My essay responding to Jöelle Gergis’ Quarterly Essay was published in the subscriber section of Eureka Street on July 12. It is now open to you. I recommend you read Jöelle’s essay, the Quarterly Essay is available on line and in newsagents. Eureka Street is online and has subscriber and open sections. I remember meeting …
song and soundscape: the solid speech of God
you can listen to the full soundscape or this shorter rendition of my song made with Shawn Whelan – the Solid Speech of God
a prayer for the new decade
A new decade has dawned amidst smoke and heat and peril. What can we ask when we know much of it will be hard, even harrowing?
Staying with the trouble
‘Staying with the trouble’, the story of my meeting with Two Pied Oyster Catchers is now published in Dumbo Feather online Two Pied Oyster Catchers It is wintertime. My friends and I are rugged against the cold in beanies, scarves and jackets. Sheltering between boulders we are protected .The wind blusters around us at Mimosa …
Meeting beauty and rubbish
How a long walk helped me understand our rubbish problem published in The Saturday Age December 28, 2019 Early this year I took a four-day hike in South East Tasmania. The Three Capes track took four and a half years to make with the combined care, skill and artistry of a tribe of rangers, scientists, …
Encountering Extinction Rebellion
When this composed, silver-haired woman tells us that for the last three days they’ve been protesting with Extinction Rebellion in Melbourne, our eyebrows lift.
writing collects – a prayer, a plea
A couple of weeks ago I attended a workshop with my poet friend, Pádraig O Tuama. He taught the practice of writing ‘collects’ – a kind of prayer. I have just been reading ‘Flight Ways, Life and Loss at the Edge of Extinction’ by Thom van Dooren. The grief of it is with me still. …
In the hot seat
In 2006, climate scientist Dr Joelle Gergis was pulling weeds under Melbourne’s West Gate Bridge on the work-for-the-dole scheme. Centrelink advised removing her PhD from her resume, saying: “It’s not going to help you find a job.” Read the story online at The Age.