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AbstractHistoryArchive Description
'It is 1899, and one of the fiercest storms in history is brewing - a hurricane named Mahina.
'To a remote part of the Queensland coast come the hundreds of sails of the northern pearling fleets, and a native policeman trying to solve a murder. Nearly two thousand men, women and children are gathering around Cape Melville, right in the path of the storm that is about to cause Australia's deadliest natural disaster.
'Based on real events, this is the story of an unstoppable force of nature and the birth and death of an Australian dream.' (Publisher's blurb)
Notes
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Dedication: For Kirsty.
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Epigraph: On the 4th and 5th of March, 1899. the East coast of Queensland, in the neighbourhood of Princess Charlotte Bay, between 13deg. 30min. and 14deg. 30min. S.L. was visited by a terrific hurricane, which destroyed vegetation on the shore, wrecked a lightship, schooners, and caused the loss of over 300 lives. The Pearling Dsaster, 1899 : A Memorial. (Outridge, Brisbane, 1899).
Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of
Works about this Work
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Emergent Tropicality : Cyclone Mahina, Bathurst Bay 1899
2015
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Australasian Journal of Ecocriticism and Cultural Ecology , no. 5 2015; (p. 44-53)'In 1899 a Category 5 cyclone destroyed almost the entire pearling fleet of Bathurst Bay in North Queensland, sinking 55 ships and killing 307 people (approximately). Its historical status, however, is complicated. Measured by the numbers of lives lost, it is the most severe natural disaster in Australian history since European settlement. But most of the pearlers were either indigenous or foreign, excluded from the national imaginary. Hence the acknowledgement of Mahina’s status in national weather history had continually to be postponed. This is despite the fact that, in world weather history, Mahina holds the record for a storm surge, estimated at 13 metres (43 feet). It also contributed in a major way to making the personal history of the Queensland Government Meteorologist, Clement Wragge, who named it, for it was the first cyclone in world history to be given a personal (rather than a place) name. Wragge gave the cyclone the name of a Polynesian woman, predicting nonetheless that it would “not prove so soft and gentle as the Tahitian maiden of that name.” (For tropical cyclones he preferred female names; for the “cold, blustery cyclones on the polar front” he reserved masculine names (mostly of politicians who refused to subsidise his work).
'Focusing on Cyclone Mahina and its aftermath, this essay explores the entanglements of meterology and indigeneity in colonial governance in colonial Qyeensland on the eve of Federation. In the context of these historical entanglements, the paper reads Ian Townsend's "tropical gothic" novel, The Devil's Eye, as a remembering and imagining of the nation as it was and might have been.'
Source: Publisher's blurb.
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Human's Changing Relationship to the Non-Human World
2014
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Climate Change Narratives in Australian Fiction 2014; (p. 41-55) 'The environmental crises the human species faces are urgent. When the climate change literary critics Adam Trexler and Adeline John-Putra argue that climate change calls for a fundamental re-valuation of ourselves, even while it challenges us to put to use the critical cultural tools we have, 77 they are right. A fundamental re-evaluation is needed in face of the urgency, seriousness, complexity, immediacy, duration and global scope of the problems facing the human species. In the previous pages we have looked albeit briefly at some of the key novels addressing climate change scenarios which we can identify in Australian writing. Can the critics help us refine our concepts a little further?' (41) -
Heeding the Warnings : 'Sucking up the Seas' in Vance Palmer’s Cyclone
2011
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Etropic : Electronic Journal of Studies in the Tropics , no. 10 2011; (p. 20-31) 'Climate change literary criticism calls for fundamental re-evalutions of our critical tools. In representations of extreme weather events, Vance Palmer's Cyclone set in North Queensland meets many of the new criterion with its story about the impact of the cyclone on individuals, community and plot. The genesis and inspiration of the novel, its writing, its publication, review and reception can be addressed. The cyclone is seen through the perceptions of different characters. Vance and Nettie Palmer knew many of the people drowned in the 1934 cyclone. Palmer drew on the historical record in his novel, which was published over a decade later. The reception of Cyclone was very limited given it was published locally by Angus & Robertson and had no serious critical response. The environmental imagination has been a powerful force in Australia creative writing and is undervalued in contemporary debates.' (Author's abstract)
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[Review] The Devil's Eye
2009
single work
review
— Appears in: Fiction Focus : New Titles for Teenagers , vol. 23 no. 1 2009; (p. 50-51)
— Review of The Devil's Eye 2008 single work novel -
Fiction Books
2009
single work
review
— Appears in: The Courier-Mail , 3 - 4 January 2009; (p. 60)
— Review of The Devil's Eye 2008 single work novel
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Book of the Week
2008
single work
review
— Appears in: The Sunday Age , 7 September 2008; (p. 27)
— Review of The Devil's Eye 2008 single work novel -
Stormy but With Firm Hand on Tiller
2008
single work
review
— Appears in: The Canberra Times , 20 September 2008; (p. 15)
— Review of The Devil's Eye 2008 single work novel -
Pick of the Week
2008
single work
review
— Appears in: The Age , 20 September 2008; (p. 22)
— Review of The Devil's Eye 2008 single work novel -
ArtsBooks
2008
single work
review
— Appears in: Brisbane News , 22 - 28 October no. 708 2008; (p. 35)
— Review of The Devil's Eye 2008 single work novel ; Women of the Outback 2008 single work biography ; Arabesques : A Tale of Double Lives 2008 single work autobiography -
In Pursuit of What Has Been Hidden
2008
single work
review
— Appears in: The Australian Literary Review , December vol. 3 no. 11 2008; (p. 20-21)
— Review of The Devil's Eye 2008 single work novel ; Deception 2008 single work novel ; Into White Silence 2008 single work novel ; The Sinkings 2008 single work novel -
Heeding the Warnings : 'Sucking up the Seas' in Vance Palmer’s Cyclone
2011
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Etropic : Electronic Journal of Studies in the Tropics , no. 10 2011; (p. 20-31) 'Climate change literary criticism calls for fundamental re-evalutions of our critical tools. In representations of extreme weather events, Vance Palmer's Cyclone set in North Queensland meets many of the new criterion with its story about the impact of the cyclone on individuals, community and plot. The genesis and inspiration of the novel, its writing, its publication, review and reception can be addressed. The cyclone is seen through the perceptions of different characters. Vance and Nettie Palmer knew many of the people drowned in the 1934 cyclone. Palmer drew on the historical record in his novel, which was published over a decade later. The reception of Cyclone was very limited given it was published locally by Angus & Robertson and had no serious critical response. The environmental imagination has been a powerful force in Australia creative writing and is undervalued in contemporary debates.' (Author's abstract)
-
Human's Changing Relationship to the Non-Human World
2014
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Climate Change Narratives in Australian Fiction 2014; (p. 41-55) 'The environmental crises the human species faces are urgent. When the climate change literary critics Adam Trexler and Adeline John-Putra argue that climate change calls for a fundamental re-valuation of ourselves, even while it challenges us to put to use the critical cultural tools we have, 77 they are right. A fundamental re-evaluation is needed in face of the urgency, seriousness, complexity, immediacy, duration and global scope of the problems facing the human species. In the previous pages we have looked albeit briefly at some of the key novels addressing climate change scenarios which we can identify in Australian writing. Can the critics help us refine our concepts a little further?' (41) -
Emergent Tropicality : Cyclone Mahina, Bathurst Bay 1899
2015
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Australasian Journal of Ecocriticism and Cultural Ecology , no. 5 2015; (p. 44-53)'In 1899 a Category 5 cyclone destroyed almost the entire pearling fleet of Bathurst Bay in North Queensland, sinking 55 ships and killing 307 people (approximately). Its historical status, however, is complicated. Measured by the numbers of lives lost, it is the most severe natural disaster in Australian history since European settlement. But most of the pearlers were either indigenous or foreign, excluded from the national imaginary. Hence the acknowledgement of Mahina’s status in national weather history had continually to be postponed. This is despite the fact that, in world weather history, Mahina holds the record for a storm surge, estimated at 13 metres (43 feet). It also contributed in a major way to making the personal history of the Queensland Government Meteorologist, Clement Wragge, who named it, for it was the first cyclone in world history to be given a personal (rather than a place) name. Wragge gave the cyclone the name of a Polynesian woman, predicting nonetheless that it would “not prove so soft and gentle as the Tahitian maiden of that name.” (For tropical cyclones he preferred female names; for the “cold, blustery cyclones on the polar front” he reserved masculine names (mostly of politicians who refused to subsidise his work).
'Focusing on Cyclone Mahina and its aftermath, this essay explores the entanglements of meterology and indigeneity in colonial governance in colonial Qyeensland on the eve of Federation. In the context of these historical entanglements, the paper reads Ian Townsend's "tropical gothic" novel, The Devil's Eye, as a remembering and imagining of the nation as it was and might have been.'
Source: Publisher's blurb.
Awards
- 2009 longlisted Miles Franklin Literary Award
- Far North Queensland, Queensland,
- 1899