We publish quality short stories, poetry, extracts from forthcoming novels, and articles and essays on topics of social, environmental and cultural significance.ISSUE NO. 116
AUTUMN 2009
EDITORIAL
Gina Mercer
It’s hard not to feel gloomy in the face of daily news of crashing global economies and ecosystems. We’re all desperate for someone to offer solutions which might, just might, rescue us. Ruth Sunderland, in an opinion piece in The Observer (February 1, 2009) discusses the gender issues she feels are being ignored in the endless analysis of our current economic crisis. She writes: ‘This mess was made by men’ and goes on to argue that women should be vitally involved in the development of solutions. In this issue of Island I have invited activists and radical thinkers, Susan Hawthorne and Ariel Salleh, to engage in a conversation about this very dilemma. It seems timely for us to listen seriously to those who think outside the square, especially when it is clearly inside-the-square thinking which has precipitated these disasters.
In the early 1970s, Brenda Hean sought to challenge the inside-thesquare thinkers. In her sixties, she dismantled her comfortable Hobart life to become an ardent activist, protesting against the flooding and destruction of Tasmania’s iconic Lake Pedder. Her plane disappeared in mysterious circumstances when she was travelling to Canberra to carry her protest to Federal politicians. Scott Millwood, in his powerful documentary film and accompanying book, Whatever Happened to Brenda Hean?, seeks to unearth the truths behind this thirty-year-old mystery. He reveals a compelling tale about Tasmania’s political and community attitudes. We are pleased to be able to publish an extract from this telling narrative.
Robyn Rowland meditates engagingly on the complexities experienced by women poets. Women who seek to dedicate their lives to the conflicting demands of both their craft and the imperative to nurture: children, ageing parents and ailing friends. It will make you think afresh about this thorny dilemma.
Psychoanalyst, Lynette Willshire, gives a fresh perspective on Antarctic history with her evocative representation of Captain John King Davis as he and his men waited in quiet desperation for the return of Mawson’s ill-fated expedition in the January of 1913.
Each year Island publishes around sixty new poems and thirty new short stories. This is equivalent to two anthologies of Australia’s most accomplished poets and short story writers. Such publishing opportunities are rare for writers (both established and emerging) in these underrated genres. I do hope you enjoy the selections presented here, with their themes of birds, travel and Murray cod. May you take pleasure in meeting familiar and unfamiliar authors in all their glorious talent and diversity.
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