Category: Blog

Hipoetical Context

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by Joshua Mei-Ling Dubrau Reading and analysing (and perhaps even enjoying poetry) are complicated by competing perspectives, both current and historical, on what actually constitutes ‘poetic language’. A major player in the formation of such perspectives are the questions of if, how and why a written art-form which is subject to all the normal limitations of language can present thoughts, events, feelings, concepts or combinations of these in a manner which transcends language’s significatory limitations to create a poetic text-object which is more than the sum of its linguistic parts. Does poetry create or only represent its subject matter, and…

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Croajingalong Walkaround (An Australia Day reflection of sorts)

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by Joshua Mei-Ling Dubrau The most anticipated highlight of this trip for me was a chance to revisit the small town of Mallacoota just past the NSW/Victoria border, and Croajingalong National Park. I hadn’t been back since my daughter, the half-a-teenager flopped over a table in Braidwood two posts ago was about eight months old. Mallacoota is an inlet town with creeks and lakes curving and pooling out into the ocean. Everything is pretty low key; the river aspect means it’s remained more of a small fishing town than a beachfront high-rise development. The prevalence of brown and orange in…

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Here We Go Round The Prickly Pear

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by Joshua Mei-Ling Dubrau I feel like I’m going round in circles thinking about Eliot’s formula for the ‘objective correlative’ as set out in my last post – ‘a set of objects, a situation, a chain of events which shall be the formula of that particular emotion’. This seems to imply that the emotion, not the objects, comes first in the creative impulse. But does it? And does the dogmatic-sounding nature of the statement render it impractical for the composition or criticism of poetry  – a mode to which the idea of formula is often anathema? In some types of poetry, generally…

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The writer’s li[f]e

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by Joshua Mei-Ling Dubrau This post, and the next two or three, will be written enroute. You’ll note I haven’t specified a destination. This is a holiday; a pack the tray, jump in the ute and drive off holiday. Heading South. Being away from home and office and institution brings both blessings and curses in terms of blog-writing. There is the joy of seeing, smelling, tasting the new as kilometres unfurl beneath us and sensory experiences spark new thoughts and new connections to (or at least positions in relation to) the Australian landscape, both physical and social. On the other…

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Re/solved?

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By Joshua Mei-Ling Dubrau It was inevitable, I suppose, that the first Southerly blog post of 2014 should involve the dreaded topic of the New Year’s Resolution (and in line with most people’s resolutions, mine is being put into practice now, after I’ve, erm, had a chance to get a feel for the upcoming year). Resolutions often involve quantitative changes that we hope will lead to qualitatively attractive outcomes. Cutting down on cigarettes involves subtracting a concrete number of gaspers from the currently consumed amount, but the benefits – the increased volume of oxygen in the breath, the return to…

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Lyre/Liar

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Just how innocent are our writing positions? Are the words we write a life-giving or a life- taking tool? Does writing induce action or take the place of it? What are the moral responsibilities of the writer? From the ‘animal turn’ in the writings of Blanchot and Heidegger to the presentation of the controversial ‘B. Wongar’ as a key writer of the animal, several contributors to this issue have taken these and related questions into the arena of writing and the species barrier, to consider our shortcomings in the way in which we write about non-human animals, what we might…

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In 2014 Writing Will Change the World

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by Kathryn Heyman “It is not enough to possess a virtue as if it is an art; it should be practised.” Marcus Tullius Cicero. For the last few weeks, I have been writing about the classical virtues and what they mean for writing and reading. Now, at year’s end, I want to reflect for a moment on creative practice, its pleasures and its purpose. Early in her writing life, Elizabeth Jolley wrote a letter to a friend speaking of how disheartening it was, knowing that her work was irrelevant, being certain that no-one cared what she wrote. So – given the effort and anxiety…

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Living up to Something

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by Kathryn Heyman In our culture, vice is sexier than virtue. The Seven Deadly Sins are the fun guys. Greed, lust, gluttony; who wouldn’t want to be at that party? Virtues, not so much. We somehow think of virtue as the quiet cousin, the one lurking in the corner of the party, tutting away at everything. What if, though, the holy virtues are the set of conditions which can help us really enjoy the party? Let me be clear here: when I say ‘holy’ I mean creative. For me, the nature of creativity is the nature of the divine. In…

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Why Write?

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by Kathryn Heyman When asked that question, Isaac Asimov  famously replied with: “For the same reason I breathe.”  I love the implication of necessity his response evokes: I write because I will not survive if I don’t. I write because it is my life source.  Recently, I did a SCUBA diving course. To my surprise, on my first dive, I panicked, unable to comprehend how I could breathe under water. My instructor touched his chest in a signal: just breathe. But I couldn’t, I couldn’t understand how breath worked, how I could get it to my lungs. I was pretty…

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Practical Wisdom

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By Kathryn Heyman At almost every party, there is someone who wants to be a writer. When they retire, they are going to write novels. Everyone has a book in them. It’s just a matter of persistence. You’ve got to ignore the haters. Look at Lord of the Flies – endlessly rejected and now, ha! Who has the last laugh, huh? Writers spend a lot of time at parties cornered by these people. Writers who also teach tend to be the ones smiling and saying, yes, that’s right, you should try, certainly, persistence is key, everyone can do it. But…

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On Remembering Things

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by Walter Mason Year by year I become more conscious that I commit less and less to memory. I was in that final generation that made one last half-hearted effort to commit some poetry to memory. The only things that remain with me now are ‘My Country’, half of ‘The Man from Ironbark’ and the first three verses of ‘Advance Australia Fair’. Which, I think, pretty much puts me in the top 10% of the Australian population when it comes to memorised poetry, though I rarely find myself in a situation that demands I draw upon these poetic reserves. My…

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Walter’s live blogging – final post: Garry Wotherspoon

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by Walter Mason This is my secret confession. When I was 17 I discovered a collection of biographical stories of ordinary gay men called “Being Different.” I bought it second hand and read it compulsively, over and over again, but always in secret. It was edited by Garry Wotherspoon, and it had a tremendous effect on my growing up and coming out. He has remained one of my heroes, and, I discovered when he came to see me today, my story has been repeated to him by other people. It was a groundbreaking book, and it certainly helped young Queer…

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