We publish quality short stories, poetry, extracts from forthcoming novels, and articles and essays on topics of social, environmental and cultural significance.ISSUE NO. 112
AUUMN 2008
EDITORIAL
Gina Mercer
Island continues in its role as official publisher for the Watermark Literary Muster which is held every second year on the mid-north coast of NSW. It is a dynamic event established in 2003 to honour the writer and environmentalist, Eric Rolls. It was my good fortune to attend the Muster for the first time in October, 2007. Eric Rolls was there, a strong and vital presence. Sadly, it was the last Muster Eric will attend as he died unexpectedly within only a few short weeks of the Muster’s completion.
At this Muster Eric gave an interesting presentation on feral animals in Australia and agreed to its publication in this special Watermark edition. You will find that paper here, edited posthumously by Eric’s partner and the powerhouse behind Watermark, Elaine van Kempen. Elaine agreed to write a companion piece to this paper as a tribute to Eric and his significant role in Australian literary and nature-writing circles. We feel honoured to publish these pieces as a way of saying farewell to this joyous and deeply thoughtful human being. Graeme Kinross-Smith had the great foresight to insist on photographing Eric and Elaine near their Camden Haven home during the 2007 Muster and we include one of his photos here. Thank you, Graeme.
This issue is abundant with a selection of papers from the 2007 Watermark. The theme was ‘The Nature and Place of Migration’. Participants were wisely creative in their interpretation of this theme and spoke on everything from verandahs as migratory sites for left-wing activists, to an indigenous view of the ‘delights’ of the diet of eighteenth-century British migrants, to potent stories of Vietnamese women refugees. A welcome feature of this Watermark was the attendance and participation of a number of postgraduates working in the arena of nature writing. Their contributions (made possible thanks to funding from CAL) were exciting. They are represented here by Lorina Barker’s memoir and Gillian Britton’s story – both engaging pieces which reassure me that our literary future is in capable hands.
I hope you enjoy this sampling of the special literary event which is Watermark. Maybe now is a good time for you to start planning to attend the 2009 Muster? I can assure you, it will be unlike any literary festival you will ever attend elsewhere.
On a different note, thanks to all who contacted us about the photograph gracing the cover of Issue 111 of the ingenious Antarctic explorer reading by candlelight. Perhaps you have a photo of someone reading that you’d like to share with other Island readers? No matter what the politicians and funding bodies might think, more Australians read for recreation than attend sporting events. No one tends to record the fine, quiet act of reading. Perhaps we can make it more visible? If you have a photo of someone reading that you’d like us to include in a future edition of Island, please email it to us at: island.magazine@utas.edu.au
as a jpeg or pdf of 300 dpi (or better) resolution.
Happy reading.
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