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Forty Years of the UTS Writers' Anthology
A "best of" collection surveying 40 years of creative writing from the University of Technology, Sydney. Foreward by Melissa Lucashenko and featuring 49 stories, poems, scripts and pieces of creative non-fiction.
Paperback
First published December 2, 2021
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About the author
Melissa Lucashenko
22 books444 followersMelissa Lucashenko is an Australian writer of European and Goorie heritage. She received an honours degree in public policy from Griffith University in 1990. In 1997, she published her first novel Steam Pigs. It won the Dobbie Literary Award for Australian women’s fiction and was shortlisted for both the New South Wales Premier’s Literary Award and the regional Commonwealth Writers’ Prize. Steam Pigs was followed by the Aurora Prize–winning Killing Darcy, a novel for teenagers, and Hard Yards, which was shortlisted for the 2001 Courier-Mail Book of the Year and the New South Wales Premier’s Literary Award. Too Flash, a teenage novel about class and friendship, was released in 2002. Her latest novel is Mullumbimby published by UQP. Melissa lives between Brisbane and the Bundjalung nation.
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
April 15, 2022
I must admit, from primary school I have enjoyed listening to Astle's short segments about linguistics on "Letters & Numbers" as I've always been fascinated by anything to do with words, pronunciation and etymology. So seeing he was a contributing author was a big reason why I wanted to give this book a shot.
Astle's poem "Sepulcar" truly grabbed me within a mere 13 line stanza, his linguistic knowledge clearly on display through each word. Funnily enough, I did have to ask my mum about this - if she knew what the title meant."Sepulchre" she said, "means the place where a dead body is laid." Again, pure astonishment when I understood the title in its context. 5 stars - all the stars.
Although I've given up midway, I'll touch on the few stories that stood out to me.
In the story "Two People", Nankervis creates a story of a couple which we read first from David and then from Zoe. It's horrifying. I mean amazing, by chilling. It's exactly how domestic violence abusers would paint their partners - as "going crazy" but they love them; a middle-aged man with no other problems with the police and seems fine across all areas of life. Exactly like recent domestic abuse reports have shown. This horrifying reality was written so well.
"The Camperdown Cemetry Family Album" by Kershaw. I don't know what to write, again horrifying and honest.
"Coldgoods" by Rolfe was a rather funny screenplay that took me by surprise. I enjoyed the witty lines and the whole situation that the main characters interacted with - I'd honestly be amused to see a live-action version of it.
"Looking into a Beech Wood Shack" by Gamielden. Actually was lucky enough to hear Gamielden speak at the Anthology Night Panel. I felt each word in this one. The "Australia is multicultural" but all Australian TV and media showed the blonde hair blue eyed white children. This syllogism that Gamielden put forward was nothing short of eye-opening and has put into words what I've never been able to.
"i) The Prime minster wants to provide continuity in Australia's Anglo-Celtic identity
ii) Multiculturalism encourages plural identities within Australia
iii) Therefore, 'Australian multiculturalism' = gradual assimilation"
That's it. Gradual Assimilation. It's the "Aussie Kids are Weet-Bix kids". It's the searching for yourself in any form of media and then concluding that you need to be more white.
As for the other stories, it's likely some generational differences and perhaps, in my opinion, writing styles and word choices that had no resonation with me. It both fascinates and weirds me out that over the years, generations of creative writing students felt the need to write about sex amongst the many possible topics they could've chosen.
My experiences with most of the stories so far haven't been that enjoyable so I honestly don't see myself picking it up again. I'll be popping this book in my local free book box for someone else to enjoy.
Astle's poem "Sepulcar" truly grabbed me within a mere 13 line stanza, his linguistic knowledge clearly on display through each word. Funnily enough, I did have to ask my mum about this - if she knew what the title meant."Sepulchre" she said, "means the place where a dead body is laid." Again, pure astonishment when I understood the title in its context. 5 stars - all the stars.
Although I've given up midway, I'll touch on the few stories that stood out to me.
In the story "Two People", Nankervis creates a story of a couple which we read first from David and then from Zoe. It's horrifying. I mean amazing, by chilling. It's exactly how domestic violence abusers would paint their partners - as "going crazy" but they love them; a middle-aged man with no other problems with the police and seems fine across all areas of life. Exactly like recent domestic abuse reports have shown. This horrifying reality was written so well.
"The Camperdown Cemetry Family Album" by Kershaw. I don't know what to write, again horrifying and honest.
"Coldgoods" by Rolfe was a rather funny screenplay that took me by surprise. I enjoyed the witty lines and the whole situation that the main characters interacted with - I'd honestly be amused to see a live-action version of it.
"Looking into a Beech Wood Shack" by Gamielden. Actually was lucky enough to hear Gamielden speak at the Anthology Night Panel. I felt each word in this one. The "Australia is multicultural" but all Australian TV and media showed the blonde hair blue eyed white children. This syllogism that Gamielden put forward was nothing short of eye-opening and has put into words what I've never been able to.
"i) The Prime minster wants to provide continuity in Australia's Anglo-Celtic identity
ii) Multiculturalism encourages plural identities within Australia
iii) Therefore, 'Australian multiculturalism' = gradual assimilation"
That's it. Gradual Assimilation. It's the "Aussie Kids are Weet-Bix kids". It's the searching for yourself in any form of media and then concluding that you need to be more white.
As for the other stories, it's likely some generational differences and perhaps, in my opinion, writing styles and word choices that had no resonation with me. It both fascinates and weirds me out that over the years, generations of creative writing students felt the need to write about sex amongst the many possible topics they could've chosen.
My experiences with most of the stories so far haven't been that enjoyable so I honestly don't see myself picking it up again. I'll be popping this book in my local free book box for someone else to enjoy.
Displaying 1 of 1 review