Trevor Shearston Trevor Shearston i(A18840 works by) (a.k.a. Trevor Ronald Shearston)
Born: Established: 1946 Sydney, New South Wales, ;
Gender: Male
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Works By

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1 1 y separately published work icon The Beach Caves Trevor Shearston , Melbourne : Scribe , 2021 19701558 2021 single work novel
1 2 y separately published work icon Hare's Fur Trevor Shearston , Carlton North : Scribe , 2019 14975804 2019 single work novel

'A jewel of a novel about an ageing potter who, out collecting rock for glazes, finds three kids living in a cave.

'He had closed the workshop door. Now it stood open. The woman was ahead of him, keen to get there, the constable was behind.'I'm sorry, I think they've gone.' 'I hope you're wrong, Mr Bass,' the woman said into the air. 'For their sake and yours.' Russell Bass is a master potter living and working near Katoomba, in the Blue Mountains. Eleven months ago his wife, Adele, died of a stroke. He is back again at the wheel. But his hold on the old deep habits is loosening, even on the habit of living itself. His signature glazes come from rock he collects from veins in a blind canyon below his house. In all the years he has been entering the canyon he has never seen a boot print other than his own. But on this autumn morning, two children are at the shallow pool he must pass to reach his rock, a girl of eight and a boy of five, playing boats with a saucepan and bucket. The children look underfed and wild. And this is no place to camp - sunless, remote. So what on earth are they doing here? And who sent them for water? He retreats with his questions unanswered. But he's back next morning with food in his pack. In prose of simple beauty which brings together clay, humour and deep insights into the need of humans for one another, Hare's Fur is a story of grief, kindness, art, and the bonds that can grow from the seeds of trust.'  (Publication summary)
1 A Step, a Stumble Trevor Shearston , 2016 single work short story
— Appears in: The Best Australian Stories 2016 2016; (p. 98-124) 'The phone rang at breakfast, and again while we were dressing for service. Each time he let it ring out. So early it could only be another reporter. It was ringing again as they turned in the front gate, they could hear it through the open kitchen window. He sprinted to the porch and was almost to the door with the key aimed at the lock when the ringing stopped...' (Introduction)
1 Head in a Jar Trevor Shearston , 2014 single work essay
— Appears in: Meanjin , Spring vol. 73 no. 3 2014; (p. 18-28)
1 4 y separately published work icon Game Trevor Shearston , Crows Nest : Allen and Unwin , 2013 6179754 2013 single work novel historical fiction

'The thought was coming more often. That wherever he was, he was at the centre of a cage. He couldn't have said when the notion first entered his head. Some time in the last months. It was more now than a notion, he could see the damn bars. They were grey steel, the height of a man on horseback. In a dream he'd ridden out of a clump of boulders and caught them just before they retreated, how he knew what they looked like.

'It is 1865. For three years Ben Hall and the men riding with him have been lords of every road in mid-western New South Wales from Bathurst to Goulburn, Lambing Flat to Forbes. But with the Harbourers' Act made law, coach escorts armed now with the new Colt revolving rifle, and mailbags more often containing cheques than banknotes, being game is no longer enough. The road of negotiated surrender is closed. Jack Gilbert has shot dead a police sergeant at Jugiong. Constable Nelson, father of eight, lies buried at Collector, killed by John Dunn. Neither time did Ben pull the fatal trigger, but he too will hang if ever the three are taken. Harry Hall is seven. Ben has not seen the boy since his wife Biddy left to live with another man, taking Harry with her. The need to see his son, to be in some way a father again, has grown urgent. But how much time is left before the need to give the game away and disappear becomes the greater urgency?

'A spare, epic work of haunting beauty that breathes life back into legend and confirms Shearston as one of Australia's finest writers.' (Publisher's blurb)
1 The Wily Bream Trevor Shearston , 2011 single work short story
— Appears in: Meanjin , Autumn vol. 70 no. 2 2011; (p. 174-188)
1 Dog Trevor Shearston , 2011 single work short story
— Appears in: Long Paddock , vol. 70 no. 3 2011;
1 8 y separately published work icon Dead Birds Trevor Shearston , Ultimo : ABC Books , 2007 Z1405779 2007 single work novel Dead Birds is an unusual, evocative and very impressive novel. Set in Papua New Guinea, it is based on the 1877 journey of Italian naturalist, collector and explorer Luigi d'Albertis and his crew as they travel by boat up the Fly River in search of new specimens, ethnographic artefacts and the much-prized birds of paradise. Astonishingly, it is told from the perspective of a head in a jar! The head belongs to a local tribesman who has been killed by Albertis' crew. Dead Birds is a novel that goes beyond just quirky to be a truly original, beautifully crafted work. (Libraries Australia record).
1 Memory Stone Trevor Shearston , 2003 single work essay
— Appears in: Meanjin , vol. 62 no. 3 2003; (p. 108) The author explains why he still feels compelled to write fiction about Papua New Guinea. He explains the cross-cultural differences between Australians and Papua New Guineans and recounts his experiences in Mendi, as a young teacher in the 1960s.
1 The Lightning Tree Trevor Shearston , 2003 single work short story
— Appears in: Meanjin , vol. 62 no. 3 2003; (p. 100-107)
1 3 y separately published work icon Tinder Trevor Shearston , East Roseville : Scribner , 2002 Z982841 2002 single work novel A modern cautionary tale, Tinder seamlessly charts both the sexual awakening of a grown man and the compelling logic of obsession. (Publisher's blurb, back cover).
1 4 y separately published work icon A Straight Young Back Trevor Shearston , Pymble : Flamingo , 2000 Z387154 2000 single work novel David Apps is just 23 when he comes to Eraro. His mentor, the charismatic Hal Franklin, had undertaken the first government patrols in the area, and carries a deep arrow scar in his thigh. Eraro brings David the heady taste of power-and temptation. But as Papua New Guinea teeters on the brink of independence, Franklin-now a District Commissioner-is brutally murdered. Nineteen years later, David has the opportunity to return to the country and confront the killers. And perhaps achieve some kind of atonement for his own past. What he discovers is a side to Hal Franklin he never guessed at. Inspired by the true story of what is possibly the only political assassination in Australian history, this powerful novel explores the seduction and impossibility of colonial rule and the corruption, idealism and complexity of the men who served it. (Publisher's blurb, back cover).
1 form y separately published work icon Envy The New Girlfriend Trevor Shearston , Jeff Truman , ( dir. Julie Money ) Australia : Adelphi Films , 1999 6313620 1999 single work film/TV crime thriller

'A romantic story of young love is not what it seems. Rachel meets Matt on his way home from school. Matt falls for her, but Rachel has other ideas. Rachel and her boyfriend Nick use Matt to exact a revenge on his parents. What follows is an escalating story of revenge and payback: amoral teenager versus family.'

Source: Screen Australia. (Sighted: 7/8/2013)
1 Your True Murder (from The Old Magic Touch, a Work-In-Progress) Trevor Shearston , 1996 extract
— Appears in: Meanjin , Winter vol. 55 no. 2 1996; (p. 362-376)
1 Bamboo Trevor Shearston , 1995 single work short story
— Appears in: The Sydney Review , September no. 79 1995; (p. 8-9)
1 Shirt Trevor Shearston , 1995 single work short story
— Appears in: The Sydney Review , January-February no. 72 1995; (p. 8,17)
1 Shave Trevor Shearston , 1994 single work short story
— Appears in: Island , Autumn no. 58 1994; (p. 15-19)
1 Hydro (from a Work-in-Progress) Trevor Shearston , 1994 extract
— Appears in: Meanjin , Summer vol. 53 no. 4 1994; (p. 707-713)
1 Mr Plunkett's Calboddling Puts Bias in Reverse Trevor Shearston , 1992 single work review
— Appears in: The Sydney Morning Herald , 3 October 1992;
— Review of Sam's Sunday Dad Margaret Wild , 1992 single work picture book ; Mr Plunkett's Pool Gillian Rubinstein , 1992 single work picture book
1 Pictures Alone Fail to Satisfy Trevor Shearston , 1992 single work review
— Appears in: SundayLife , 19 July 1992; (p. 9)
— Review of Let the Celebrations Begin! Margaret Wild , 1991 single work picture book ; Dog In, Cat Out Gillian Rubinstein , 1991 single work picture book ; Hist! C. J. Dennis , 1991 single work picture book ; Window Jeannie Baker , 1991 single work picture book ; Enora and the Black Crane Raymond Meeks , 1991 single work picture book ; William Tell Margaret Early , 1991 single work picture book
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