Jamberoo’s Catherine McKinnon has been shortlisted for the prestigious 2018 Miles Franklin Literary Award alongside two former winners, Kim Scott and Michelle de Kretser, Felicity Castagna, Eva Hornung and Gerald Murnane.
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“I feel elated, honoured and surprised. It is very special to be placed on the shortlist. It creates – at least in my mind – a link back to Stella Miles Franklin herself,” she said.
“Stella Miles Franklin was someone who validated the writing life as something that was important to our culture. She wanted to support artists and their ideas, and she wanted to draw the attention of readers – and the general public – to the effort involved in writing.
“She acknowledged that writers need time to write. There is something very special in the memory of Stella Miles Franklin. I'm thrilled to have been shortlisted.”
McKinnon is an award-winning writer of novels, plays and short stories.
Her novel, Storyland (HarperCollins Publishers), is set on Lake Illawarra, it is a compelling novel of five separate narratives which span four centuries. Ultimately all these characters are connected by blood, history, place and memory.
“The main idea behind the novel is that stories matter - those stories we tell, but also, and importantly those we don't tell; those we are frightened to tell, are ashamed to tell, are not allowed to tell,” she said.
“The narrators in the story all speak from different periods in time, but they all live in the same area.
“The stories are set around waterways and the surrounding land, starting with Dapto Creek (Dabroo) that flows down from Mount Kembla (Djenbella), into Mullet Creek (Yowingmillee), and on into Lake Illawarra (Jubborsay), and then down through the small rivulet to the sea.”
The first story is set in 1796 and is told by Will Martin, a servant boy to George Bass.
This a first contact story, and the following stories are set in 1822 (Hawker, a convict worker); 1900 (Lola, who runs a dairy with her half-sister and half-brother); 1998 (Bel); and the last in the near and far future 2033 and 2717 (Nada).
Each time period investigates changes in the make-up of the people, and in the land around them. It also worries at how that first meeting between the Europeans and the first Australians, and the fear and miscommunication involved might underlie many of the stories that come after.
McKinnon was inspired to write Storyland by two things – the first philosophical, the second, an event.
“What we pay attention to, as a nation, shapes the future. In the same way, what we don't pay attention to, shapes the future,” she said.
“We pay attention by telling stories, by creating experiences. So I was interested in what stories had been hidden, or secret, or remain untold. I was interested in the side-kicks of history, the everyday people.
“I wanted to encourage people to realise that every time we tell a story or don't tell it, we are shaping our future – stories matter.”
The event, involved a ferocious storm one August in Jamberoo.
“This particular year I went walking in Minnamurra Rainforest shortly after the storm. There was an enormous small-leaved fig tree that had been blown over. It was so amazing to see this huge tree, lying on the floor of the forest, like a slain giant,” McKinnon said.
“Shortly after this storm, a section of the tree was displayed in the rainforest administration foyer. A sign in front of it said the tree had been 1000 years old. I stood in front of this display and thought about what the tree had seen, what it had lived through.”
The winner will be announced in Melbourne on Sunday, August 26 and will receive $60,000 in prize money for the novel judged as being ‘of the highest literary merit’.
Perpetual is the trustee of the award and Copyright Agency is a proud supporter of the award.
Readers can find out more information on the award at milesfranklin.com.au