The Capital of Planning single work   prose  
Issue Details: First known date: 2012... 2012 The Capital of Planning
The material on this page is available to AustLit subscribers. If you are a subscriber or are from a subscribing organisation, please log in to gain full access. To explore options for subscribing to this unique teaching, research, and publishing resource for Australian culture and storytelling, please contact us or find out more.

AbstractHistoryArchive Description

'It was at the end of year twelve that I first announced my intention to live in Canberra for the duration of my degree. I was interested in politics and philosophy (though, like most university students, ended up changing my major altogether), and Canberra had all the relevant institutions to make moving seem like a good idea. I've never stopped having to explain this decision. Why would you move to Canberra?, people constantly asked. There were a few stock responses to my move among my friends, family and vague acquaintances. It's boring there was the first; It's cold there and I always get lost there (and not in a whimsical way) soon followed. Surely, after having lived in Canberra for four years, I would have something more interesting and less stereotypical to say about it than stock material that everyone says. But, in a way, the critics are right: Canberra is cold and difficult to navigate and departs greatly from the idea of a bustling metropolis...' (Publication abstract)

Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of

  • Appears in:
    y separately published work icon Voiceworks no. 89 Winter 2012 16748349 2012 periodical issue 'For a few years I lived in a tiny beachside town six hours from Melbourne. It was the kind of place with postcard-perfect shorelines, mudbrick houses and a prep-to–year  twelve college. So, even in a combined classroom, there were only ten other kids in my class, the majority of whom weren’t mad keen on books. These being the dark days of dial-up, whatchya saw was pretty much whatchya got in terms of a peer group – and even worse, selection at the school library. After moving to suburbia, the hourlong train ride into the city felt like teleportation in super-slow motion. The pull of those corporate towers sheltering hidden cafes was physical. Like an undertow or tractor beam. By the time adolescence kicked in proper, I was caught up in a powerful question familiar to all fledgling artists: once you realise you’re a writer, what next? I’d already taught myself to like coffee and some Silvia Plath. Now I wanted more.' (Kat Muscat, Editorial introduction) 2012 pg. 57-59
Last amended 6 Jun 2019 14:33:08
Informit * Subscription service. Check your library.
Subjects:
  • Canberra, Australian Capital Territory,
Newspapers:
    Powered by Trove
    X