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Timepieces
'There used to be a tradition that when a cabinet-maker finished his apprenticeship, he'd make a miniature chest, or cabinet, as a gift for his master... Unlike cabinet-makers, writers rarely have a single teacher, and when they bow to those they've learned from, it'd be no tribute to make a perfect example of their work, even if it were possible.'The desire to write. The art of memoir. Finding a place to write. First love. The Englishness problem. A love of art. Fiction today...With her customary elegance and deftness, Drusilla Modjeska explores these issues and more in a liberating new collection of essays. Some have been previously published, most are new; but all offer a fresh and personal perspective on writing and life by one of Australia's most popular authors.
229 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2002
26 people want to read
About the author
Drusilla Modjeska
26 books49 followersDrusilla Modjeska was born in England and lived in Papua New Guinea before arriving in Australia in 1971. She studied at the Australian National University and the University of New South Wales completing a PhD which was published as Exiles at Home: Australian Women Writers 1925-1945 (1981).
Modjeska's writing often explores the boundaries between fiction and non-fiction. The best known of her work are Poppy (1990), a fictionalised biography of her mother, and Stravinsky's Lunch (2001), a feminist reappraisal of the lives and work of Australian painters Stella Bowen and Grace Cossington Smith. She has also edited several volumes of stories, poems and essays, including the work of Lesbia Harford and a 'Focus on Papua New Guinea' issue for the literary magazine Meanjin.
In 2006 she was a Senior Research Fellow at the University of Sydney, "investigating the interplay of race, gender and the arts in post-colonial Papua New Guinea".
Modjeska's writing often explores the boundaries between fiction and non-fiction. The best known of her work are Poppy (1990), a fictionalised biography of her mother, and Stravinsky's Lunch (2001), a feminist reappraisal of the lives and work of Australian painters Stella Bowen and Grace Cossington Smith. She has also edited several volumes of stories, poems and essays, including the work of Lesbia Harford and a 'Focus on Papua New Guinea' issue for the literary magazine Meanjin.
In 2006 she was a Senior Research Fellow at the University of Sydney, "investigating the interplay of race, gender and the arts in post-colonial Papua New Guinea".
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
August 21, 2013
In this collection of essays, Modjeska introduces us to some of the writers and editors who influenced her as she became a writer herself and moves beyond that to explore ideas such as the lapping and overlapping of personal pasts with each other and with the present, and the misty space between fiction and non-fiction, truth and non-truth into which she dived when writing Poppy.
She writes with precision, subtlety, imagination. I am delighted by the shafts of illumination I have when reading these essays, as when I read Poppy.
Her childhood and youth were spent in England and she has lived in Australia for several decades now.
Ever since I attended my first conference I the UK, I have been aware of what a different world view we have in Australia to that of the large countries who were and are at the centre of empire (I include France and the US in this category as well as England). Modjeska's awareness of this is directed mostly at the art of writing and at the potential for alternate views to develop more freely when there is less conviction about the virtue of a dominant narrative. In Australia this has evolved as the separation from Britain has evolved, as we have become increasingly multicultural, if not more culturally aware, and as we learn more about the spirit of deep connection with the land that characterizes Aboriginal culture.
These essays will change the way I read memoir and biography. I know that if I want to seek out factual information, I will have search historical sources. But emotions, beliefs and the intricacies of relationships between people don't just have one truth, and that is where Modjeska's work goes I to the borderlands.
She writes with precision, subtlety, imagination. I am delighted by the shafts of illumination I have when reading these essays, as when I read Poppy.
Her childhood and youth were spent in England and she has lived in Australia for several decades now.
Ever since I attended my first conference I the UK, I have been aware of what a different world view we have in Australia to that of the large countries who were and are at the centre of empire (I include France and the US in this category as well as England). Modjeska's awareness of this is directed mostly at the art of writing and at the potential for alternate views to develop more freely when there is less conviction about the virtue of a dominant narrative. In Australia this has evolved as the separation from Britain has evolved, as we have become increasingly multicultural, if not more culturally aware, and as we learn more about the spirit of deep connection with the land that characterizes Aboriginal culture.
These essays will change the way I read memoir and biography. I know that if I want to seek out factual information, I will have search historical sources. But emotions, beliefs and the intricacies of relationships between people don't just have one truth, and that is where Modjeska's work goes I to the borderlands.
April 25, 2023
I was thrilled to find a signed copy of 'Timepieces' at the Logical Unsanity Bookshop's closing down sale. Drusilla Modjeska led a fascinating life, and this collection of essays shows her depth of experience and analysis.
A European who lived in Papua New Guinea before Australia, her study of Australian writers, traveling to meet many, goes way beyond most researcher's efforts. As a result, we get many insights into the poverty and dependency of many women writers, and then their formulation of working class solidarity and left wing politics, which then led to their being shunned by society.
Modjeska's best work is her analysis of Australian Aboriginal writers, their unique style, bringing all the fragments of family aural histories to the present day, in historical, confessional memoir style narrative. Drusilla doesn't just scratch the surface, she goes deep and asks the penetrating questions, which bring out the author's core values, the truth behind the fiction.
A previous owner tore out pages 143-155, must have been good stuff.
A European who lived in Papua New Guinea before Australia, her study of Australian writers, traveling to meet many, goes way beyond most researcher's efforts. As a result, we get many insights into the poverty and dependency of many women writers, and then their formulation of working class solidarity and left wing politics, which then led to their being shunned by society.
Modjeska's best work is her analysis of Australian Aboriginal writers, their unique style, bringing all the fragments of family aural histories to the present day, in historical, confessional memoir style narrative. Drusilla doesn't just scratch the surface, she goes deep and asks the penetrating questions, which bring out the author's core values, the truth behind the fiction.
A previous owner tore out pages 143-155, must have been good stuff.
April 15, 2022
3.5/5
i literally read this in one sitting on a road trip so that goes to show that it's very readable and many of the authors observations were still relevant to life 20 years on. i especially loved the pieces talking about visual art✌️
i literally read this in one sitting on a road trip so that goes to show that it's very readable and many of the authors observations were still relevant to life 20 years on. i especially loved the pieces talking about visual art✌️
June 15, 2024
Thoughtful and intelligent. I agree with the blurb on the back about Drusilla Modjeska's "elegance and deftness" in these essays. As an aside, I just love the cover!
September 6, 2013
I do like reading about writers I have enjoyed reading and Drusilla is one of my favourite authors. I really liked reading about her writing process, her ponderings on what constitutes biography, cultural biases and art (especially Clarice Beckett). Will keep coming back to this little gem.
May 2, 2016
I'm not one to usually drag books to the depths of hell but this book is just a whole lot of nothing.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews