Cirrus@Austlit

'Changing people’s hearts and minds requires courage, conviction and creativity. To change attitudes and reach the public consciousness, a diverse range of communicative and cultural tools need to be employed. Australian artist and conservationist Kathleen McArthur rose to the challenge using all the forms that were available to her. Working with others such as renowned poet Judith Wright, she sought to change the way Australians regarded our native plants and landscapes. Kathleen understood that to protect the precious environments that remained would require reaching out to ordinary Australians. Therefore, she utilized a suite of arts and communication forms, ranging from postcard campaigns to weekly newspaper columns, public talks, slide presentations, paintings, exhibitions and published books. Inspired by natural forms and utilizing cultural forms, McArthur was able to promote a form of ‘nature culture’ and public consciousness to protect and promote the nature that she loved.' (Publication abstract)

'This year marks 50 years since the launch of one of Australia’s first major conservation battles, waged against Queensland’s ultra-conservative, pro-development premier Joh Bjelke-Petersen. It was for a location few had ever heard of – Cooloola, an area that stretches from Noosa to Rainbow Beach, around 70 km north.' (Introduction)

'This work begins to explore a new story and encounter, and also examines the practice of scriptwriting as a creative practice, as creative writing and research. In particular this work investigates the interactive process of creating, representing multiple voices from historical texts, archival research, the researcher, the writer, the characters and the performers. It aims to contribute to the growing body of work within the academy that explores the nexus between scriptwriting as creative writing and research. While the historical researcher might be more concerned with wanting to accurately analyse and communicate information, the dramatic scriptwriter has to give consideration to aesthetic elements, as well as the multiple contributions of performances and audiences. A creative research process, about nineteenth-century shipwreck survivor Barbara Crawford's story, has therefore begun with a focus on the imagining and writing as research, not considered separately but interrogated as part of the creative process and new work.' (Publication abstract)

'This work uses the creative nonfiction form of a dramatic script to explore the story of Eliza Fraser and a woman’s relationship to place. Using questions of relevance to the contemporary explorer juxtaposed with the documented history of Eliza Fraser’s experiences after a shipwreck in 1836, documentary evidence and place-based research were transformed to create a one women show. The script was developed following research and blogging in the role of Eliza Fraser across a four-month period. In shaping the arc of the script, consideration was given to the concept of a tragic hero and the female version of the ‘hero’s journey’ (Campbell 1990; Murdock 1990) including domestic imprisonment, journey through the underworld, symbolic death, discovery of the mother figure, female tradition, magical flight and rescue. Eliza’s alienation from the place and its people raises questions about what it means to belong, both then and now. ' (Author's abstract)