Issue Details: First known date: 2023... 2023 To Sing, to Say : A Lyric Ethics for Coming into Country
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

'I AM A poet and an essayist, a teacher of writing and a father of five children, who visit like rare birds these days, and I live with my partner and two spaniels and a cat along the Wingecarribee River (one of its many much debated spellings) on Gundungurra land, country never ceded, 125 kilometres south-west of what is now mostly called Sydney, which sits on the stolen ground of the Gadigal. I am, as far as I know, a non-­Indigenous Australian man, a fifth-­generation descendant of Cornish and German immigrants. They settled land that was not theirs to settle, though that’s not what they were told; I live on land to which nothing but love gives me any kind of title, and I own none of it. Who can afford to own it anyway these days, even if one felt one had the right?' (Introduction) 

Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of

  • Appears in:
    y separately published work icon Griffith Review Creation Stories no. 80 2023 26159840 2023 periodical issue

    'The capacity to tell stories – along with language and the ability to create art – is seen as both intrinsic and unique to the human species. Over thousands of years, we’ve forged narratives of our origins, our journeys and our dreams as a means of accounting for who we are and to define our place in the world. 

    'In the twenty-first century, as our existential and environmental crises mount, humanity’s place feels distinctly tenuous. What lessons from the past can inform, even shape, our increasingly uncertain future? And are the stories we’re telling ourselves about what comes next – environmental downfall or technological salvation – helping or hindering what we might do and where we might go? 

    'In celebration of Griffith Review’s eightieth edition and twentieth anniversary, Creation Stories looks to the stars above and the earth below to map our ever-evolving relationships with the world around us. From archaeology and astronomy to AI and transhumanism, the preservation of traditional knowledge to the intricacies of postmodern identity, this edition travels through time and space to explore the many tales of who we are and where we might be headed.'  (Publication summary)

    2023
    pg. 172-181
Last amended 6 Jun 2023 14:06:06
172-181 To Sing, to Say : A Lyric Ethics for Coming into Countrysmall AustLit logo Griffith Review
Subjects:
Newspapers:
    Powered by Trove
    X