y separately published work icon Dead Birds single work   novel  
Issue Details: First known date: 2007... 2007 Dead Birds
The material on this page is available to AustLit subscribers. If you are a subscriber or are from a subscribing organisation, please log in to gain full access. To explore options for subscribing to this unique teaching, research, and publishing resource for Australian culture and storytelling, please contact us or find out more.

AbstractHistoryArchive Description

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).

Notes

  • Dedication: For Bette with love and gratitude.

Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of

    • Ultimo, Inner Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales,: ABC Books , 2007 .
      Extent: 241p.
      ISBN: 9780733320903 (pbk.)

Works about this Work

Head in a Jar Trevor Shearston , 2014 single work essay
— Appears in: Meanjin , Spring vol. 73 no. 3 2014; (p. 18-28)
The Silver Age of Fiction Peter Pierce , 2011 single work criticism
— Appears in: Meanjin , Summer vol. 70 no. 4 2011; (p. 110-115)

‘In human reckoning, Golden Ages are always already in the past. The Greek poet Hesiod, in Works and Days, posited Five Ages of Mankind: Golden, Silver, Bronze, Heroic and Iron (Ovid made do with four). Writing in the Romantic period, Thomas Love Peacock (author of such now almost forgotten novels as Nightmare Abbey, 1818) defined The Four Ages of Poetry (1820) in which their order was Iron, Gold, Silver and Bronze. To the Golden Age, in their archaic greatness, belonged Homer and Aeschylus. The Silver Age, following it, was less original, but nevertheless 'the age of civilised life'. The main issue of Peacock's thesis was the famous response that he elicited from his friend Shelley - Defence of Poetry (1821).’ (Publication abstract)

The Year's Work in Fiction : 2007-2008 Roger Bourke , 2008 single work review
— Appears in: Westerly , November vol. 53 no. 2008; (p. 50-58)

— Review of From : The Time We Have Taken Steven Carroll , 2007 extract novel ; Prime Cuts Angus Gaunt , 2008 selected work short story ; The Best Australian Stories 2007 2007 anthology short story extract autobiography ; The Trout Opera Matthew Condon , 2007 single work novel ; Fear of Tennis David Cohen , 2007 single work novel ; The Complete Stories David Malouf , 2007 selected work short story ; Redfin Anthony Lynch , 2007 selected work short story ; Rohypnol Andrew Hutchinson , 2006 single work novel ; Breath Tim Winton , 2008 single work novel ; The Last Sky Alice Nelson , 2008 single work novel ; Landscape of Farewell Alex Miller , 2007 single work novel ; A History of the Beanbag : And Other Stories Susan Midalia , 2007 selected work short story ; Dead Birds Trevor Shearston , 2007 single work novel ; Secrets of the Sea Nicholas Shakespeare , 2007 single work novel ; Other Country Stephen Scourfield , 2007 single work novel ; The Low Road Chris Womersley , 2007 single work novel ; Lilia's Secret Erina Reddan , 2007 single work novel
Books Fiction Gillian Wills , 2007 single work review
— Appears in: The Courier-Mail , 13 - 14 October 2007; (p. 22)

— Review of Dead Birds Trevor Shearston , 2007 single work novel
Australian Reads : Fiction Peter Pierce , 2007 single work review
— Appears in: The Bulletin , 2 October vol. 125 no. 6589 2007; (p. 55)

— Review of Dead Birds Trevor Shearston , 2007 single work novel
Untitled Angela Meyer , 2007 single work review
— Appears in: Bookseller + Publisher Magazine , August vol. 87 no. 2 2007; (p. 33)

— Review of Dead Birds Trevor Shearston , 2007 single work novel
Into Another Heart of Darkness Peter Pierce , 2007 single work review
— Appears in: The Canberra Times , 15 September 2007; (p. 14)

— Review of Dead Birds Trevor Shearston , 2007 single work novel
Jarring, Strange but Still a Head of Its Time Debra Adelaide , 2007 single work review
— Appears in: The Weekend Australian , 15-16 September 2007; (p. 13)

— Review of Dead Birds Trevor Shearston , 2007 single work novel
Australian Reads : Fiction Peter Pierce , 2007 single work review
— Appears in: The Bulletin , 2 October vol. 125 no. 6589 2007; (p. 55)

— Review of Dead Birds Trevor Shearston , 2007 single work novel
Books Fiction Gillian Wills , 2007 single work review
— Appears in: The Courier-Mail , 13 - 14 October 2007; (p. 22)

— Review of Dead Birds Trevor Shearston , 2007 single work novel
The Silver Age of Fiction Peter Pierce , 2011 single work criticism
— Appears in: Meanjin , Summer vol. 70 no. 4 2011; (p. 110-115)

‘In human reckoning, Golden Ages are always already in the past. The Greek poet Hesiod, in Works and Days, posited Five Ages of Mankind: Golden, Silver, Bronze, Heroic and Iron (Ovid made do with four). Writing in the Romantic period, Thomas Love Peacock (author of such now almost forgotten novels as Nightmare Abbey, 1818) defined The Four Ages of Poetry (1820) in which their order was Iron, Gold, Silver and Bronze. To the Golden Age, in their archaic greatness, belonged Homer and Aeschylus. The Silver Age, following it, was less original, but nevertheless 'the age of civilised life'. The main issue of Peacock's thesis was the famous response that he elicited from his friend Shelley - Defence of Poetry (1821).’ (Publication abstract)

Head in a Jar Trevor Shearston , 2014 single work essay
— Appears in: Meanjin , Spring vol. 73 no. 3 2014; (p. 18-28)
Last amended 31 Oct 2007 08:44:13
Settings:
  • c
    Papua New Guinea,
    c
    Pacific Region,
  • 1877
Newspapers:
    Powered by Trove
    X