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AbstractHistoryArchive Description
'A tiny coin found inside a Cloudy Bay oyster, a postcard of a white-haired child leaning against a beached dinghy and a coconut peeled and carved once upon a time on the Batavian coast. These trinkets, found in a sea chest, and the fragmented memories of her grandfather's tall tales are all Essie Lewis has left of her family history.
'After her grandfather's death, Essie returns to Bruny Island, Tasmania and to the lighthouse where her great-great-grandfather kept watch for nearly 40 years. Beneath the lighthouse, she begins to write the stories of her ancestors. But the island is also home to Pete Shelverton, a sculptor who hunts feral cats to make his own peace with the past. And as Essie writes, she finds that Pete is a part of the history she can never escape.' (Synopsis)
Notes
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Dedication: For John and the seagull
Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of
Works about this Work
-
What I’m Reading
2014
single work
column
— Appears in: Meanjin Online 2014; -
The Invisible Gift
2010
single work
column
— Appears in: Australian Author , December vol. 42 no. 3 2010; (p. 12-15) 'Mentoring involves teaching but requires something more strange and intimate than just passing on knowledge. Catherine Keenan talks to writers about the people who lifted them up when they were young'. (p12) -
Islands
2007
single work
criticism
— Appears in: The Littoral Zone : Australian Contexts and Their Writers 2007; (p. 219-260) This chapter investigates the impact of literary tropes on island topography. The survey approach of island literature is abandoned in favour of ecocritical praxis, examining instead the literature of selected temperate islands (with populations varying from 2 to 20,000). Cattle farming, ideological disjunction, and mortality are explored in two settler autobiographies set in 'paradise' (Three Hummock Island); 'descent with modification' is traced in the text and the farming practices (sealing, Soldier Settlement pastoral, and salvage) in a work of fiction based in 'Eden' (King Island); and in the final work (indigenous autobiography and myth set on North Stradbroke Island), the politics of the 'land ethic' and land rights confront a sea country pastoral. (from The Littoral Zone) -
Loneliness and Solitude : 'The Alphabet of Light and Dark'
2004
single work
review
— Appears in: Dotlit : The Online Journal of Creative Writing , January vol. 5 no. 1 2004;
— Review of The Alphabet of Light and Dark 2002 single work novel -
Untitled
2004
single work
review
— Appears in: Fiction Focus : New Titles for Teenagers , vol. 18 no. 1 2004; (p. 49)
— Review of The Alphabet of Light and Dark 2002 single work novel
-
Resourceful Heroine Entwines History
2003
single work
review
— Appears in: The Weekend Australian , 26-27 July 2003; (p. 6-7)
— Review of The Alphabet of Light and Dark 2002 single work novel -
A Social Pulse
2003
single work
review
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , August no. 253 2003; (p. 47-48)
— Review of A Secret Burial 2003 single work novel ; The Alphabet of Light and Dark 2002 single work novel -
A Luminous Debut in the Shadow of the Lighthouse
2003
single work
review
— Appears in: The Sunday Age , 10 August 2003; (p. 10)
— Review of The Alphabet of Light and Dark 2002 single work novel -
Go with the Metaphoric Flow
2003
single work
review
— Appears in: The Sydney Morning Herald , 20-21 September 2003; (p. 16)
— Review of The Alphabet of Light and Dark 2002 single work novel -
Untitled
2003
single work
review
— Appears in: The Bulletin , 30 September vol. 121 no. 6392 2003; (p. 84)
— Review of The Alphabet of Light and Dark 2002 single work novel -
Finding Her Place
2003
single work
column
review
— Appears in: The West Australian , 18 October 2003; (p. 15) -
Islands
2007
single work
criticism
— Appears in: The Littoral Zone : Australian Contexts and Their Writers 2007; (p. 219-260) This chapter investigates the impact of literary tropes on island topography. The survey approach of island literature is abandoned in favour of ecocritical praxis, examining instead the literature of selected temperate islands (with populations varying from 2 to 20,000). Cattle farming, ideological disjunction, and mortality are explored in two settler autobiographies set in 'paradise' (Three Hummock Island); 'descent with modification' is traced in the text and the farming practices (sealing, Soldier Settlement pastoral, and salvage) in a work of fiction based in 'Eden' (King Island); and in the final work (indigenous autobiography and myth set on North Stradbroke Island), the politics of the 'land ethic' and land rights confront a sea country pastoral. (from The Littoral Zone) -
The Invisible Gift
2010
single work
column
— Appears in: Australian Author , December vol. 42 no. 3 2010; (p. 12-15) 'Mentoring involves teaching but requires something more strange and intimate than just passing on knowledge. Catherine Keenan talks to writers about the people who lifted them up when they were young'. (p12) -
Writer Delivers on Fiance's Mission
2002
single work
column
— Appears in: The Australian , 18 September 2002; (p. 3) -
Story of Essie Wins the Vogel
2002
single work
column
— Appears in: The Age , 18 September 2002; (p. 3)
Awards
- 2005 longlisted International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award
- 2004 joint winner The Sydney Morning Herald Best Young Novelist of the Year
- 2004 winner Kibble Literary Awards — Nita May Dobbie Award
- 2004 shortlisted Commonwealth Writers Prize — South East Asia and South Pacific Region — Best First Book
- 2002 winner The Australian / Vogel National Literary Award (for an unpublished manuscript)
- Bruny Island, Southeast Tasmania, Tasmania,
- Macquarie Island, Tasmania,
- 1999