner. Only A Monster is a coming-of-age story about loyalty, courage and destiny.

Only A Monster will be a favourite for young romantics and fantasy lovers. It will appeal to those who enjoyed CS Pacat’s 2021 fantasy novel, Dark Rise.

Allen and Unwin / 416pp / RRP $22.99

Fish Out Of Water

by Kate Hendrick

Finn has been swimming since he was a kid. In the pool, life was easy.

Swim hard, follow that black line.

He’s been training for a big race.

He’s on the blocks, waiting for the gun, when he thinks he sees a familiar face in the crowd. And then everything starts to unravel.

Questioning everything, Finn doesn’t know who to turn to. His confident, outspoken sister, Connie, who is hiding some secrets of her own. His new mate, Loki, who wants more from their friendship. Or his mum, who Finn starts to see in a whole new light.

Fish Out Of Water is about facing the truth head-on. Audiences will relate to the characters and their struggles to accept the past, however confronting that might be, and to move forward.

Text / 288pp / RRP $19.99

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REVIEW

Coming to terms with teetering Signs and Wonders

by Delia Falconer Review by Jenny Bird

Every summer our frangipani tree becomes a generous green umbrella that shades the front deck. This year it started to lose its leaves early. I wonder if it has developed unhappy wet feet from La Nina. Is this early shedding an aberration that will correct itself next summer? Or is it a more portentous sign of climate change?

In her latest book Signs and Wonders Australian writer Delia Falconer argues that we are all at the beginning of a process of emotional and cognitive ‘rearrangement’, the breadth and depth of which is not clear to us yet. She describes a world that is full of ‘the weight of apprehension’, systems that ‘pitch and wobble’, the ‘vertigo’ we feel as we ‘teeter on the edge of ordinariness that threatens to drop away into the unimaginable’. She asks: ‘Do we have the emotional [and mental] repertoire to take in such enormity?’

Signs and Wonders is a collection of essays which loosely fits in the non-fiction section of ‘climate change literature’. On the shelves beside it sit books by Australian writers such as Sophie Cunningham, James Bradley and Jonica Newby who use memoir, essay and hybrid forms of literary non-fiction to articulate the unease, anxiety and uncertainty that is defining this century.

exposed extinct animals such as the prehistoric wolf cub, and the perfectly preserved 42,000-year old Lena foal. Whilst these phenomena may be wondrous and amusing, she worries that we are turning our ‘dying world into a modern cabinet of curiosities’. She asks: is the earth calling out to us?

But Falconer has intellectual ambitions that reach far beyond the science of climate change. She probes its impacts on culture – popular culture, photography, film and television, contemporary literature, COVID, consumerism, 9/11 and, among other things, the changing shape of paragraphs.

The reach and rigour of the research that underpins the collection is breathtaking – science, literature, popular culture, history and philosophy. Yet at the same time the writing is accessible and personal. Many of the essays use a small local event or a personal experience as launching pads for wider, deeper, more scholarly interrogation.

But pigeon-holing the book as ‘climate change literature’ does not do full justice to the wide net that Falconer casts both within and across the thirteen pieces in the collection.

One essay diarises the experiences of Falconer, her family, friends and neighbours through the fires of 2019-2020. She marks that summer as the no-goingback point of realisation that climate change has tipped forever out of control. For her, a Sydneysider, it was the smoke that settled over the city in November 2019. For me, it was September of that year, when fires tore through Lamington National Park and destroyed Binna Burra Lodge. Rainforest is not supposed to burn like that.

The book does, as one would expect, chronicle signs of climate change in the natural world – sea creatures, birds, animals, forests, coral, trees, glaciers and icecaps. And amidst the stories of extinction and loss are the wonders to which the title alludes.

Here we find Falconer trawling the feeds of quirky Facebook, Twitter and Instagram sites that report on appearances of ‘beautiful and uncanny marvels’. The thawing permafrost in the Arctic, for example, has

In ‘Coal: An Unnatural History’ she takes her twin children to Parliament House in Canberra where she discovers that the children’s brochure uses a fossil named ‘Shaun the Prawn’ as a fun device that is actually celebrating the Age of Coal. Then in ‘Good Neighbours’ a fur seal hauls up on a footpath in her harbourside suburb. From ‘Sealvester’s’ problematic presence Falconer riffs on the wild history of Sydney Harbour, zoos, wild animals in general, debates on the

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REVIEW

neighbourhood Facebook page about how best the situation should be handled, and more.

Other essays are works of literary criticism that survey trends in writing and publishing that connect to the pitching times in which we live. Nobel Prize-winning author J.M Coetzee describes one of these essays as an ‘illuminating exploration of the subterranean forces at work in the English-language fiction of our new century.’

In the award-winning ‘The Opposite of Glamour’ she explores recent writings that are trying ‘to grapple with how to tell the story of this great, ongoing loss’.

In another essay she turns her attention to the rise in popularity of ‘thing books’ – books that fetishise things like perfume, snow, cod or salt. And then to their decline as internet ‘stuff’ overwhelmed us, and things lost their magic.

Then there is ‘The Disappearing Paragraph’ (my favourite). Here Falconer laments the decline of the indented paragraph and the rise of double spacing between them. She asks, ‘what does it mean when novelists choose to give their paragraphs free range on the page?’ She wonders how paragraphs floating isolated from each other might change the way we read and think. Are they symptoms of (or monuments to?) a loss of the connective tissue that binds our thoughts and feelings into a sustained and cohesive narrative?

of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, glow worms, neon, glamour, enlightenment, the nature of truth, and, inevitably, climate change. In it she writes breathtaking sentences: ‘Glamour is a kind of violence that beautifies the deathly comet tail of endless consumption it trails behind it.’

Delia Falconer is one of Australia’s finest writers. Signs and Wonders is her fourth book since her sensational first novel The Service of Clouds was published in 1998.

Following came The Lost Thoughts of Soldiers in 2005 and then Sydney in 2010, a non-fiction personal history of the city in which she lives. Collectively her first three books were shortlisted for seventeen national awards across categories of fiction, non-fiction, innovation, history and biography. She also writes short stories, essays, articles and critical reviews.

James Bradley describes the essays in Signs and Wonders as brave, beautiful, breathtaking, elegant and intelligent.

Every morning I sweep the brown frangipani leaves off the path and the deck. I don’t know how to read the early shedding. But I’m reassured that I’m not alone in my fretful search for signs. And that we are all engaged in this project of rearranging ourselves in the face of uncertainty. And that the project is as much cultural as it is scientific. And that good writing Simon & Schuster / 288pp / RRP $32.99

The last essay ‘Everything is Illuminated’ is audacious in its reach, carefully stitched together with a luminous filament. It stretches out across a detailed analysis

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REVIEW

Fresh and salty rock and rollers Writing in the Sand

By Matt Garrick Review by Nic Margan

In 1988, representatives of the Northern Territory’s Northern and Central Indigenous Land Councils handed Bob Hawke the Barunga statement, calling for a Treaty between non-Indigenous and Indigenous Australia. Now it hangs in an obscure corner of Parliament House, its position a fitting symbol – a history of unfinished diplomacy haunting the corners of the nation’s control centre. Almost thirty years earlier, Australia’s Indigenous people fought for and won their right to vote, and almost thirty years later, in 2017, The Uluru Statement From the Heart asserted Indigenous people’s rights in Australia with renewed vigour. In these we see the turning of a cycle, where the constant simmering work of Indigenous Australians reaches a boil. Each time, we’re a little different, but the big questions remain the same.

In the same year that Galarrwuy Yunupiŋu presented the Barunga Statement, his brother, Mandawuy Bakamana Yunupiŋu was starting a band. Bakamana, a brilliant school teacher who pioneered the concept of Two Ways education, appears to have less of the politician in him than his brother, and more of the cultural producer, thinker and outright wild rock and roller. Writing in the Sand is an account of his story and the story of Yothu Yindi – a tale simultaneously riotous, hilarious, otherworldly, devastating and brilliantly powerful – and the legacy of their own boiling point, the writing of ‘Treaty’.

This is a big story, spanning more than thirty years and a huge number of band members, industry contacts and friends, international and remote Australian settings and several major events in recent Australian history, but author Matt Garrick appears well-placed to 24 | AUTUMN 2022 northerly

tell it. His ongoing relationship with the band and its surrounding community and position as its authorised biographer are a good start, but even better is the staggering number of interviews with which he pieces the book together. Garrick’s style is mostly defined by minimising his own presence – at times the book reads like a conversation between interviewees, an impressive feat of editing, which gives the effect of collective memory spoken clear and coherent. Yet Garrick’s own laconic voice is there enough to show that he, too, is a character caught up in the fabric of this wonderful collaborative cultural identity.

‘These blokes were doing more than just imbibing magic mushrooms and warm beer at a bush block down the road from a forty-foot statue of a boxing crocodile,’ Garrick explains of Yothu Yindi precursor The Swamp Jockeys, and I say tell me more.

While indispensable reading for anyone interested in Australian musical history (Yothu Yindi crossed paths with, among others, No Fixed Address, The Warumpi Band, Midnight Oil, Paul Kelly, Neil Finn, INXS’s Andrew Farris, Slim Dusty, and of course Gurrumul) the enduring story of the book is Mandawuy Bakamana Yunupiŋu’s philosophy of balance, wherein Indigenous and non-Indigenous people can come together in one song, electric guitar and Yiḏaki at once. This guy was extremely driven to ensure a better future for his people and their culture, and he had the acuity to see that he could do so by bringing both to the future. His tool was adaptation and through it he showed the enduring value of his culture. One account of a former band member from the early 1990s recalls ‘walking through a Manhattan supermarket deli after a show,

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alongside Witiyana and Mangatjay, both still streaked in full white body paint and rocking feathers in their hair.

The looks these guys were getting was hilarious… Like, “Where are you fuckin’ guys from? Outer space?” ... And [Witiyana and Mangitjay] were completely oblivious, just walking the aisles and doing their shopping, and leaving this trail of aghast and agog people behind them.’ This is what is meant here by adaptation: it’s a wild and uncompromising ride.

Mandawuy defined a Yolŋu person as ‘a person who knows how to sing and dance’ and it is song and dance that are at the root of Yothu Yindi’s universal power, but Writing in the Sand shows that the Yothu Yindi story is about the adaptation of many other Yolŋu cultural values too, including hard work and dedication, righteous purpose, collectivism and the adventure of going out on cultural business. Garrick’s account illustrates this with plenty of flair and enjoyment and it’s a pleasure to read. It’s not a book that sits over the topic of adaptation with a microscope, but instead keeps rolling along with plenty of lightness and humour. Garrick doesn’t make an ideological argument, he just tells the story and the story makes it for him.

What this account of the Yothu Yindi story does best is reflect the power of Yolŋu culture and philosophy, and in doing so it pulls you, as compelling as a wet season cyclone, to reconsider what a Treaty could be.

Reading it, I became aware that my understanding of a Treaty in Australia was merely the government ceding power to Indigenous people as an act of social justice, and that this is an underestimation of the value of the Indigenous voice in this country. Mandawuy explains

the concept of gaṉma, ‘a place where two knowledge systems meet… a special place where fresh water meets salt water.’ What Garrick’s account of the Yothu Yindi story shows very clearly is that a Treaty could immensely improve Australia as a nation through something like gaṉma. As he puts it, ‘From out of the foam, new knowledge, new culture and society could form.’

Thirty years on from the release of ‘Treaty’, Garrick has released this accomplished feat of biography and I am prompted to reflect on where we are now. In response to the request of the Uluru Statement from the Heart in 2017 for a referendum on a constitutionallyenshrined Indigenous voice to parliament, the federal government stated, ‘The government does not believe such a radical change to our Constitution’s representative institutions has any realistic prospect of being supported by a majority of Australians in a majority of states.’ Putting aside the question of whether this isn’t just bad leadership, responsibility for progressing the Treaty remains on us as a population.

From winning the vote to the Barunga Statement and now the Statement from the Heart, Indigenous work bubbles up again and whether it’s now or in the next cycle, progress depends on who we are. This book, like Yothu Yindi, is a step toward becoming a nation that says yes.

Harper Collins / 432pp / RRP $45

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A showcase of SCU student work, compiled by Dr Emma Doolan

...By Any Other Name Ali Rayner

Her name, so easy on the tongue. Her hair and cup size, exactly what he’d been scanning the crowds for.

He was in charge of this transaction. A bouquet arrived every day; inspired by her name on his lips, spoken in bunches of reds and shades of flesh and cream, all trimmed of thorns. He threw a blanket over her of his projected affection. She ran out of vases. There was no space left to show him who she was. He saw only a sea of pretty petals and filled his sinuses with the heady perfume. She was told how lucky she was till she believed it must be true, despite the contrast within.

She didn’t notice the script he had written offered no speaking parts for her. He would lavish her, manoeuvre her, then swoop in to claim his investment. His polished sales pitch would leave her no time to think, no room to breathe, no choice but to say yes. She was led down the aisle, through the bedroom, past the nursery and kitchen, all the way to the divorce lawyer with an eye for lonely women. In her heart and mind lived a being beyond gender, ageless and hopeful, filled with wonder and wit, never seen. Her name, infused with her fine sex, condemned her to be compared to a summer’s day. If she could, she would ban the word, banish it from language, and rip every plant out by the roots. He thought she was silly when she asked, why must females be compared to nature? His answer was engineered with flattery, to sweep her off her feet and into bed. But she refused to be an object for this beholder. Her ugly, intolerable thorns grew back. After the divorce, she changed her name down at the register, to something short and slightly masculine. She hoped it would reflect her personality, that people would take her seriously.

But alas, she was still such a sweet, pretty girl.

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About this piece ‘…By Any Other Name’ is an experimental lipogram, omitting the word ‘rose’. This prose poem, in the form of a tight wall of words, visually signifies the barrier between gender roles. Written words can bind or liberate us; thus, Rose can climb over this wall and escape her confinements.

Ali Rayner is studying creative writing at Southern Cross University, which compliments her visual art and design background and multimedia aspirations. As a global diasporic citizen, her writing practice negotiates a cultural void of trimmed-roots, twisted histories and uncertain futures, in an optimistic search for identity, meaningful connections, and kindness.

WORKSHOPS

Guided Writing Group

Writing Picture Books

with Sarah Armstrong

with Zanni Louise

TUES 22, 29 MARCH & 5, 12 APRIL

SAT 2 APR

Writing Fiction Inspired by Real Life

Overcoming Obstacles in Writing

6:00PM – 7.30PM In person at the Byron Writers Festival office $140 /100 Members & Students ($25/35 per session) By the time you receive this issue Byron Writers Festival’s Guided Writing Group with Sarah Armstrong will be underway. Taking place each Tuesday evening for four weeks, Sarah will prompt the group in writing exercises with the simple aim of putting pen to paper.

Participants may book after the commencement of session 1 if places remain available.

Sarah Armstrong has written three adult novels, including Salt Rain which was shortlisted for the Miles Franklin Award.

with Kavita Bedford

THURS 28 APRIL & 5 MAY 1:00PM – 3:00PM Online via Zoom $145/110 Members & Students In these sessions workshop participants will look at the use of personal perspectives to shape fiction.

What is the place of fiction when recreating the world according to one’s own experience? Sessions will examine character and place, and explore ideas of what it means to write ‘truth’ and personal narratives.

Kavita Bedford is an Australian-Indian writer with a background in journalism, anthropology and literature.

10.00AM — 4.00PM Byron Writers Festival office $120/100 Members & Students In this fun one-day workshop, Zanni introduces you to the magical world of picture books. Develop characters, a storyline and explore literary and editing techniques. Also learn how to get published.

Based in Alstonville, Zanni Louise is author of over twenty-five books for kids including bestselling picture books, Human-Kind and Errol. Zanni has taught hundreds of students how to make their picture book dreams a reality.

with Kathryn Heyman

WED 11 MAY 10.30AM — 11.45AM Online via Zoom $30/Free Members & Students Writers are faced with many challenges when it comes to being creative, getting into flow and writing. Kathryn Heyman will share her experiences and the strategies, exercises and solutions she’s used in her own work and to help hundreds of writers overcome their own obstacles in order to flourish and publish.

Dr Kathryn Heyman is an internationally awardwinning writer of novels, memoir, and plays for radio and stage.

For workshop details and to register visit byronwritersfestival.com/whats-on northerly AUTUMN 2022 | 27

COMPETITIONS

Competitions GRIFFITH REVIEW EMERGING VOICES COMPETITION Closing date: 19 March Journal the Griffith Review is seeking submissions of fiction or creative nonfiction of between 3,500 and 5,000 words to any theme, with the publisher looking for “new ideas, fresh voices and bold perspectives”. Winners will share a prize pool of $25,000. Entry fees are $15 for journal subscribers and $25 for nonsubscribers.

More details: griffithreview.submittable. com/submit

THE DAISY UTEMORRAH AWARD Closing date: 15 December The Daisy Utemorrah Award is for an unpublished manuscript of junior or YA fiction by a First Nations author. The Award is open to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people currently living in Australia. The winner of the award receives $15,000 and a publishing contract with Magabala Books. No fee to enter.

More details: magabala.com/pages/ daisy-utemorrah-award

ETHEL WEBB BUNDELL LITERARY AWARDS 2022 Closing date: 31 March This competition is open in two categories: short stories and poetry.

The theme is open in both sections.

Stories should not exceed 4,000 words, and poems 100 lines. First prize in both categories wins $400, and there is an entry fee of $10 per piece.

More details: swwofwa.com.au/eventflyers.html

NORTHERN BEACHES WRITERS COMPETITION Closing date: 31 March Writers are invited to enter stories of a maximum of 2,500 words on a theme of ‘tree’, along with at least one copyrightfree image that reflects and enhances the story. Stories can non-fiction or fiction.

Multiple entries are permitted, with an entry fee per piece of $15. Winner wins

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$100 plus publication. Entrants should be over 18.

More details: northernbeacheswritersgroup.com/ northern-beaches-writers-competition/

KYOGLE WRITERS FESTIVAL POETRY COMPETITION Closing date: 1 April The poetry competition for this local festival invites entries in any style up to a maximum length of 35 lines. Poems should in some way address the festival’s theme, ‘Close to Home’. First prize wins $250, with other cash prizes for lower placings. There is a $5 entry fee, which will be donated to the Indigenous Literacy Foundation.

More details: kyoglewritersfestival.com/ poetry-competition/

NEWCASTLE SHORT STORY AWARD Closing date: 25 April The Newcastle Short Story Award invites entries of up 2,000 words on any theme.

First prize wins $2,000, with generous cash prizes for second and third too.

Entries close at 8pm on April 25, and there is an entry fee of $16.50 per piece.

Judges are Joey Bui and Bram Presser.

More details: hunterwriterscentre.org/ newcastle-short-story-award-2022/

FURPHY LITERARY AWARD Closing date: 30 April This short story competition has a theme of ‘Australian life in all its diversity’.

Stories should be no more than 5,000 words in length; both fiction and nonfiction are permitted. First prize wins an impressive $15,000, with second taking $3,000 and third $2,000. Judges include Anson Cameron and Tara June Winch.

More details: furphystory.com.au/ furphy-literary-award/open-shortstory-competition/

ABR ELIZABETH JOLLEY SHORT STORY PRIZE Closing date: 2 May Entries are currently open for the 2022 ABR Elizabeth Jolley Short Story

Prize. The Jolley Prize is worth a total of AU$12,500 – first place will receive $6,000, second place will receive $4,000, and third place will receive $2,500. The Jolley Prize is open to all short story writers writing in English and seeks short stories of between 2,000 and 5,000 words.

More details: australianbookreview.com. au/prizes-programs/elizabeth-jolleystory-prize/2022-jolley-prize

POETRY D’AMOUR Closing date: 28 February Run by WA Poets Inc., the Poetry d’Amour contest seeks original, unpublished love poems. Prize money of $500 is on offer to the winner, with second place taking $200.

Entry fee is $10 per poem, with discounts for multiple entries. There is also a youth category for poets aged under 18.

More details: wapoets.com/poetrydamour/poetry-damour-love-poetrycontest/

THE AUSTRALIAN/VOGEL’S LITERARY AWARD Closing date: 31 May One of Australia’s most prestigious awards for young writers, The Australian/ Vogel’s Literary Award offers prize money of $20,000 and publication with Allen & Unwin. Entrants must be younger than 35 on 31 May 2022 (also the deadline for entries), and manuscripts – which can be a work of fiction, history or biography – must be between 50,000 and 80,000 words. An entry fee of $25 applies.

More details: allenandunwin.com/beinga-writer/the-australian-vogel-s-literaryaward

MARY RIVER PRESS SERVICES SHORT STORY PRIZE Closing date: 30 July This short story competition offers prize money of $140 in total and invite both fiction and non-fiction entries. Stories should be between 2,000 and 5,000 words. Cost of entry ranges between $3 and $5. Entrant should be aged 16 or over.

More details: maryriverpress.com/ competitions/

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PREMIUM INGREDIENTS

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Good source of fibre Australian macadamias Antioxidant rich cranberries

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PROUD PARTNER OF THE BYRON WRITERS FESTIVAL 10/2/22 1:29 pm

2022 Festival 26 - 28 August

Taking place at a new site, the beautiful North Byron Parklands Mark your calendar and join us for a three-day celebration of ideas, storytelling and conversation.

For more details visit byronwritersfestival.com/ festival

Early Bird 3-Day tickets on sale 15 June Program announced and all tickets on sale 13 July