The Best Australian Essays 2010 (2010)

In his introduction, Robert Drewe, the Editor of The Best Australian Essays 2010, asks himself “wouldn’t it be good to show what this country, and its culture, was about in 2010?” Yes, it would and yes, he does.

The collection of essays gives you the chance to take another look at 2010, to take a step back and reflect with the help of hindsight, and to engage in a different perspective. They shed more light on what happened and who it happened to, and why it happened and the resulting impact.

The Best Australian Essays 2010 contains more than 30 essays that touch on a range of subjects, and each in its way is connected directly to issues we grapple with on a regular basis. They represent socio-cultural developments we went through, changes to our environment and how we dealt with them, personalities who touched our lives, topics we heatedly debated over our dinners, ideas that challenged our thinking, and events that seemed larger than life.

Above all, though, it’s the writing that shines through. The different narrative voices bring in humour, tenderness, empathy, detail, adventure, reminiscence and irony – a few of the emotions they will stir in you. These voices are strong, decisive and wholly enjoyable. These writers will draw you in tightly and hold your attention to the last word.

The collection offers revealing expositions of literary virtuosos such as poet Peter Porter, author Patrick White, rock musician Rick Grossman (from the Divinyls fame) and pop icon Kylie Minogue. The essays tell us what drove them to such heights of recognition, the motivations behind their careers, their fears and joys, and the battles they fought (or continue to fight), and the world they inhabit/ed.

Charles Blackman’s self portrait with Barbara and cat (1953),
oil on board 75x62cm

Janet Hawley’s essay ‘Art and Darkness,’ is a favourite of mine. At the centre is Charles Blackman, one of Australia’s most respected artists, and Hawley is in conversation with his family and friends, the devoted friend who looks after the artist, and, finally, Blackman himself. The power of the art and the history they share is riveting, and Hawley’s clear and simple style enhances the poignancy of the story.

Then there are the harrowing stories of Ebony and Jai Morcom. We have read much about them in the media, but the essays about them cover a lot more ground. The writers ask questions, they incorporate many viewpoints and provide background pictures that put things into perspective.

Several essays deal with that insidious creature – politics. The minute account of the Julia Gillard – Kevin Rudd political drama is given heightened curiosity by a narrator pushed to the fringes by necessity. The power play, literally and metaphorically speaking, which took place aboard the Mavi Marmara is recounted for our benefit by those who lived through those harrowing hours. The contentious issue of the state system we live under is not forgotten either.

Gold minehead and seven miners, Gulgong (1871-1875),
American & Australasian Photographic Company
© State Library of New South Wales collection

Robert Manne’s essay ‘Asylum Seekers and Australian Democracy: What Do We Fear?’ is a superb exposition into how and why this issues became a make-or-break point for successive governments. I also enjoyed the essay by Kathy Marks, titled ‘Tears of the Sun.’ It’s about mining, gold mining to be precise, and is one of the most informative pieces in the collection. The heart’s racing at the sight of a gleaming piece of raw gold is finely counterbalanced against the greed, the successes, and a trail of forgotten mining towns gathering dust in the aftermath of the gold rush.

Tracing all the socio-cultural ups and downs of an entire year is near impossible for one book, but several pieces are based on important themes that sit close to our consciousness.  Marriage, migration, the role of the state in the propagation of culture, crime, life in rural Australia are all brought to the open; in fact the very notion of what it means to be Australian is opened to the debate.

Then there are some essays that stand out for the intensity or the quirkiness of the subject matter. The events of Black Saturday, the positioning of Aboriginal spiritual medicine, the politics of inhabiting a “a stareable body,” the forced privacy surrounding menstruation, the travails of being Miss Universe, or even for that matter vegetarian, confront us with a plethora of social realities. Some of these issues need discussion and debate, and we need to understand the repressive constructs that keep pushing them off the table.

A field in rural Australia © Australia Post for Our Community
at www.ourcommunity.com.au

The final essay is ‘A Fine and Public Place’ by Gerard Windsor, and is a thoughtful and gently humourous piece that will set you thinking about that final place of rest – a plot in the cemetery of your choice. Morbid, you say? Not at all. Windsor approaches the entire matter with an applaudable pragmatism and not a hint of irony. A beautiful finish, indeed.

Each essay in The Best Australian Essays 2010 is a discovery of its own, with an abundance of thoughts, ideas and research that will get you thinking, leave you shaking with the force of its arguments, and put that proverbial shoe on the other foot. In the end, though, it will bring you gently back to earth – in a manner of speaking, literally.

Drewe, R. (Ed.). (2010). The Best Australian Essays 2010. Victoria, Australia: Black Inc.