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'Most Australians live in cities and cling to the coastal fringe, yet our sense of what an Australian is – or should be – is drawn from the vast and varied inland called the bush. But what do we mean by 'the bush', and how has it shaped us?
'Starting with his forebears' battle to drive back nature and eke a living from the land, Don Watson explores the bush as it was and as it now is: the triumphs and the ruination, the commonplace and the bizarre, the stories we like to tell about ourselves and the national character, and those we don't. Via mountain ash and mallee, the birds and the beasts, slaughter, fire, flood and drought, swagmen, sheep and their shepherds, the strange and the familiar, the tragedies and the follies, the crimes and the myths and the hope – here is a journey that only our leading writer of non-fiction could take us on.
'At once magisterial in scope and alive with telling, wry detail, The Bush lets us see our landscape and its inhabitants afresh, examining what we have made, what we have destroyed, and what we have become in the process.
'No one who reads it will look at this country the same way again. ' (Publication summary)
Notes
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Dedication: for TDW and GDW
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Epigraph:
For I have learned
To look on nature, not as in the hour
Of thoughtless youth; but hearing oftentimes
The still, sad music of humanity.
–William Wordsworth, 'Tintern Abbey', 1798
The principle task of civilization, its actual raison d'etre, is to defend us against nature.
–Sigmund Freud, The Future of an Illusion, 1927
I think that most men who have been alone in the bush for any length of time - and married couples too - are more or less mad.
–Henry Lawson, 'Water Them Geraniums', 1901
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2015 Fellowship of Australian Writers in Victoria : Excellence in Non-Fiction Award judges' report:
Don Watson’s The Bush is outstanding, a superbly written, vastly entertaining contribution to our understanding of Australia. It is a worthy winner from a strong field.
Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of
Other Formats
- Sound recording.
- Braille.
Works about this Work
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Leave No Trace
2019
single work
essay
— Appears in: The Believer , 1 April no. 124 2019; -
What I’m Reading
2019
single work
column
— Appears in: Meanjin Online 2019; -
Murray-Mallee Imaginaries : Towards a Literary History of a Region
2018
single work
criticism
— Appears in: JASAL , vol. 1 no. 18 2018; -
Dark Emu and the Blindness of Australian Agriculture
2018
single work
essay
— Appears in: The Conversation , 15 June 2018;'What if Australia were to stop farming? At approximately 3% of gross domestic product, the removal of agriculture from the economy would be a significant hit. It would affect our balance of payments — 60% of agricultural produce is exported and it contributes 13% of Australia’s export revenue.' (Introduction)
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Travel Memoir and Australia : From Twain to Tracks and the Present Day
2017
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Mediating Memory : Tracing the Limits of Memoir 2017; (p. 192-204)'Ben Stubbs' chapter demonstrates the new depths possible within hy-brid travel memoir. He looks at its evolution from works by Mark Twain to Robyn Davidson and Don Watson, tracing the progression of the genre from Twain's self-centered imperialism to Davidson and Watson's cultural self-awareness.'
Source: Introduction, p.7
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True Sense of Natural Wonder
2014
single work
review
— Appears in: The Sydney Morning Herald , 20 September 2014; (p. 32-33) The Age , 20 September 2014; (p. 34)
— Review of The Bush : Travels in the Heart of Australia 2014 single work prose -
Shaped for Good Purpose
2014
single work
— Appears in: The Monthly , October no. 105 2014; (p. 66-67)
— Review of The Bush : Travels in the Heart of Australia 2014 single work prose -
'Boring Tunnels Through the Peak' : Not the Work of a Bleeding Heart
2014
single work
review
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , October no. 365 2014; (p. 11-12)
— Review of The Bush : Travels in the Heart of Australia 2014 single work prose -
Nature Calling
2014
single work
review
— Appears in: The Weekend Australian , 1-2 November 2014; (p. 16-17)
— Review of The Bush : Travels in the Heart of Australia 2014 single work prose 'Don Watson’s magnificent, celebratory, contradictory study of the Australian bush will challenge the national imagination, writes Tomas Keneally' -
Review : The Bush
2014
single work
review
— Appears in: The Saturday Paper , 11 October 2014; (p. 22-23)
— Review of The Bush : Travels in the Heart of Australia 2014 single work prose -
The Good Life : Lunch with Don Watson
2014
single work
column
— Appears in: The Age , 4 October 2014; (p. 4) -
Garden Path
2015
single work
column
autobiography
— Appears in: The Advertiser , 10 January 2015; (p. 31) -
Going Bush Proves a Winner for Watson
2015
single work
column
— Appears in: The Sydney Morning Herald , 26 March 2015; (p. 31) The Age , 26 March 2015; (p. 11) -
The Bush Takes Indie Book of the Year Prize
2015
single work
column
— Appears in: The Australian , 26 March 2015; (p. 14) -
Don't Beat Up the Bush : Farmers Do Us No Harm
2015
single work
column
— Appears in: The Advertiser , 10 March 2015; (p. 13)
Awards
- 2016 shortlisted Adelaide Festival Awards for Literature — Award for Non-Fiction
- 2015 shortlisted Colin Roderick Award
- 2015 winner Queensland Literary Awards — Non-Fiction Book Award
- 2015 shortlisted Melbourne Prize
- 2015 winner New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards — Book of the Year