Datsunland single work   novella  
Issue Details: First known date: 2016... 2016 Datsunland
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AbstractHistoryArchive Description

'William Dutton was still walking towards school. Two decades after he'd finished, still. Carrying his guitar, head down, mumbling to himself, resenting that he had to go, waste another day, fill in shitty little forms that he always got wrong, screwed up, started again, or forgot to attach, eliciting a reminder email. He didn't even like schools, but where else could a guitar teacher get work? He didn't like how the bell was the same bell as in the '70s - loud, metallic, unable to compromise, still cutting days into geography-sized pieces, unwilling to allow sunshine, Ginsberg's hipster funk or fun. Fun. Fancy that. And the way teachers stood in hallways discussing assessment criteria and performance standards, like the boys were goats to be fattened to fetch the best price at the abattoir. He hated his pigeonhole, because it never contained anything he was interested in, just more work, more shit to fill in, more complaints from parents. And he hated them too. Why couldn't they just teach their own kids, or feed them, take them to sport, imbue manners? Yes, manners. They had to be 'imbued'. He couldn't understand what people talked about in staff meetings. What did it matter if socks were worn below the knee? Or if no one had completed their sixty hours of professional development? What was professional development? How to make an effective rubric? Rubrics. Fuck. More shit, less interest than 'Mein Kampf' - although at least that started a war...' (Introduction)

Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of

  • Appears in:
    y separately published work icon Griffith Review Earthly Delights : The Novella Project IV no. 54 2016 10641945 2016 periodical issue

    'Griffith Review once again showcases some of the best new Australian fiction with its fourth novella competition, Earthly Delights.' (Publication abstract)

    2016
    pg. 138-241

Works about this Work

Interview with Stephen Orr Lauren E. Mitchell , 2016 single work interview
— Appears in: Griffith Review , no. 54 2016;
'Based in Adelaide, Stephen Orr has published several novels, and has been nominated for the Commonwealth Writers Prize and twice for the Miles Franklin Literary Award. His novella ‘Datsunland’ explores the hesitant bond that develops between a reluctant music teacher and his teenage student in a school they both loathe. In this interview, he discusses his own experiences of teaching, and how growing up in ’70s suburbia informed his writing.' (Publication abstract)
Interview with Stephen Orr Lauren E. Mitchell , 2016 single work interview
— Appears in: Griffith Review , no. 54 2016;
'Based in Adelaide, Stephen Orr has published several novels, and has been nominated for the Commonwealth Writers Prize and twice for the Miles Franklin Literary Award. His novella ‘Datsunland’ explores the hesitant bond that develops between a reluctant music teacher and his teenage student in a school they both loathe. In this interview, he discusses his own experiences of teaching, and how growing up in ’70s suburbia informed his writing.' (Publication abstract)
Last amended 19 Jan 2017 08:35:32
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