We publish quality short stories, poetry, extracts from forthcoming novels, and articles and essays on topics of social, environmental and cultural significance.ISSUE NO. 110
SPRING 2007
EDITORIAL
Gina Mercer
Conversation can be like a slowly cooked casserole. All the elements of contrasting textures and flavours combine to create an experience which is deeply nourishing and satisfying. Yet, like slow-food casseroles, many of us have no time to create or indulge in deep conversations. We might spend hours communing with our computer monitors (and what exactly do they ‘monitor’ in that silent interaction?) but many of our spoken interactions are the equivalent of a packet of two-minute noodles.
When I go without good conversation for too long I find myself hungering for it: for the give and take and development of ideas, emotions and concepts which evolve. So, I am pleased to be able to bring you the first in a planned series of conversations. In this issue you will find the transcript of an engaging conversation between academic, Ralph Crane, and Maori activist writer, Witi Ihimaera. Witi is most famous for writing the novel The Whale Rider, upon which the successful film was based, though his career is about much, much more than one book.
Here he talks about the fundamental connection between his activism and his writing. This has compelled him to rewrite his first four novels: ‘those first four books were too one-dimensional. Over all the years since, while the novels and stories might be aesthetically pleasing, they weren’t politically pleasing to me. They didn’t comply with this equation which I developed for myself, around 1986 to 1990, that indigenous writing not only had to be aesthetically pleasing but also politically valid and interrogative of the world indigenous people live in.’ Witi acknowledges that many of his contemporaries regard his rewriting enterprise as ‘crazy’ but, isn’t it often the wild, crazy elements of a conversation which lead to new insights and understandings?
Witi and Ralph’s conversation may be the slow-cooked casserole but it is accompanied by a smorgasbord of other dishes: variously delicate, robust, tart and spicy.
A Note From The Chair
This edition of Island includes a short review of Gina Mercer’s new poetry collection Handfeeding the Crocodile. It forms part of a survey commissioned by our poetry editor, James Charlton. I thought it appropriate to mention that James pursued his customary autonomous role when he commissioned the review, without Gina’s prior knowledge.I’d like to take this opportunity to thank James on the fifth anniversary of his appointment. James selects, collates and edits the poetry, and checks the final proofs. James also commissions and edits our poetry surveys, which were his innovation, along with any other reviews connected to poetry. His wide-ranging selections have contributed much to the critical consciousness and literary discourse which are the hallmark of Australian literary quarterlies.
Norman Reaburn
Chair, Island Management Committee
Island, PO Box 210, Sandy Bay, Tasmania 7006 Australia
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E-mail: island.magazine@utas.edu.au