Griffith Review 55, State of Hope

Griffith Review #55

by Julianne Schultz (Editor), Patrick Allingston (Editor)

Hope is at the heart of South Australia. More than any other state it has shaped its own destiny with large doses of vision and optimism. It has been less frightened of ‘the vision thing’ and demonstrated willingness to challenge prevailing sentiments, experiment, boldly innovate and take a national lead.

As a result, the state has produced a disproportionate number of leaders in business, sciences, arts and public policy. This spirit is needed more than ever. The state faces profound challenges as the industrial model that shaped twentieth century South Australia is replaced by an uncertain future.

State of Hope explores the economic, social, environmental and cultural challenges facing South Australia, and the possibilities of renewal that draw on the strength of the past. It celebrates the unselfconscious willingness that hope enables.

State of Hope features leading South Australian writers and others with a connection to or deep knowledge of this unique place, with the distinctive Griffith Review mix of essays, reportage, memoir, fiction and poetry.

Genres: Australia

306 pages, Paperback

First published January 30, 2017

About the author

JULIANNE SCHULTZ is the founding editor of Griffith REVIEW. She is on the boards of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation and Grattan Institute. She is the Chair of the Queensland Design Council and the reference group on the National Cultural Policy, deputy chair of the Australian Council of Learned Academies Securing Australia’s Future project and on advisory committees with a focus on education, media and Indigenous issues. Since co-chairing the Creative Australia stream at the 2020 Summit she has been actively involved in cultural policy debates. She has been a judge of the Miles Franklin Award, Myer Foundation Fellowships and Walkley Awards. She is the author of Reviving the Fourth Estate: Democracy, accountability and the media (Cambridge University Press, 1998), Steel City Blues (Penguin, 1985) and the librettos Black River and Going into Shadows.

Reviews

[Stef Rozitis · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am really glad this exists and I am going to make an effort to read it more often.

I enjoyed the mix of different genres and different ways of making meaning, and I learned quite a lot from the essays and memoirs. i loved how much people paid attention to Indigenous history although since most of this was still through a white filter it probably needs some more work.m Dennis Atkins' panegyric on Nick Xenaphon (really?) stood out for not having much substance (even compared to some of the good honest fiction). It pretty much displayed a lot of what is wrong with journalism these days, and besides read as having been paid for by Nick X. "Radical centre" sounds like a term invented by Xenophon and illustrated very well by his currently running and appalling TV advertisement.

Apart from that I loved finding out more about what is happening in rural areas- the wine-growing article made me want to learn more about wine (straight from the bottle), and the solar stuff tied in with what some of my friends have been working on. I'd like more Urban SA stuff (ie Adelaide). I'll have to see how people submit articles to this and see if I can do so (I may be too much of a nobody).

Worth a read in any case.

[Matt · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a comprehensive survey of the state of SA at the present time (the state of the state). It works particularly well for a number of reasons:
- it's current, reflecting contemporary challenges such as unemployment, energy, environmental and the loss of manufacturing.
- it covers most of the state, as opposed to having an Adelaide-centric focus
- it uses a range of forms (e.g. essay, memoir, fiction, photography).
- it covers a range of issues of interest including football, wine, mining, politics, Arts.
It probably has limited appeal for those who are not either from or living in SA and seems skewed towards the views of mature, middle-class lefties, nonetheless, it's a thought-provoking and informative collection.

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

The latest Griffith Review: No 55, ‘State of Hope’ is all about South Australia. It’s a most interesting miscellany of short essays and memoir, fiction pieces and poetry, and there are also photo stories. The collection is permeated by an awareness of South Australia’s economic problems in the wake of the collapse of its manufacturing industry, but also by an optimistic faith in its future – not unjustified, given its history under the innovative and visionary former 20th century premier, Don Dunstan (1926-1999).

I can’t possibly do justice to this diverse collection even with the open word limit of a blog, so I am going to focus on just one piece:

Tory Shepherd’s piece called ‘In the dark, when ‘truthiness’ eclipses the truth’ turns out to be strangely prescient in the light of the American election. (This edition of the review was officially published on the same day as the inauguration, but the content was of course written before that). With the SA blackout last year triggering all kinds of false claims about the causes, Shepherd reminds South Australians how important it is that they think clearly – because their future depends on it.

To read the rest of my review please visit https://anzlitlovers.com/2017/02/20/i...

[Jenny Esots · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wanted more experience and less politics.
That is more memoir, photographs and reflection.
These areas were done well.
As I did not grow up in SA I like to hear the experience of people who did.
ie The Don Dunstan era.
SA provokes curiously mixed emotions of those who have left and remember their SA childhood fondly, but not the SA of today.
The topical topic is renewable energy - lots to discuss here.