'This wide-ranging and captivating anthology showcases both the power of First Nations writing and the satisfaction of a good short story. Curated by award-winning author Ellen van Neerven, Flock roams the landscape of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander storytelling, bringing together voices from across the generations. Featuring established authors such as Tony Birch and Melissa Lucashenko, and rising stars such as Adam Thompson and Mykaela Saunders, Flock confirms the ongoing resonance and originality of First Nations stories.' (Publication summary)
' It should be a simple task – help Sharkey move his beehives up the coast road. Travelling St Mary’s Pass with Sharkey is treacherous in more ways than one – but as Nathan soon finds, nature has its ways of extracting justice.' (Introduction)
`Gimme an axe.'
'The woman blurted this order across the formica counter. When the shopkeeper turned and saw her brimming eyes he took a hasty step backwards. His rancid half-smile, insincere to begin with, vanished into the gloomy corners of the store. It was still very early. Outside, tucked beneath a ragged hibiscus bush, a hen cawed a single, doubtful note. Inside was nothing but this black girl and her highly irregular demand.' (Introduction)
'Maggie is a pregnant building-owner tree-changer, overwhelmed with decisions about tiles and taps — until tragedy strikes. Her small, private grief sits alongside the sudden, very public death of the ‘People’s Princess.’ Eventually, the flowers wilt and the condolence cards stop, and the tribute songs don’t play on the radio, but Maggie can’t stop wondering — how do you keep a small memory alive?'
Source: National Playwrighting Festival program.
'Flock: First Nations Stories Then and Now, edited by Ellen van Neerven, is a collection of previously published short stories showcasing the talents of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander writers spanning the past 25 years. In the introduction van Neerven notes that the title Flock is carefully chosen, in part, as an acknowledgement to an Aboriginal literary giant, Kerry Reed Gilbert, who nurtured writers through the First Nations Australian Writers Network, which she co-founded and chaired. ‘We all have our own pair of beautiful wings,’ writes van Neerven, ‘but we fly together in formation. Together we are stronger. We flock together.’ This is what the collection exemplifies, the unification of Indigenous stories, of reclaiming identity, stories and culture.' (Introduction)
Live Recording : Ellen Van Neerven in Conversation
Cassie Lynch
(interviewer),
Melanie Saward
(interviewer),
Adam Thompson
(interviewer),
2021
23474527
2021
single work
podcast
interview
'A conversation between anthology curator Ellen van Neerven and Flock contributors Cassie Lynch, Melanie Saward, and Adam Thompson.' (Production summary)
'Flock is a brief glimpse at the past 25 years of First Nations writing. As Ellen van Neerven, the collection’s editor, writes, “many collections have come before this one”. There have been a lot of stories, shared between kin, across Country and generations, some of them that evade the written word. Here are 20 previously published short stories that together tell of resurgent ecological communities, of loss, shadow-lives and family.' (Introduction)
'Flock is a brief glimpse at the past 25 years of First Nations writing. As Ellen van Neerven, the collection’s editor, writes, “many collections have come before this one”. There have been a lot of stories, shared between kin, across Country and generations, some of them that evade the written word. Here are 20 previously published short stories that together tell of resurgent ecological communities, of loss, shadow-lives and family.' (Introduction)
'Flock: First Nations Stories Then and Now, edited by Ellen van Neerven, is a collection of previously published short stories showcasing the talents of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander writers spanning the past 25 years. In the introduction van Neerven notes that the title Flock is carefully chosen, in part, as an acknowledgement to an Aboriginal literary giant, Kerry Reed Gilbert, who nurtured writers through the First Nations Australian Writers Network, which she co-founded and chaired. ‘We all have our own pair of beautiful wings,’ writes van Neerven, ‘but we fly together in formation. Together we are stronger. We flock together.’ This is what the collection exemplifies, the unification of Indigenous stories, of reclaiming identity, stories and culture.' (Introduction)
Live Recording : Ellen Van Neerven in Conversation
Cassie Lynch
(interviewer),
Melanie Saward
(interviewer),
Adam Thompson
(interviewer),
2021
23474527
2021
single work
podcast
interview
'A conversation between anthology curator Ellen van Neerven and Flock contributors Cassie Lynch, Melanie Saward, and Adam Thompson.' (Production summary)
