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AbstractHistoryArchive Description
'Quicksilver begins on a quiet day in contemplation of a lizard deep in the heart of the outback but quickly moves to the Russia of Tolstoy and Gorky, and on to other lands and times, bringing into play universal questions about the essential nature of the human condition.'
'Rothwell’s chief subject is always the inland: the mystic Kurangara cult that flourished in the Kimberley; the story of the Western Desert artists, their works and their eventual fate; the tracks across the wilderness of Colonel Warburton and George Grey; the bush dreams and intuitions of D. H. Lawrence and the landscape word-portraits by the great biographer of nature Eric Rolls.'
'In Quicksilver Rothwell masterfully takes us in search of the sacred through place and time, in an enchanting reverie of calm wondering.' (Source: Text Publishing website)
Notes
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Dedication: In memory of Nyutapayia Nampitjinpa
Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of
Works about this Work
-
Homing
2021
single work
prose
— Appears in: Meanjin , Winter vol. 80 no. 2 2021;'Occasionally I go bush with a friend, and as we walk she will—with little apparent effort—take in the lie of the land. When we break to catch our breath, or to check our ankles for leeches, or to fix an undone shoelace, she will have counted how many creeks we’ve crossed, will have noticed how the steep cliffs and undulating valleys correspond to the contours of our map. With a swivel of her head along the ridgeline, she’ll be able to establish roughly where it is we now are. As though thumbing back through the pages of a just-read chapter, she might trace with her finger the passages we’ve covered: ‘that must be that section of blue gums’ or ‘that’s back where that landslide was’ or ‘here’s when we made a turn for the east’. I, meanwhile, might have noticed globules of blood-red resin weeping from the base of a tree, or have been startled by a black cockatoo winging itself across my path and scoured the ground afterwards for its feathers … but I will mostly be oblivious. The overall shape of the land we’re passing through will remain a blur to me.' (Introduction)
-
Nicolas Rothwell, Quicksilver
2017
single work
essay
— Appears in: Transnational Literature , May vol. 9 no. 2 2017; -
Into the Red
2016
single work
review
essay
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , December no. 387 2016; (p. 39) 'Quicksilver begins in magniloquence, like the prophet Isaiah. It was the cold midwinter season, we are told, when Nicolas Rothwell began his days of journeying, driving west from Papunya in the Northern Territory towards Marble Bar in Western Australia. ‘The roads were empty: for the best part of a week I saw no trace of man and his works.’ As he drove, he thought about the last expedition of Colonel Warburton, the first European explorer to cross the continent west from the centre. He remembered how Warburton, after eight months labouring through the Great Sandy Desert, camped by the dry bed of the Oakover River and there witnessed a marvel beyond all expectation. ‘To our great surprise,’ Warburton wrote in his diary, ‘we were awakened at 3am by the roaring of running water.’ In the morning, they discovered that the landscape had been transformed by a fast-moving flood some 300 metres wide. For in the wilderness shall waters break out, said the prophet, and streams in the desert.' (Introduction) -
Artful Digressions on Life's Outsiders
2016
single work
review
— Appears in: The Saturday Age , 26-27 November 2016; (p. 28)
— Review of Quicksilver 2016 single work prose -
The Dotted Line
2016
single work
review
— Appears in: The Weekend Australian , 19-20 November 2016; (p. 18)
— Review of Quicksilver 2016 single work prose
-
The Dotted Line
2016
single work
review
— Appears in: The Weekend Australian , 19-20 November 2016; (p. 18)
— Review of Quicksilver 2016 single work prose -
Artful Digressions on Life's Outsiders
2016
single work
review
— Appears in: The Saturday Age , 26-27 November 2016; (p. 28)
— Review of Quicksilver 2016 single work prose -
Into the Red
2016
single work
review
essay
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , December no. 387 2016; (p. 39) 'Quicksilver begins in magniloquence, like the prophet Isaiah. It was the cold midwinter season, we are told, when Nicolas Rothwell began his days of journeying, driving west from Papunya in the Northern Territory towards Marble Bar in Western Australia. ‘The roads were empty: for the best part of a week I saw no trace of man and his works.’ As he drove, he thought about the last expedition of Colonel Warburton, the first European explorer to cross the continent west from the centre. He remembered how Warburton, after eight months labouring through the Great Sandy Desert, camped by the dry bed of the Oakover River and there witnessed a marvel beyond all expectation. ‘To our great surprise,’ Warburton wrote in his diary, ‘we were awakened at 3am by the roaring of running water.’ In the morning, they discovered that the landscape had been transformed by a fast-moving flood some 300 metres wide. For in the wilderness shall waters break out, said the prophet, and streams in the desert.' (Introduction) -
Nicolas Rothwell, Quicksilver
2017
single work
essay
— Appears in: Transnational Literature , May vol. 9 no. 2 2017; -
Homing
2021
single work
prose
— Appears in: Meanjin , Winter vol. 80 no. 2 2021;'Occasionally I go bush with a friend, and as we walk she will—with little apparent effort—take in the lie of the land. When we break to catch our breath, or to check our ankles for leeches, or to fix an undone shoelace, she will have counted how many creeks we’ve crossed, will have noticed how the steep cliffs and undulating valleys correspond to the contours of our map. With a swivel of her head along the ridgeline, she’ll be able to establish roughly where it is we now are. As though thumbing back through the pages of a just-read chapter, she might trace with her finger the passages we’ve covered: ‘that must be that section of blue gums’ or ‘that’s back where that landslide was’ or ‘here’s when we made a turn for the east’. I, meanwhile, might have noticed globules of blood-red resin weeping from the base of a tree, or have been startled by a black cockatoo winging itself across my path and scoured the ground afterwards for its feathers … but I will mostly be oblivious. The overall shape of the land we’re passing through will remain a blur to me.' (Introduction)
Awards
- Kimberley area, North Western Australia, Western Australia,
- Western Australia,
