'A unique behind-the-scenes story of love, sisterhood and the trail-blazing Australian poet Dorothy Porter
'Dorothy Porter was one of Australia's most charismatic and courageous literary figures. Achieving broader fame through her bestselling queer crime verse novel, The Monkey's Mask, and its film adaptation, she took poetry and performance to new heights.
'Her younger sister, Josie McSkimming, watched Dot become an award-winning poet, but it was a family of complex dynamics. Born to renowned barrister Chester Porter, Dot, Josie and their sister, Mary, grew up in an unpredictable family home on Sydney's northern beaches. Each forged her own impressive career, but Josie and Dot sought very different escapes from their formidable father. Josie fell into (and out of) evangelical Christianity and psychotherapy while Dot found 'the Arts' and sex.
'With unprecedented access to Porter's personal diaries and letters, Gutsy Girls is an intimate story of sisterhood, finding creative power and blazing your own trail.' (Publication summary)
'My sister Dorothy Porter was a bohemian gay poet; I was a respectable church handmaiden. But she cracked the door open for me to start seeing the world differently' (Introduction)
'I think my favourite memoir is Elton John’s Me, ghostwritten by the music critic Alexis Petridis. The Elton who emerges is a chaotic, talented dickhead who is magnetically likeable: a dickhead who knows he’s a dickhead. Me does not feel like a lie. This is significantly harder to achieve than it might seem.'(Introduction)
'I think my favourite memoir is Elton John’s Me, ghostwritten by the music critic Alexis Petridis. The Elton who emerges is a chaotic, talented dickhead who is magnetically likeable: a dickhead who knows he’s a dickhead. Me does not feel like a lie. This is significantly harder to achieve than it might seem.'(Introduction)
'My sister Dorothy Porter was a bohemian gay poet; I was a respectable church handmaiden. But she cracked the door open for me to start seeing the world differently' (Introduction)
