Vale Max Fatchen, author extraordinaire
Max Fatchen
It was a sad day yesterday as South Australia farewelled one of our beloved writers, Max Fatchen. The popular author died at the age of 92 after a career which started in 1946. He was a renowned journalist, columnist, humorist, novelist and quirky poet.
His children’s books alone places him at the highest level of children’s literature in Australia, but he was far more than that.
His regular poems and columns written for our state daily newspaper The Advertiser will remain in the memories of many for years to come.
Writing prompt: responding to bad news
I had some unwelcome news from my doctor yesterday. I’d been in for a routine check-up a few weeks ago and he ordered some extra tests. Yesterday I received the bad news that one condition I have has deteriorated markedly in recent months. I’ve had this condition for some 15 years and it has always been under control and quite manageable. It didn’t really impact my life at all, except for the requirement for daily medication.
It’s not really life threatening at this stage, provided I do all the right things and start seriously looking after myself. I thought that I was doing that, but it seems not. So how have I responded to this setback? I felt a little down at first, but, like all setbacks in life, one adapts, you think through what you can do to help the situation improve and then get on with living life. Take each day as it comes and live it to the full, acknowledging that you’ve been blessed with another day. Putting it in its right perspective also helps, because millions of others are far, far worse off.
One action that I know helps me to cope with setbacks like this is to write about it. So here I am doing just that. Usually I only write about private things like this in my journal, but I am sure many of my readers will identify with the therapeutic qualities of writing through a troubled time, serious situation or crisis that life throws in our faces from time to time.
I might also write a few poems or even a short story in response to this news, working out my emotions through the writing. One thing I won’t let it do is to freeze me into not writing at all. So I guess that there really is a silver lining after all.
Good writing – despite whatever life hurls at you.
Tabor Adelaide Graduation Day 2012
Yesterday I dressed up all smart and official and headed off to Adelaide, about an hour’s drive from home. I attended the Tabor Adelaide Graduation Day for 2012. At the same event in 2011 I graduated, having achieved my Master of Arts (Creative Writing) degree. It was a wonderful day and I had a great sense of achievement.
A few months later I was invited to join the teaching staff and I started lecturing as an Adjunct Lecturer earlier this year. So far it is going really well and I am enjoying the experience – in spite of how it tires me out at my age. More recently I have agreed to teach a second subject next semester.
Today I was able to witness a number of close friends graduating. I also had the privilege of joining the ranks of staff members during the ceremony.
I would highly recommend Tabor Adelaide to any prospective students. Many of their courses – including the creative writing units – can be studied externally, and even overseas. Semester 2 does not commence until mid-July, so you have plenty of time to enrol. You never know – you could end up with me as your lecturer!
The writing courses are particularly valuable. I regularly write and then submit stories, poems and articles to publishers. When I started the course my strike rate was less than 10% – meaning for every 10 submissions, only one was published. My strike rate is currently 44% and rising. In a few months I anticipate that I will be getting a publication rate equating to one published piece for every two submissions.That’s very encouraging.
Good writing.
Book review: A Promise of Peaches by Valerie Volk
My review of ‘A Promise of Peaches’
A review of A Promise of Peaches by Valerie Volk
Published in 2011 by Ginninderra Press.
A Promise of Peaches is Valerie Volk’s second book of poetry. I wrote a review of her first book, In Due Season a few days ago. Actually, to call this new work a book of poetry is to do this volume a disservice. It is a verse novel.
The inspiration for this novel came from Valerie’s own experience as a child, but I hasten to add that it is in no way autobiographical. It first existed as a short story. I remember when Valerie read this story which was an assignment when we were part way through our Master of Arts degree. The suggestion was to expand it into a novel. A little later I recall that our lecturer suggesting that she rewrite it as a verse novel. I think at the time Valerie claimed not to have ever read anything in this specialised genre before, but typically, Valerie threw herself into research mode and the idea grew into the book.
A Promise of Peaches traces the life of Claire, from her early memories as a young girl growing up in post-war Melbourne through to her frustrations in an aged-care facility. Her parents take in as boarders a Czech refugee couple, Viktor and Irena. The story, told in a variety of poetic forms, reveals the feelings and thoughts of each character. Each poem is short, often no more than a page or two at most, and every one sketches a poignant vignette of the inner feelings of the character. Valerie has used different, distinctive voices for each person, a difficult task for any writer and one she succeeds in achieving.
The initial excitement of the struggling post-war Australian suburban family in welcoming a couple from a totally different culture and social background is soon swamped by misunderstandings, rising tension and frustrated passions. Claire’s own innocent sexual stirrings, aided by Viktor, add to the tension and conflict. The author has skilfully woven all of these emotions into the beautiful fabric of her narrative. Her poems are often sparse, tight and understated, sharpened down to bare essentials. I particularly like the three special blues poems inserted into the text late in the writing process.
Somewhere in the night a child is crying.
Somewhere in the blackness of the night a child is crying bitter tears.
Scorching searing tears that never seem to end.From: Claire, Blues Interlude 3 p.163
In the very next poem we read how Claire sees Viktor only once many years later. She recognises him instantly, but he doesn’t know her, nor the profound effect his actions have had on her throughout her life.
I highly recommend this verse novel, not because Valerie is a valued colleague and friend, but because it is a captivating read. Many readers have told her that they couldn’t put it down, that they read all the way through in one sitting. Even though I’d read the manuscript in several of its draft forms, I too found myself reading right through (though I admit to stopping for lunch at one stage, only because it was my turn to cook).
By the way – it’s not every day one gets to read one’s name in the acknowledgements page of a novel. Thanks for sharing the journey with me Valerie; it was fascinating.
You can buy this, and her other books online on her website: Valerie Volk
Further reading:
- Review: ‘Bystanders’ by Valerie Volk
- Review: ‘In Due Season’ by Valerie Volk