AustLit

'It is now over thirty years since the demise of the long political career of Joh Bjelke-Petersen and nearly fifteen years since his death, the latter controversially marked by a state funeral. Bjelke Blues, as its subtitle states, is a collection of “stories” about life during the Joh era in Queensland. There are over 40 contributions; most take the form of reminiscences, though some are works of “creative nonfiction” or fiction, and a few are more akin to reportage. The contributors include some well-known and some lesser known social and political activists, academics, writers and artists. Many of them are, as Matthew Condon points out in his Foreword, ‘men and women who were at the end of police batons and tossed into police paddy wagons, who were at the front line fighting for justice and decency when Queensland was a thoroughly indecent place’ (p. 9).'

(Introduction)