person or book cover
Image courtesy of Allen & Unwin
y separately published work icon Night Surfing single work   novel  
Issue Details: First known date: 1996... 1996 Night Surfing
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AbstractHistoryArchive Description

'"A wave of colossal size towers over the dunes. A black wave that arcs so high it drags down the sun, stars and moon from the sky and turns the day to pitch. Thousands of tonnes of water come crashing over the land, ripping low scrub from the sandy earth and collapsing fibro houses like cards as it streams towards the town."

'There are some summers, like there are some waves, that can never be forgotten. Hannah has dropped out of university to learn how to 'walk on water'. At Ruben's Cafe at the end of the Peninsula, she meets Jake, who has demons of his own and dreams of surfing the night. They come from different worlds but what brings them together is a love affair with the sea.

'A remarkable novel about fear and the overcoming of it, about love and learning to give into it, and about the power of the imagination.' (Publisher's blurb)

Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of

    • St Leonards, North Sydney - Lane Cove area, Sydney Northern Suburbs, Sydney, New South Wales,: Allen and Unwin , 1996 .
      person or book cover
      Image courtesy of Allen & Unwin
      Extent: 213p.
      ISBN: 1863739130 (pbk.)
Alternative title: Surfer la nuit
Language: French
    • Arles,
      c
      France,
      c
      Western Europe, Europe,
      :
      Actes Sud ,
      1997 .
      image of person or book cover 1080872722651819268.jpg
      This image has been sourced from online.
      Extent: 206p.
      ISBN: 2742713565

Works about this Work

Facing Death on the Australian Beach : Examining Fear and Transcendence Elizabeth Ellison , 2017 single work criticism
— Appears in: TEXT Special Issue Website Series , October no. 45 2017;

'The Australian beach has often been considered in academic approaches as a place of binaries – focusing on either the mythic (Fiske, Hodge and Turner 1987) or the ordinary (Morris 1998). An edge to the Australian continent, the liminal space of the beach is one that has received some attention. Using Edward Soja’s (1996) ‘Thirdspace’ concept allows the beach to challenge the space as a liminality and emerge as a more complex beachspace, both mythic and ordinary and more all at once. The Australian beach is a place of significant beauty, while simultaneously a place of risk and danger. Visitors to the space are immediately warned to only swim between the flags, and many beaches are patrolled for the majority of the day all throughout the year. Technology has been employed to identify risk despite the inherent unpredictability of the beach (such as shark sighting technology, weather predictions, and wave cameras), with an aim to provide a safe, everyday space available to all Australians to use. The potential risks of accidental death are high on the beach; however, many representations of death tend to include homicide or suicide. ‘Facing death’ is interested in examining how Australian writers of the beach portray death. Classic texts like Nevil Shute’s On the Beach (1957) are discussed alongside more contemporary texts, including Fiona Capp’s Night Surfing (1996), Tim Winton’s Dirt Music (2001), and Romy Ash’s Floundering (2012). These writers portray death as an inevitability or a continual threat. Films such as Newcastle (2008) represent accidental death in a tight knit local community; in comparison Blackrock (1997) deals with both murder and suicide. This paper illustrates how examining the beach as a more complex space by interrogating Australian writing on the subject allows for an interesting understanding of how death is represented on the Australian beach.' (Publication abstract)

Adapted for Land : A Lungfish Writes, Writes, Writes the Wild Surf Brook Emery , 2005 single work essay
— Appears in: Five Bells , Winter vol. 12 no. 3 2005; (p. 6-9)

— Appears in: Plumwood Mountain : An Australian Journal of Ecopoetry and Ecopoetics , February vol. 3 no. 1 2016;
Brook Emery provides an insight into the relationship of humans to the sea.
More to offer than Baywatch - International Press Commentary on the Release of Australian Novels Lara Cain , 2001 single work criticism
— Appears in: Inter-Cultural Studies , February vol. 1 no. 1 2001; (p. 7-13)
In Nietzsche's Footsteps Murray Waldren , 1999 single work biography
— Appears in: The Weekend Australian , 6-7 March 1999; (p. 13)
Riding the Wave Pat Darby , 1996 single work review
— Appears in: Australian Women's Book Review , June vol. 8 no. 2 1996; (p. 32-33)

— Review of Night Surfing Fiona Capp , 1996 single work novel
Sea and Earth Katharine England , 1996 single work review
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , April no. 179 1996; (p. 30)

— Review of Dirt and Other Stories Catherine Ford , 1996 selected work short story ; Night Surfing Fiona Capp , 1996 single work novel
Invading Male Territory Elizabeth Webby , 1996 single work review
— Appears in: The Age , 27 April 1996; (p. 8)

— Review of Leaning Towards Infinity : How My Mother's Apron Unfolds into My Life Sue Woolfe , 1996 single work novel ; Night Surfing Fiona Capp , 1996 single work novel ; The Weather Girl Helen Barnes , 1996 single work novel
Fear and Discovery on a Wild Night Wave Barbara Jefferis , 1996 single work review
— Appears in: The Sydney Morning Herald , 20 January 1996; (p. 11)

— Review of Dim Carolin Window , 1996 single work novel ; Night Surfing Fiona Capp , 1996 single work novel
Up and Riding Matthew Condon , 1996 single work review
— Appears in: The Weekend Australian , 16-17 March 1996; (p. rev 9)

— Review of Dim Carolin Window , 1996 single work novel ; Night Surfing Fiona Capp , 1996 single work novel
Untitled NW , 1996 single work review
— Appears in: The Times Literary Supplement , 20 December no. 4890 1996; (p. 24)

— Review of Night Surfing Fiona Capp , 1996 single work novel
Adapted for Land : A Lungfish Writes, Writes, Writes the Wild Surf Brook Emery , 2005 single work essay
— Appears in: Five Bells , Winter vol. 12 no. 3 2005; (p. 6-9)

— Appears in: Plumwood Mountain : An Australian Journal of Ecopoetry and Ecopoetics , February vol. 3 no. 1 2016;
Brook Emery provides an insight into the relationship of humans to the sea.
More to offer than Baywatch - International Press Commentary on the Release of Australian Novels Lara Cain , 2001 single work criticism
— Appears in: Inter-Cultural Studies , February vol. 1 no. 1 2001; (p. 7-13)
In Nietzsche's Footsteps Murray Waldren , 1999 single work biography
— Appears in: The Weekend Australian , 6-7 March 1999; (p. 13)
A Showdown That Only the Sea Can Win Philippa Hawker , 1996 single work column
— Appears in: The Age , 27 January 1996; (p. 8) The Sydney Morning Herald , 27 January 1996; (p. 10)
Riding the Waves K. L. Iffland , 1996 single work biography
— Appears in: The Canberra Times , 3 February 1996; (p. C10)
Last amended 28 Oct 2020 13:30:23
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  • Portsea, Mornington Peninsula (Port Phillip Bay), Mornington Peninsula, Melbourne, Victoria,
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