“Writing is getting comfortable with everything that has already been written …”
Elena Ferrante, “In the Margins”
In her book In the Margins: On the Pleasures of Reading and Writing, the Italian writer Elena Ferrante considers the impact a life of reading has had on her own writing. The fact Ferrante hones her craft by considering the work of other writers is both a revelation and a comfort. The author, who writes under a pseudonym and is famous for the Neapolitan novels, is one of my favourite authors and so the opportunity to read about her method, and the books she loves, feels like attending a masterclass in creativity. Ferrante pens four essays for In the Margins, closely examining her own writing in the context of the work she has read, and re-read, through the years. The book’s title stems from a childhood desire for her handwriting to stay within the margins of the page. Then, like now, she can’t help but allow her writing to wander free from constraint. She writes,
“…when I talk about my ‘I’ who writes, I should immediately add that I’m talking about my ‘I’ who has read….And I should emphasize that every book read carries within itself a host of other writings that, consciously or inadvertently, I’ve taken in.” (p.73)
Ferrante takes the reader on a tour to writing life beyond the margins. Her work guides my own reading as I prepare to wander away from the margins of work and family commitments, if only for a moment, for a multi-day hike. This week’s e-newsletter, then, focuses on reading about wandering from the page and wondering about what I will write about, once the books have been read and the wandering has commenced.
Here is some of the writing I am reading at the moment, and carrying with me in my thoughts while out on the trail.
Finding Eliza: Power and Colonial Storytelling by Larissa Behrendt
Those of us living on this side of the world, or more specifically, on the eastern side of Australia, are familiar with the island K’gari, the largest sand island in the world. For many years it was known by its colonial name of Fraser Island. Colonists re-named K’gari after the story of Eliza Fraser: a Scottish woman who, alongside her husband and other crew, were shipwrecked there in the early 1800s.
Fraser infamously lied about being mistreated by the Indigenous Butchulla people and so in Finding Eliza Behrendt investigates the way colonial narratives like Eliza’s have enforced prejudice and harmful attitudes towards Indigenous people, particularly Indigenous women. Behrendt re-shapes the story through considered and in-depth historical research. In doing so she reveals the power of the colonial story and how narratives such as Eliza’s have had ongoing and harmful repercussions for First Nations people.
Wildflowering: The Life and Times of Kathleen McArthur – Margaret Somerville
Wildflowering is part memoir, part biography as writer Margaret Somerville considers the life and legacy of wildflower artist Kathleen McArthur. While developing my PhD I became enthralled with the story of Kathleen’s life, and her conservation work with poet friend Judith Wright to protect the Cooloola National Park. Wildflowering is helping me to consider not only what I might expect on my upcoming walk in this part of the world, but also how lucky we are to have it in the first place. I am extremely excited to be walking in the place they worked so hard to protect. More on that in coming weeks.
The Salt Path – Raynor Winn
It is hard to describe what this book is about. In simple terms it is about two people who lost everything, faced a health catastrophe, and then decided to go on a walk. A very long walk. With no money and her husband facing a precarious future with his health, Ray Winn takes her husband Moth on a 630 mile hike on the South West Coast Path, from Somerset to Dorset, via Devon and Cornwall in the UK. (That’s more than 1000 km for those of us doing the math in Australia). Alongside the beautiful descriptions of this part of the world, the story is a wider meditation on homelessness, capitalism and the power of the natural world. I’ve almost finished it and am finding it extremely powerful.
NOTE: There won’t be a newsletter from me in your next week as I’ll be on the trail. Stay tuned in coming weeks for an update of my walking and writing adventures.