This story was published in The Big Issue in January 2013. A shorter version was broadcast on ABC 774 on 20 January 2017. IT IS the day before Australia Day 2012 and a man is asking me the name of this part of the country. The traditional name. It is six in the morning, on […]
This story was broadcast on ABC Radio Melbourne on The Friday Revue program on 3 April 2020. The narration was by Dugald McAndrew. Listen as you read, folks. Dear Sir Samuel Mogg, of Moggs Creek, You once said it was a mystery there was a creek named after you. You said: “I was just a […]
The wonderful Bruce Dawe has died, aged 90. One of my first pieces of published work, back in 1981, was a poem about Bruce Dawe: Summer Sellout. Many years later, 2007, I wrote an essay for The Age drawing parallels between Bruce Dawe and a popular musician: Life cycle, for Bruce Dawe and Paul Kelly. […]
Here is a slightly longer version of The Eastern Shore, first published in The Big Issue #603, 10-23 January 2020. IT WAS the summer he swam from the eastern shore of the small suburban beach. Not that he ever swam very far. One hundred metres maybe. Rarely beyond the points of the basalt groynes […]
The Big Issue has just published The Eastern Shore, a story about a restless summer. You’ll find the story in edition #603, which also has stories about Ash Barty, Beck, the Kelly Gang, Tim Winton, James Dean, and the marvellous book Places We Swim. You’ll find The Big Issue via a local vendor or by […]
Thanks to Hobsons Bay Libraries, a little reflection of mine is part of a booklet celebrating the importance of libraries.
This is a very (very, very, very) light poem. It’s like raindrops in a sun shower. The words almost disappear before you’ve read them. Every twelve hours If we could Sunrise and sunset Dawn and dusk Togs and towel Midday and midnight If you wish High noon and high moon Every twelve hours If […]
January 29, 2013
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