Speaker 1 00:02
This is a Vision Australia Radio podcast.
Speaker 2 00:18
On Vision Australia Radio, welcome to our conversations on the work and experiences of emerging writers. I'm Kate Cooper. This week we're revisiting highlights from some of our previous programs featuring authors who write for children and adolescents.
Speaker 2 00:36
In this program we'll hear readings by Penny Matthews, Ian Napier, Hayley Morton and Tracy Crisp, as well as insights from graphic novelist Georgina Chadderton. We begin with a reading by Penny Matthews. Penny is the author of several books for children and adolescents and is a former editor and publisher. She grew up on a farm in rural South Australia and farm life is a key theme in several of her books. The country remains, in her words, the place that is always most vividly real for her. Two of Penny's novels, the Nellie stories and the Ruby stories, tell aspects of South Australian history through the eyes of 12-year-old girls, Nellie in 1849 and Ruby in 1930.
Each novel forms part of Penguin Books' Our Australian Girl series, and each comprises four stories that come together as a delightful whole. Their stories of friendship, of dealing with hardship, of spiritedness and strength, of forgiveness and of hope for the future. The Ruby stories are set in the early 1930s at the time of the Great Depression when unemployed working people lived in campsites on the banks of the River Torrens. Penny writes about the striking contrasts between privilege and poverty and the importance of people working together to help one another out. In a very helpful Did You Know section at the end of the Ruby stories, young and older readers can learn, for example, that South Australia suffered more than other states during the Depression because so many jobs in Adelaide had been in industry or the building trade, something that I hadn't known previously.
The Nellie stories describe life as it was in the streets of Adelaide back in 1849 through the eyes of Nellie and other Irish orphans who were sent to the colony of South Australia in 1849 to work as servants. Here now is Penny Matthews reading from one of the Nellie stories. This extract tells of Nellie's arrival in the colony.
Speaker 3 02:54
South Australia was flatter and colder than Nellie had expected, but the wharf buildings of brick and timber looked important enough. The Elgin, tied up in a long line with other ships, seemed exhausted, its sails furled, the water lapping at its sides. Seagulls fluttered and squabbled. They weren't like the gulls back home. These were smaller and had wicked red eyes. Some of the orphans were to stay on board until jobs could be found for them. Those like Nellie and Mary, who were going ashore, now stood on the wharf in small groups, minding their boxes and bundles. Most of them looked confused and lost. Peggy Duffy was comforting Sarah Ryan, who was in floods of tears. We'll never see our home again, never. Sarah was wailing over and over. Well, that was very likely the truth.
Nellie looked up at the deep blue sky, so different from the soft pale sky over Ireland. She looked down at her boots, now firmly planted on the packed dirt of the wharf. It was like any other dirt, but it was South Australian dirt. She could hardly get her head around at all. She'd never been out of County Kerry in her whole life, and now here she was on the other side of the world. Mary stood beside her, gazing silently at the slow green wash of the sea.
Nellie could see that beneath her shawl, Mary was holding Vanessa, her old wooden doll. Vanessa had only one leg, and her painted face was almost worn away, but Mary refused to give her up. Mary might be fourteen, but in some ways she's still like a child, Nellie thought.
She put a protective arm around her friend, and the two girls huddled together as if sheltering from a sudden freezing wind. There's nobody here to tell us what to do, Nellie said to Mary. Perhaps we shall be sleeping on the wharf tonight, with animals bouncing all around us. She tried to laugh, but shivered instead. What wouldn't I give for a bit of bread and a mug of hot tea, Mary said? I never thought I'd miss the workhouse, but already I do. Ah, but do remember Matron Hoggett's shouting red face, said Nellie with a grin. There's something I'm happy never to see again. The workhouse was hell on earth, and you know it. Here, I saved this for us.
She rummaged in her pocket, produced a square of rock hard ship's biscuit, and broke it in two, passing a piece to Mary. You shouldn't say hell, Nellie, said Mary, looking shocked. What would Father Donnelly think? You just said the very word yourself, Angel, replied Nellie, trying to crack her biscuit with her front teeth, and I won't tell Father Donnelly if you don't. She looked over to where the paying passengers were overseeing the handling of their luggage. Huge wooden sea chests, brass-bound leather trunks, even a piano. The men shouted orders, and their wives stood around in their silk dresses and fine bonnets. A tall, thin woman dressed in purple was loudly scolding a sailor who'd almost dropped a box on her foot. Nellie elbowed Mary in the side. Just look at the face on that one, she whispered. I pity the poor soul who has to work for her, and may it not be me, she prayed.
Speaker 2 06:19
We've just heard a reading by Penny Matthews, author of several books for children and adolescents, who is also a former editor and publisher. To listen to our full conversation with Penny, go to Vision Australia Radio podcasts.
Next, we'll hear a reading by Dr. Ian Napier, retired rocket scientist and author of several books for children and young adults. Ian's novels include the science fiction books The Ghosts of Mars and the sequel The Last Martian, also titled The Fifth Martian, which are aimed at a teenage audience and involve two young people in their mid-teens who both have a keen interest in space science. The novels are set in the near future and make reference to well-known people such as Adelaide's own astronaut Andy Thomas, as well as recent events, including viruses and lockdowns. Ian's science fiction novels explore important issues through the medium of action-packed adventures.
One of the messages in The Last Martian is about using technology for good, and in The Ghosts of Mars, Ian explores the tension between the use of artificial intelligence and the essential importance of maintaining our individual identity... indeed, our souls. His novel, Reg, written for eight to 12-year-olds, is told from the perspective of a 12-year-old girl, Jasmine, who is very resourceful and attuned to the world around her. The story of Reg starts off in Adelaide but is mostly set in and around Darwin and the Parks and Ranges of the Northern Territory and gives a nod to the NT Parks and Wildlife Rangers. Let's hear now from Dr Ian Napier reading an extract from his novel Reg.
Speaker 4
This is one of the early chapters in the book and she's been at school in Darwin after a few traumatic experiences and but after two weeks it's now dog day when she's been promised that she can actually adopt a dog.
Uncle Harry insisted on coming with me to the place where they keep all the lost and abandoned dogs. He reckons I'll need his expert help to pick out a really good one. He's never actually owned a dog Jasmine, Aunt Margaret whispered conspiratorially, but loud enough for him to hear. However, I've given him a bit of basic training to help with the selection process so he should be all right. She walked to the door with us. Now don't forget what I told you Harry, she said. Go for one with a tail and as close as possible to four legs. Oh, and if it's quite small it's for rear cat.
At the lost dogs home we walk down the rows of cages inspecting the dogs, sometimes lingering in front of one or hurrying past another. All the while Uncle Harry kept making helpful suggestions. How about this one Jas? Looks like a pure red fox Terrier. Great girl's dog I reckon. Or here's a good one, Terrier I think. It was actually a Blue Heeler. Aunt Margaret was dead right about him. I put on a super vague look so that I wouldn't have to make any decisions yet and continued down the line of cages. The further I went, the more I realised how hard the decision was going to be. Most of the dogs were lovely and it was just awful to think that so many of them would have to be destroyed. Two months jail was all they got and if they hadn't been claimed by their owners or taken by somebody like me in that time they got a needle. Yuck.
Then halfway down the row of cages I saw my dog. He was a really handsome one. About a year old, medium size and with a coat that was mainly black with tan bits here and there. He was a Kelpie, an Australian sheepdog and was absolutely gorgeous. But what got me most was the way he came up to the front of the cage and just looked intently at me out of those big brown eyes and cocked his oversized black ears. He was sending a silent message and it was just as clear as if he could speak. Please, please choose me was the message, and we'll have fun together forever and ever.
Speaker 2 10:24
We've just heard readings by Dr. Ian Napier, retired rocket scientist and author of several books for children and young adults. To listen to our full conversation with Ian, go to Vision Australia Radio podcasts.
Next, we'll hear readings by Hayley Morton. Hayley is an author of books for children and adults and is also an educator, librarian and yoga teacher. Hailey's books for children include the three Captain Plot books, available from essay water and public libraries. These colourful, delightfully illustrated books describe in accessible and fun ways how water recycling and desalination work and teach children about responsible use of water in our dry state. Hayley also has a Think Beings series for children and a book titled My Perfect Pet, which is available in both English and Spanish. Part profits from the sale of this book are donated to Paws and Claws adoptions. Hailey has also written a novel for adults titled Peace of the Puzzle. For our listeners, peace is spelt P-E-A-C-E and there is a sequel, Missing Peace, which is underway. Here now is Hayley Morton reading from Peace of the Puzzle.
Speaker 5 11:44
As Elena dusted the frames on their bedroom wall, she studied the petrified butterflies beneath the glass. The kaleidoscope of bright, fragile wings seemed poised to take flight. But there would be no more flying for these lifeless shells, doomed to be pegged forever more in their square glass prison. Michael's butterfly obsession had taken over their house. Reminders of that to which his heart belonged were everywhere, framed pictures and preserved specimens on every wall, colourful adhesive motifs on windows, figurines on the dressing table, coffee mugs, tea towels, calendars displaying a different fluttering beauty every month. She wasn't blameless though, having bought several of them as birthday gifts because he was so difficult to buy for.
The only other gift she could think of was wine, and that seemed so impersonal. She'd started something that had no end, and she shuddered as she envisioned their twilight years, every inch of their home cluttered with butterfly paraphernalia. Hailey has a blog on her website, haileymorton.com, in which she tells of some significant events in her life. She's writing a novel, Camino Into the Heart, about these events. We spoke with Hailey about the Camino, what it is and what it has meant to her, and who she met along the way.
Speaker 2 13:06
The story began when Hailey decided to learn Spanish. Here is Hayley Morton talking about the Camino de Santiago.
Speaker 5 13:16
So the Camino refers to the Camino de Santiago, which is a pilgrimage across the top of Spain, across the northern part of Spain. So it was originally a Catholic pilgrimage and people came from all parts of Europe and made their way through the north of Spain to Santiago de Compostela, a city where they were building a cathedral. Rich people would sometimes pay others to walk it for them because it was quite a treacherous journey back then and they thought that it would save their soul if somebody else did it for them. And these days it's a combination of people who are still very religious, do it for religious purposes. Some people do it for more spiritual but not religious purposes and others because they love to hike and there's lots of mountains in the Camino. So I decided I was going to walk the Camino after I read Shirley Maclean's book El Camino.
And then I saw a movie The Way with Martin Sheen and I got really excited about it and I thought yes, this is my next overseas adventure and it was before I had met my husband. So I started learning Spanish and then I downloaded an app to practice speaking with native speakers so it matches you up with people around the world that speak the language that you're learning. And my husband happened to download it at roughly the same time and he was learning English. So we started talking and then he, about a week after we started to speak, he asked me if he could walk the Camino with me and I said No, definitely not, I'm doing this on my own.
It's a spiritual experience. And then the next day I changed my mind and said, well, maybe, maybe you could come along. And in the end we did it together. So it's just under 800 kilometres and it took us 31 days. We carried our backpacks for all but three days of that and yeah, it was a really, really good experience. It was us getting to know each other. So it was more a Camino of love in the end than a spiritual experience and by the end of it we agreed that we were going to get married. So the book is our experience of walking the Camino and interspersed with, you know, how we met and how it all kind of evolved and then a bit of what came afterwards.
Speaker 2 15:45
On Vision Australia Radio, you're listening to Emerging Writers. This week, revisiting highlights from our programs featuring authors who write for children and adolescents. We've just heard readings by Hayley Morton, author of books for children and adults, educator, librarian and yoga teacher. To listen to our full conversation with Hayley, go to Vision Australia Radio podcasts.
Next, we'll hear a reading by Tracy Crisp. Tracy is a novelist, short story writer and comedy writer and performer, including at Adelaide Fringe Festivals and one-woman shows such as her recent second annual world-famous One Night Only live Christmas Letter reading, which was an absolute hoot. Tracy has published short stories and essays in most of Australia's major literary journals, has two published novels, Black Dust Dancing and Surrogate from 2009 and 2017 respectively, and is currently working on a third novel with the working title of The Fish Have Vicious Teeth. Black Dust Dancing is subtly and beautifully written and the narrative is highly engaging. In a review of Surrogate, the Sydney Morning Herald writes that Tracy's clipped, understated prose, eye for detail and slightly earthy sense of humour makes Surrogate an involving read.
Tracy's first published work was a short story for young people titled Antonia's Gift, which was published in the New Zealand Puffins Storybook. The story is sad in part, but also very beautiful and hopeful. Here is Tracy Crisp reading Antonia's Gift.
Speaker 6 17:37
Antonia's Gift. On Tuesdays I hurry home from school so Dad can drive me to my music lesson. Dad calls my teacher Ms. Allegretto, but I call her Antonia. When I get to my lesson, Antonia and I drink spirulina. Then, for a warm-up, we lie flat on her backs. Close our eyes, take a deep, deep breath. And when our breath comes out, it is the sweetest, brightest sound in the world. For the rest of the time, I play my flute, and Antonia listens. While she listens, she asks me to do different things with my music. Antonia asks, can you play like a monkey? And my notes chase each other around the room. Antonia asks, can you play like a soldier? And my notes march neatly side by side. Antonia asks, can you play like a tree? And my notes rub against each other, whispering secrets I don't always understand.
One Tuesday, when I got home from school, Dad said I couldn't go to Antonia's. He said he needed to tell me something. Dad asked me to cuddle up tight with him on my favourite lounge room chair. He sat as still and as quietly as my best semibreve rest and took a deep, deep breath. I can't remember exactly what he said, but he told me that early in the morning, Antonia had been in an accident and died. Dad was crying, but at first I didn't know how to cry. I didn't understand, so I didn't know what to do. I went to my bedroom. I lay down on my bed and I tried to figure it out. On Wednesday, I didn't go to school.
On Wednesday night, I looked at my flute and thought of monkeys, soldiers, trees and cats and wondered who could help me make their sounds now. No one, I was sure. On Thursday, I went to school. Most of my friends and teachers were kind, but some of them didn't talk to me all day. I guess they didn't know what to say. On Thursday night, I packed up all my music and put it with the newspapers to be recycled. When I closed the bin lid, I thought I heard a monkey laugh, but I knew it wasn't true. On Friday, Dad took me to see Antonia's mum, Veronica. Veronica looked just like Antonia, only smaller and sadder.
Veronica's house was filled with flowers. There were flowers next to the phone, flowers on the piano, flowers on the coffee table and flowers in the bathroom. She said the orange roses we gave her were beautiful, but I wished I could have given her something better. She invited us to stay for afternoon tea. I asked if she knew how to make spirulina and Veronica laughed and hugged me and I felt a bit like smiling. Veronica and I talked about Antonia and the things we loved and missed about her. Veronica told me about camping trips she and Antonia had been on when Antonia was a little girl. I told Veronica about the cats and soldiers Antonia could entice from my flute.
Then I told her I would never play my flute again. I could never make it come alive without Antonia, so I would leave the flute in its case forever. Veronica didn't answer. Before we left, Veronica gave me Antonia's silver ring shaped like a frog. I looked again at the orange roses Dad and I had given Veronica and in my mind I thought I heard a tree rustling, but I knew it wasn't true. The next Tuesday I tried to ride home from school as slowly as possible. I couldn't imagine not going to Antonia's, although I knew I wouldn't be. I rode through the park and I heard the monkeys laughing in the trees and I knew this time it was true. One tiny piece of the world suddenly made sense.
I raced home, grabbed my flute and asked Dad to drive me to Veronica's. He looked a bit worried, but he didn't ask questions and we left straight away. When we got there, I unpacked my flute and I started to play to Veronica. At first I played like a storm and my notes exploded in anger as they crashed against each other. Then I played like a mountain and my notes were wide and grand and wise. And then I played like the moonlight and my notes danced lightly from ceiling to floor to wall. I played and played and played and my music was anything I asked it to be. A sunflower, the ocean or an eagle.
As I played I still missed Antonia. I still didn't understand why she had died and I would always wish she hadn't. But I knew something else now. Antonia had given me trees and monkeys. That was her gift to me. I had given Veronica the moonlight, mountains and a storm. And that was my gift to Antonia.
Speaker 2 22:36
We've just heard a reading by Tracy Crisp, novelist, short story writer and comedy writer and performer. To listen to our full conversation with Tracy, go to Vision Australia Radio podcasts.
Before we end this week's program, we'll hear a few words from Georgina Chadderton - comics creator, author and illustrator, graphic novelist, co-founder and co-director of the Papercuts Comics Festival, workshop facilitator and blogger. Georgina has a website, George Rex Comics, which is very user friendly, incredibly easy to navigate and full of information about a whole range of aspects of her highly prolific creative work. The information on Georgina's website includes details of workshops that she runs and some free online comics and drawing resources available for download, including an item prompt comic to help stimulate ideas.
As well as co-directing the Biennial Papercuts Comics Festival, Georgina contributes to other artists and writers festivals. She's currently working on a graphic novel titled Oh Brother, which is due to be published simultaneously in Australia at the US, the UK and Canada in 2024. Georgina spoke with us in May last year about the story that inspired her graphic novel.
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The inspiration for this story... so the book itself is, I guess I would call it a narrative memoir. So it's a memoir. So it's a story about my life growing up, but it has been, in this newest version with the publisher, has been fictionalised slightly to make it more narrative, to make it an actual story that makes sense because obviously life doesn't always work in a nice smooth way. But the subject of the memoir is about growing up with my brother, who is autistic and also has an intellectual disability. So he is non-speaking, non-verbal and has fairly high support needs, and has for most of his life.
And so I wanted to write a book that helped or represented my experience as a sibling growing up with someone with very high needs and hopefully help other siblings out there that have similar situations feel less alone because growing up there was definitely not that much representation of autism or disability on the screens or in books that I often have to explain, particularly what autism was to a lot of my peers and sometimes even their parents. So yeah, it's kind of something that I've been doing for years and now I get to do it in a graphic novel format, which is definitely my chosen storytelling format.
Because as I've mentioned earlier, I am able to get the nuances that I feel like I can't get when I'm just writing with prose, just with words. I can get some of those emotional nuances in the illustration and yeah, that I can't get in just prose. So graphic novel was my natural inclination was just to go straight. Yeah, making a longer comic, which has been a good experience, but very, very hard. You wouldn't think, you know, 30 page comic versus a 300 page comic would be that much different, obviously, but it is.
Speaker 2 25:44
And Georgina is documenting the progress of her graphic novel, titled Oh Brother, on her website George Rex Comics. That was graphic novelist Georgina Chadderton completing this week's episode of Emerging Writers, which also featured readings by the authors Penny Matthews, Ian Napier, Hayley Morton and Tracy Crisp.
This program can be heard at the same time each week, here on Vision Australia Radio, via radio and digital, online at VA Radio dot org and also on Vision Australia Radio podcasts, where you can catch up on all our Emerging Writers episodes. Thanks for listening to this Vision Australia Radio podcast. Don't forget to subscribe on your preferred podcast platform. Visit varadio.org for more.
Speaker 6 26:47
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