y separately published work icon Southerly periodical issue   peer reviewed assertion
Alternative title: A Nest of Bunyips
Issue Details: First known date: 2011... vol. 71 no. 3 2011 of Southerly est. 1939 Southerly
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Notes

  • Contents indexed selectively.

Contents

* Contents derived from the 2011 version. Please note that other versions/publications may contain different contents. See the Publication Details.
Editorial, David Brooks , single work column (p. 6-10)
1. This Happy Islei"And shall thy joyous lays no more be heard?1", Michael Sharkey , single work poetry (p. 11)
Where the Bunyip Builds its Nest : Five Centos, Michael Sharkey , sequence poetry (p. 11-22)
2. Drought and Doctrinei"The creeks are dry, and many rivers too,", Michael Sharkey , single work poetry (p. 12-13)
3. The Common Trenchi"Education and English polish are very unsaleable stuff.", Michael Sharkey , single work poetry (p. 13-14)
4. Dance, Little Wombati"Ahab within, mad master of my craft,", Michael Sharkey , single work poetry (p. 14-15)
5. Galah Songsi"Golf at the weekend, gardening after five,", Michael Sharkey , single work poetry (p. 16-17)
Behold Burton’s Tomb : Mortality and Escapism in Murray Bail’s Homesickness, Michael Ackland , single work criticism
'Whereas the ancients steadfastly acknowledged mortality, contemporaries, as Bail repeatedly shows in Homesickness, are usually bent on repressing or outrunning it. Within the novel their constant movements from land to land, from museum to museum, with never a mention of fixed itinerary or purpose, inevitably raise the question of why they travel. One of them, Borelli, enjoying his own speculative powers and to impress his fellow traveller Louisa, suggests: "Tourism compresses time and events ... In a sense we actually live longer. At least that's what a tourist somehow feels" (83). Later, however, he encounters a less acquiescing listener in his long-lost relative Hector, to whom he rehearses this theory: "there is a time factor to consider. We, ah travellers, operate in a condensed unreal time. For us, even time is summarized" (131). His uncle, building on the time premise and noting an anxiety shared by others in the group, quickly cuts through to the motivation suppressed in this reformulation: "You're nervous. Why else would you be busy making a fool of yourself? For all your travelling about, the fancy hotel rooms, at the end is death. Travelling is postponing it" (135). Homesickness has been most frequently discussed in terms of its "fertile inventiveness", its satirical targets, its modern and postmodern concerns, and its exploration of dilemmas raised by contemporary tourism. Easy to miss within its stunning pageant of extraordinary collections, real and imagined, and its cavalcade of tumultuous events, is a preoccupation with mortality. Although Bail has stated that the book is "really about knowledge or lack of it", as well as "states of mind and speculations which I am offering or complaining about", death remains, as I hope to demonstrate, the intransigent given of the narrative, as it is of human existence. An absence that is ever-present, it is arguably a source of hidden motivation in spheres as disparate as sexual coupling and hotel hygiene, and an unspoken but major concern that drives the tourists' seemingly pointless peregrinations.' (Author's abstract)
(p. 23-29)
The Pearl Roundabouti"Eleanor Roosevelt woke up in Paris. Hillary", Jennifer Maiden , single work poetry (p. 40-41)
Gas Works at Little Manly Point with Mother and Childi"Manly’s light was gas, til the 60s,", Greg McLaren , single work poetry (p. 42)
Dufferi"with a nurse mania, his goof partner a morass", Philip Hammial , single work poetry (p. 43-44)
Beastiaryi"1. The embalmed: living beings from which death has been meticulously extracted like sap.", Maria Takolander , single work poetry (p. 45)
One Week Gone, Matthia Dempsey , single work short story (p. 46-52)
Reptile Lifei"A reptile book is a way of saying language", John Kinsella , single work poetry (p. 53-54)
Untitledi"In the saga of living, Tim labels the thinned bush", John Kinsella , single work poetry (p. 54)
We Spend Days in This Housei"We spend days in this house but not nights.", John Kinsella , single work poetry (p. 55)
I Had Wondered About the Signs of Burningi"I had wondered about the signs of burning –", John Kinsella , single work poetry (p. 56)
Language Generates Nothing as Whole Trees Falli"Language generates nothing as whole trees fall", John Kinsella , single work poetry (p. 57)
Kangaroos in Torchlighti"Stillness makes you shiver inside, skin", John Kinsella , single work poetry (p. 58)
Some Sounds at Jam Tree Gullyi"The wattle seed in its curled throw-out pod", John Kinsella , single work poetry (p. 59)

Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of

Works about this Work

A Parcel of Rogues in Search of a Theme Sandra Burr , 2013 single work review
— Appears in: TEXT : Journal of Writing and Writing Courses , April vol. 17 no. 1 2013;

— Review of Southerly vol. 71 no. 3 2011 periodical issue
From Bunyips to Macaron Bows Jose Borghino , 2012 single work review
— Appears in: The Weekend Australian , 1-2 September 2012; (p. 22)

— Review of Southerly vol. 71 no. 3 2011 periodical issue ; Meanjin vol. 71 no. 2 Winter 2012 periodical issue ; Island no. 128 Autumn 2012 periodical issue ; Seizure : A Journal for New Writing no. 3 2012 periodical issue ; Etchings no. 10 2011 periodical issue
Editorial David Brooks , 2011 single work column
— Appears in: Southerly , vol. 71 no. 3 2011; (p. 6-10)
From Bunyips to Macaron Bows Jose Borghino , 2012 single work review
— Appears in: The Weekend Australian , 1-2 September 2012; (p. 22)

— Review of Southerly vol. 71 no. 3 2011 periodical issue ; Meanjin vol. 71 no. 2 Winter 2012 periodical issue ; Island no. 128 Autumn 2012 periodical issue ; Seizure : A Journal for New Writing no. 3 2012 periodical issue ; Etchings no. 10 2011 periodical issue
A Parcel of Rogues in Search of a Theme Sandra Burr , 2013 single work review
— Appears in: TEXT : Journal of Writing and Writing Courses , April vol. 17 no. 1 2013;

— Review of Southerly vol. 71 no. 3 2011 periodical issue
Editorial David Brooks , 2011 single work column
— Appears in: Southerly , vol. 71 no. 3 2011; (p. 6-10)
Last amended 24 May 2012 12:20:56
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