Simon Cleary Simon Cleary i(A90873 works by)
Born: Established: 1968 Toowoomba, Toowoomba area, Darling Downs, Queensland, ;
Gender: Male
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Works By

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1 3 y separately published work icon Everything Is Water : A River-Walking Journey Simon Cleary , St Lucia : University of Queensland Press , 2024 27476622 2024 single work autobiography

'Four weeks, 344km and one inspiring river journey

''I want to go with the river's flow, not against it. I want to follow where the river leads - to listen, to observe, hopefully to learn.'

'When novelist and experienced hiker Simon Cleary sets off to follow the course of the river that has so influenced his life, he hopes that by walking its banks - from its source to where it empties into the bay - he will better understand the power and impact of this immense waterway on the environment and communities who rely on it.

'Cleary's ambitious journey, alone and with companions, explores the ways rivers connect landscapes, ecologies, histories, communities and myth. But his journey along the unpredictable and magnificent Brisbane River threatens to be cut short by one of the wettest autumn months on record. Over four eventful weeks and 344 kilometres we are witness to the river in all its beauty and fury.

'Everything is Water considers our complex relationship with nature through flood, drought, time and place. It is an inspiring pilgrimage that invites us to connect with nature and also to navigate our own path.' (Publication summary)
1 On First Looking into a Microscope Simon Cleary , 2022 single work essay
— Appears in: Science Write Now , March no. 6 2022;
1 2 y separately published work icon The War Artist Simon Cleary , St Lucia : University of Queensland Press , 2019 15594786 2019 single work novel

'When Brigadier James Phelan returns from Afghanistan with the body of a young soldier killed under his command, he is traumatised by the tragedy. An encounter with young Sydney tattoo artist Kira leaves him with a permanent tribute to the soldier, but it is a meeting that will change the course of his life. What he isn’t expecting is a campaign of retribution from the soldiers who blame him for the ambush and threaten his career.

'With his marriage also on the brink, his life spirals out of control. Years later, Phelan is surprised when Kira re-enters his life seeking refuge from her own troubles and with a young son in tow. She finds a way to help him make peace with his past, but she is still on the run from her own.

'The War Artist is a timely and compelling novel about the legacy of war, the power of art and the possibility of redemption.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.
1 10 y separately published work icon Closer to Stone Simon Cleary , St Lucia : University of Queensland Press , 2012 Z1847161 2012 single work novel 'The story of two brothers from ‘The Springs’ (a fictional former spa town near Brisbane) – one a soldier peacekeeper with the UN and one a sculptor. Set in 1993 in northern Africa (Morocco, Western Sahara and Algeria) and in the US years later, it follows the journey of Sebastian (Bas), the sculptor brother, who must go in search of his missing brother, Jack. His journey is a modern-day Heart of Darkness as he travels into the dangerous, war-torn, desert interior of northern Africa to discover what happened to his brother. What he finds there is not quite what he was expecting and has shocking consequences for him and his family. Through the story of two very different brothers, raised as Catholics, the novel delves into the rise of fundamentalist Islam and its culmination in the terrorist attacks of 9/11. However, the novel belongs to Bas who, through sculpting stone, attempts to find redemption from the dreadful events he witnesses in the desert in 1993.' Source: http://www.uqp.uq.edu.au/ (Sighted 08/03/2012).
1 10 y separately published work icon The Comfort of Figs Simon Cleary , St Lucia : University of Queensland Press , 2008 Z1488679 2008 single work novel '1939 As a burgeoning city emerges from its landscape, so too does a bridge that will transform it from a sleepy country town. Three young men work on the construction of this iconic steel bridge. Labouring high above the river in dangerous conditions, close bonds develop between them. But one slip can - and does - alter their lives forever. A generation later, Robbie, a young landscaper, grapples with his difficult relationship with his father whose past is inextricably linked with the famous cantilevered bridge. Robbie is also battling to save his future with his girlfriend Freya, after a violent assault by a stranger sends her spiralling into herself. The Comfort of Figs is the engrossing story of the birth of a city and the burden of a family secret. Its legacy is two monuments - one of nature and one of engineering - both of them unforgettable.' (Publication summary)
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