Westerly 61.1: The Indigenous Issue

Westerly 61.1: The Indigenous Issue
Guest edited by Stephen Kinnane
August 2016

Westerly, based at the University of Western Australia, is a literary magazine publishing new writing from Western Australia since 1956. I would like to thank them for providing a review copy of this issue. 

[O]verwhelmingly, the work submitted and collected here sought to witness – some the past, some the present, many their hopes for the future. This act of telling as testimonial is not something fragile. It is a robust and vibrant energy, charging each unique voice, and demanding a space in which it can be felt. – the editors’ introduction

There is a huge range of pieces in this issue, far too many for me to review each one individually. Instead, I will just mention a few of my favorites. They are presented in the same order as in the magazine.

“The Yield” by Tara June Winch

My absolute favorite piece is “The Yield,” an excerpt from a forthcoming novel. In this excerpt, we meet the main character, a mostly-Indigenous woman whose grandfather has just died. She has to travel back to Australia, back to the place she grew up, to deal with the funeral arrangements and to support her grandmother. This also means that she has to confront aspects of her past that she has avoided for a long time, especially her sister who mysteriously disappeared during their childhood.

The writing is dense, tightly-packed and absolutely beautiful.

During the flight I watched the GPS, the numbers rising and steadying, the plane skittering over the cartoon sea. At the other end, having reached a certain altitude, crossed the time lines, descended into new coordinates, I’d hoped it would be enough to erase the voyage. Erase the facts of the matter; erase the burials rites due reciting, erase all the erasures of us, and that family we once were in the stories could exist. Not us, as we were now, godless and government housed and spread all over the place.

From what I have read so far, this story is absolutely ordinary, and yet entirely profound. I have added Tara June Winch to my list of authors whose works I want to read as soon as possible, and am eagerly waiting for the novel form of The Yield.

The Young Desire It by Kenneth Mackenzie

Source: Goodreads

The Young Desire It
Kenneth Mackenzie
Originally 1937, I read Text Classics 2013

345 pages, coming of age, school story, love and nature

Found: Text Publishing’s website, on sale for only 10 Australian dollars with free worldwide shipping! (They always have free shipping, so check it out!) 

Charles is a sensitive 15 year old boy who has spent his entire life on a farm in the Australian outback. Besides his mother and a few hired hands, he has never spent much time with people; he is most comfortable spending the sunlit hours roaming through hills, forests, and fields. When his mother announces that it is time for him to go to boarding school to finish his education, he is not happy. He does not want to be confined with other people away from the natural environment that he loves so much.

His fears are confirmed when, on the first day in the boarding school, he is sexually assaulted by a group of older students. Isolated because of his “feminine appearance,” he seeks to hide his emotions by concentrating on his studies and finds a mentor in one of the teachers. The teacher, however, may have other intentions towards him.

Charles matures over the course of the school year, learning new things about himself and about human nature. He falls in love with a girl from another school, navigates the difficult social organization of the school, and does well in his studies. And when he discovers that his mentor is attracted to him, he handles it in a way that is the best for everyone.

This is (I think) the first piece of Australian literature I have ever read. It is a beautiful, lyrical exploration of humanity and growing up, and rightfully deserves the Australian Literature Society Gold Medal that it won when it was published in 1937. Thank you to Text Publications for republishing this gorgeous book.