Quite often when I’m writing I’ll recall a story my father told me, or dig through our archives and find a forgotten document. This happened when I began crafting The Last Station. Rummaging through the past can yield fascinating information and it was while doing just that a few years ago that I recalled an [...]
Central West Queensland is a vast area. Bordered by the Northern Territory and South Australia to the west the region covers about 400,000 square kilometres but is sparsely populated. Towns such as Longreach, Winton, Birdsville, Blackall, Barcaldine, Boulia and Muttaburra help to tether this strong agricultural district. In parts criss-crossed by the waterways and rivulets [...]
I was a child of both home schooling and our local public school, before being sent to boarding school. Mum taught myself and my siblings around the dining room table as by that time the schoolhouse on our property had been converted into extra accommodation for jackeroos. The last time the building had been used [...]
This is an absolute first for me! Being mentioned in State Parliament. A huge honour. Thankyou @adammarshallmp Image: Hansard site which is the written record of proceedings and debates in Parliament. It is a verified and accurate record rather than a strictly verbatim transcript. TRANSCRIPT NICOLE ALEXANDER – THE LAST STATION Mr ADAM MARSHALL (Northern [...]
Drum roll! Super excited that The Cedar Tree was voted in at No. 19 for Better Reading s Top 100 Books, and particularly chuffed that I'm rubbing shoulders with the likes of Tim Winton (#18) and Trent Dalton (#20). Thankyou to everyone who voted!
The river-boat era carries with it an inherently romantic history in Australian lore but like most industries it started through need. In 1851 Australia’s first gold rush took place at Ophir near Orange. Barely three years earlier gold had been discovered in California and now the mighty rush of humanity turned an eager eye towards [...]
‘Alfred clacked his dentures in irritation. He was fond of the teeth left him by his father. ‘Waterloo teeth’ he called them, a grisly reminder of their battlefield provenance.’ The Last Station In the seventeen and eighteen hundred’s people were dabbling in dentistry. The wealthy were eating more sugar and teeth-whitening treatments were highly acidic [...]
Fancy having your waist strangled by whalebone? Or using coal-heated tongs and risking your hair burning? At the turn of the century women's fashion was very feminine, but also restrictive and modesty prevailed. Long sleeved blouses, skirts and dresses ensured skin was covered. Tops were billowy and loose, and sleeves exaggerated, the extra fabric enhancing [...]
Quite often when I'm writing I'll recall a story my father told me, or dig through our archives and find a forgotten document as in the case of The Last Station, and presto. Rummaging through the past can yield fascinating information and it was while doing just that a few years ago that I recalled [...]
From the 1860s to the 1930s Afghan cameleers were indispensable in servicing Australia’s inland pastoral regions. Although known generically as Afghans these expert teamsters came from the North-West frontier province (then under British rule) now known as Pakistan as well as Iran, India, Afghanistan, Egypt and Turkey. ‘Harry’ the first camel to arrive in Australia [...]
