Cirrus@Austlit

'Creating or recreating voices through the writing of fictional letters can be a way of reconnecting with places that may have been taken from us. For the person denied an authentic connection with their birthplace, the writing of voice through fictional stories, novels and creative nonfiction may have the power to bridge time and distance, to take a person back to the place where they were born and to help rebuild an origin story that was refused them. By recreating the voices of people associated with one’s original home, especially when writing for an audience who may take the theoretical place of an absent respondent, a person may come to develop a better understanding of their relationship with that region. This paper is informed by Elspeth Probyn’s theory that childhood is a repeatable point of beginning, Anne-Marie Fortier’s extended definition of home, and an examination of the results a return to the past may bring. It references studies on dialect as it relates to character the epistolary form. It provides examples that informed the author’s thinking in using voice to reflect place and follows with samples of the author’s attempts to connect with their birthplace by drawing imaginary portraits using dialect reflected in the epistolary form. It ends with a reflection on this process.' (Publication abstract)