Cirrus@Austlit

'All her life, Marie O’Rourke has been a Good Girl, a perfectionist, using words to apply golden seams to an imperfect life in an attempt to make something beautiful out of things that are flawed or broken. A volatile father, the death of a sister far too young, a faltering marriage, the ghosts of lovers past: these are just some of the fragments that Marie puts together again in these essays that explore her closest relationships as a daughter, sister, mother, wife and lover.

'With exquisite prose, Marie reflects on the beauty of brokenness and the ways in which time can transform our understanding of truth, forgiveness, and healing. These essays are a poignant reminder that some things cannot be fixed but can still hold immense beauty and meaning. Whether you’ve experienced similar struggles, or are seeking a deeper understanding of the human experience, Marie’s collection will leave you moved and inspired.

'How many of us feel our family life is not picture perfect? This book will resonate with those who are interested in exploring the human condition through universal themes of love and loss, forgiveness and redemption.' (Publication summary)

'The day begins with yoghurt and muesli in a stranger's kitchen, air thick with a rare summer heatwave and my discomfort over her 'tidying' my room while I was out. A message from you: here, waiting, parked by canal. But no hurry, I'm told, you have sandwich and crisps to consume. In my windowless room at the very top of the house, I search for clothes suited to clammy air, the suggestion of rain, and a climb up Stoodley Pike.' (Introduction)

'The requirement for separate creative and exegetical components by universities offering creative doctoral programmes is a largely accepted model in Australia. The Research Question Model adopted by Curtin University in Western Australia is an example of this. The parallel, ‘independent’ articulation of creative and academic responses is explored in this article by a supervisor and three PhD candidates all writing in the genre of creative non-fiction. We suggest that the boundaries between the scholarly and creative in creative non-fiction works are far from clear and that this reflects both contemporary non-fiction publishing and new movements in scholarly writing. We propose that Barthes’s ‘ambiguous genre’, the essay, may be one useful way of conceptualising the non-fiction creative doctorate.'  (Publication abstract)

'A mosaic of lyric fragments, ‘First Cake Method’ is a short piece of experimental memoir working within the lyric essay form to explore the complexity of a father/daughter relationship. Shifting between first and third person narrative, from the child narrator to adult, it sketches a story that is both personal and universal, exploring the human need for love and acceptance while hinting at the specifics of this family’s dysfunction. Relating moments of intimacy and distance, at different stages of life, cooking and food is the central motif for an exploration of the narrator’s determination to master the ‘recipe’ for connection. Thus the structure and content of the essay work to embody the complexity of familial relationships. The use of fragmentation and repetition also mimics memory’s tendency to ‘snapshots’, thematic grouping and revision.' (Abstract)