When I was little, my older brother, John and I had a treehouse opposite the jackeroo’s quarters on the property. Actually, treehouse is probably too flash a name for what was basically four long timber boards nailed into the higher branches of a bottle tree. From our point of view, what that tree lacked in [...]
Over the weekend I was honoured to present the inaugural Colleen McCullough Writer’s Residency. The award formed a part of the Historical Novel Society of Australasia conference which was held at the University of Western Sydney, Parramatta. The residency is named for Ms McCullough - who died in 2015. Her most well-known novel, The Thorn [...]
I've been hunkered down over the last week. With my next novel having been submitted to the publisher at the end of September, I'm now at the beginning of the editing process. The raw manuscript has been laid out into book page format and my publisher has read the work and provided a basic report, [...]
Life around the suburb of Burwood in Sydney's Inner West has definitely changed in the last one hundred and fifty years or so. Burwood is only 10 kilometres west of the Sydney central business district, however in 1858-59, when this picture was thought to have been taken it was a farming area. It would have [...]
Pro Hart. Surely everyone has heard of this iconic artist in Australia. If not, then here's a brief snapshot of the man who grew to become synonymous with the outback. Pro was a Broken Hill boy. He grew up at his parent's property, Larloona Station, which was located about one hundred and thirty kilometres east [...]
NEWS FLASH - AUGUST 2019 Wild Lands has been sold into Russia with the translated work due for publication within the next 18 months. Thankyou to Ukraine based publisher, Hemiro who publishes titles in both Ukrainian and Russian. 'Kate is a modern day feminist… in a wild land. An epic novel.’ -The Big Book Club
While Columbus didn't quite take to the idea of the earth being a sphere, Greek astronomers of the third century were onto it early. By the second century they'd constructed the first terrestrial globe known to man, and the fad of having your own world to spin gained momentum from that point on. Terrestrial globes, [...]
‘From the very first time I came to Broken Hill … in the middle of a dust storm accompanied by 100 degree heat, I loved the fierceness and the challenge of this area.’ Eric Minchin 1975. The founder of the Brushmen of the Bush, Eric Minchin was a man with an eye for opportunity. Minchin [...]
Hugh Schulz's art has appeared in many Australian and international books on Naive Art, this is a wonderfully expressive term for a man who was an exponent of what is commonly considered a more childlike approach to art. There is something quite enchanting about his work, as if he has turned a magnifying glass on [...]
Brushmen of the Bush. Now here's a painting group that deserved their iconic name. In 1973 five artists met in Broken Hill, New South Wales and started collaborating. The artists, comprising of Pro Hart, Eric Minchin, Jack Absalom, Hugh Schulz and John Pickup would change forever the perception of outback art both in Australia and abroad, ensuring [...]
