Griffith REVIEW Edition 42
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THE ANNUAL Griffith 42 A QUARTERLY OF NEW WR ITING & IDEAS FICTION EDITION GrithREVIEW42 Once Upon a Time in Oz ESSAY CARMEL BIRD Dreaming the place JOHN BRYSON The myths of Azaria, so many R ALICE CURRY Strung with contour lines E JANE DOWNING Slow and steady DUSK DUNDLER The myth of Charlie McMahon V PAT HOFFIE The mermaid story HELEN HOPCROFT Metafur IE JANE SULLIVAN Hairy tales LUCY SUSSEX Told in the bush W FICTION ALI ALIZADEH Snow White and the child soldier 42 TONY BIRCH The ghost river CLAIRE CORBETT Snake in the grass MARION HALLIGAN A castle in Toorak in Oz Upon a Time Once PAT HOFFIE The boat story JULIE KEARNEY Light dawns CATE KENNEDY A glimpse of paradise MARGO LANAGAN Black swan event BRUCE PASCOE Big Yengo ‘Griffith REVIEW DANIELLE WOOD The good mother is a cornucopia ARNOLD ZABLE The attic of excellence.’ MEMOIR The Australian ANNA MARIA DELL’OSO Return of the rings KATE FORSYTH Stories as salvation MEREDITH JELBART Three bunyips MICHELLE LAW Happily ever after VICTOR MARSH A touch of silk MEME McDONALD Child LEONIE NORRINGTON Old women’s business POETRY CECILIA CONDON Going on PICTURE GALLERY CARMEL BIRD TONY BIRCH DAVID ROWE In wonderland OHN RYSON NNA ELL OSO ATE ENNEDY L J B A D ’ C K grithreview.com A Read more Once Upon a Time in Ozarticles online RN MICHELLE LAW ARNOLD ZABLE JANE SULLIVAN JOU ERLY ERLY T BRUCE PASCOE MARI0N HALLIGAN DANIELLE WOOD ‘Australia’s most important literary essay magazine.’ R UA Cover design: Text Publishing design: Text Cover Courier-Mail Q PLUS: DAVID ROWE DRAWS THE FAIRY TALE OF AUSTRALIAN POLITICS GR42_cover_PT.indd 1 11/09/13 11:48 AM Praise for Griffith REVIEW ‘Griffith REVIEW is a consistently good journal. There is some terrific writing on display as well as variety and depth to the issues being grappled with.’ The Age ‘Griffith REVIEW once again refuses to take an easy road. Essential reading for each and every one of us.’ Readings ‘Australia’s most important literary essay magazine.’ Courier-Mail ‘A varied, impressive and international cast of authors.’ The Australian ‘An always vibrant mix of creative writing, essays, photography and ideas, Griffith REVIEW has gone from strength to strength.’ Adelaide Review ‘At once comfortable and thought-provoking, edgy and familiar, [it] will draw the reader through its pages.’ Australian Book Review ‘Griffith REVIEW is a wonderful journal. It’s pretty much setting the agenda in Australia and fighting way above its weight… You’re mad if you don’t subscribe.’ Phillip Adams ‘Once again, Griffith REVIEW has produced a stunning volume of excellent work. The pieces are diverse, the stories unique and real. But one thing remains constant – superb writing.’ Weekend Herald (NZ) ‘Griffith REVIEW would have no trouble competing on an international stage.’ West Australian ‘Griffith REVIEW is the best literary journal in Australia.’ Sydney Morning Herald SIR SAMUEL GRIFFITH was one of Australia’s great early achievers. Twice the premier of Queensland, that state’s chief justice and the author of its criminal code, he was best known for his pivotal role in drafting agreements that led to Federation, and as the new nation’s first chief justice. He was also an important reformer and legislator, a practical and cautious man of words. Griffith died in 1920 and is now best remembered in his namesakes: an electorate, a society, a suburb and a university. Ninety-six years after he first proposed establishing a university in Brisbane, Griffith University, the city’s second, was created. His commitment to public debate and ideas, his delight in words and art, and his attachment to active citizenship are recognised by the publication that bears his name. Like Sir Samuel Griffith, Griffith REVIEW is iconoclastic and non-partisan, with a sceptical eye and a pragmatically reforming heart and a commitment to public discussion. Personal, political and unpredictable, it is Australia’s best conversation. GriffithREVIEW42 Once Upon a Time in Oz Edited by Julianne Schultz and Carmel Bird GriffithREVIEW42 INTRODUCTION 7 Stories to live by JULIANNE SCHULTZ: Dreams of pumpkins, toads, princesses and more ESSAY 10 Dreaming the place CARMEL BIRD: An exploration of Antipodean narratives 74 The myths of Azaria, so many JOHN BRYSON: Superstition ain’t the way 100 Strung with contour lines ALICE CURRY: Imagining impossible tales 106 Two tales of the sea PAT HOFFIE: The mermaid story 115 Slow and steady JANE DOWNING: Lost in translation 181 Hairy tales JANE SULLIVAN: Confronting the evil within 202 Metafur HELEN HOPCROFT: Literary representations of animals 229 The myth of Charlie McMahon DUSK DUNDLER: The wind through the keyhole 237 Told in the bush LUCY SUSSEX: Sister Agnes and her tales FICTION 33 The good mother DANIELLE WOOD 55 The attic ARNOLD ZABLE 90 Big Yengo BRUCE PASCOE 111 Two tales of the sea PAT HOFFIE: The boat story 120 A castle in Toorak MARION HALLIGAN 138 Light dawns JULIE KEARNEY 162 Snow White and the child soldier ALI ALIZADEH 172 A glimpse of paradise CATE KENNEDY 191 Snake in the grass CLAIRE CORBETT 210 Black swan event MARGO LANAGAN 245 The ghost river TONY BIRCH MEMOIR 23 Stories as salvation KATE FORSYTH: Slaying the dragons 41 Return of the rings ANNA MARIA DELL’OSO: To the land of Magnatutto and the Madonna 65 Child MEME McDONALD: Finding story in place 80 Old women’s business LEONIE NORRINGTON: Indigenous story and cultural resilience 129 Happily ever after MICHELLE LAW: The possibility of another ending 151 A touch of silk VICTOR MARSH: A (post)modern faerie tale 220 Three bunyips MEREDITH JELBART: Ways of seeing and not seeing POETRY 22 Going on CECILIA CONDON griffithreview.com Read more online and purchase previous digital and print editions COVER IMAGE: Text Publishing Griffith REVIEW gratefully acknowledges the support and ongoing generosity of our founding patron Margaret Mittelheuser and patron Cathryn Mittelheuser. GriffithREVIEW42 SUMMER 2013 GriffithREVIEW is published four times a year by Griffith University in conjunction with Text Publishing. ISSN 1448-2924 Publisher Marilyn McMeniman AM Editor Julianne Schultz AM Co-editor Carmel Bird Deputy Editors Erica Sontheimer, Nicholas Bray Production Manager Paul Thwaites Publicist Susan Hornbeck Publication & Cover Design WH Chong, Text Publishing Text Publishing Michael Heyward, Kirsty Wilson, Shalini Kunahlan Proofreading Alan Vaarwerk Editorial Interns Coco McGrath, Madeleine Watts, Alana Brekelmans, Nicholas Ivanovic, Jessica O’Neill, Timothy Fitzgerald, Sam Hooshmand, Kirra Smith, Michelle Allan Administration Jane Hunterland Typesetting Midland Typesetters Printing Ligare Book Printers Distribution Penguin Australia Contributions by academics can, on request, be refereed by our Editorial Board. Details: www.griffithreview.com GRIFFITH REVIEW South Bank Campus, Griffith University PO Box 3370, South Brisbane QLD 4101 Australia Ph +617 3735 3071 Fax +617 3735 3272 [email protected] www.griffithreview.com TEXT PUBLISHING Swann House, 22 William St, Melbourne VIC 3000 Australia Ph +613 8610 4500 Fax +613 9629 8621 [email protected] www.textpublishing.com.au SUBSCRIPTIONS Within Australia: 1 year (4 editions) $111.80 RRP, inc. P&H and GST Outside Australia: 1 year (4 editions) A$161.80 RRP, inc. P&H Institutional and bulk rates available on application. COPYRIGHT The copyright of all material published in Griffith REVIEW and on its website remains the property of the author, artist or photographer, and is subject to copyright laws. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written permission from the publisher. ||| Opinions published in Griffith REVIEW are not necessarily those of the Publisher, Editor, Griffith University or Text Publishing. FEEDBACK AND COMMENT www.griffithreview.com ADVERTISING Each issue of Griffith REVIEW has a circulation of at least 3,000 copies. Full-page adverts are available to selected advertisers. To book your advert, in the first instance please email Griffith REVIEW: [email protected] INTRODUCTION Stories to live by Dreams of pumpkins, toads, princesses and more Julianne Schultz OVER the past few years the body politic in Australia has had an excep- tionally high temperature. If it were possible to take it in the way that one used to measure a child’s fever – shaken thermometer under the tongue, counting, watching the mercury rising – it would probably have registered in the danger zone, even as other vital signs remained good. Cool washers, paracetamol and rest would have been called for. In this febrile environment it is scarcely surprising that those shaping the public debate, and those commenting on it, unwittingly defaulted to the embedded language of fairy tales. The agitated dreams that accompany fever frequently dredge memories of wicked witches, marauding wolves, evil stepmothers, lurking strangers, shape shifting objects and disguised princes masquerading as frogs or other unlikely creatures. The cartoonists, especially David Rowe in the Australian Financial Review, got it. Day after day he brilliantly skewered barely articulated nightmares and pricked the balloon of promise. David Rowe’s work provides a stunning centrepiece for this edition of Griffith REVIEW. But as is so often the way when one wakes from a dream, the detail is lost although the sentiment remains to tinge the coming day. So it has been during the five weeks of the 2013 election campaign – appro- priately, for my metaphor at least – during an unseasonably warm August. No 8 GriffithREVIEW42 one actually used the language of evil stepmothers, wolves or avenging princes, but a campaign where the pitch was reduced to a handful of words, only made sense if the subtext, of culturally embedded stories, was understood. So when one side talked about waking from paralysis, we instinctively understood that Sleeping Beauty did that, and when the other side talked about the dangers that lurked in the woods, we remembered what happened to Little Red Riding Hood.