I am very excited that Going Down Swinging have published 'Irish Orphan Immigration' in The Blue Corner. This is a piece that is close to my heart as well as being different to my usual style. One of my ancestors, Honora Bentley (photo kindly supplied by Beth Chamberlain) was an Irish Orphan who emigrated to Australia in 1849. She is one of my most fascinating ancestors and her story, or what I have so far discovered of it, has captivated me. Of course, I have to write about her.
But the Orphan story isn't necessarily easy to write. Especially the bit about their reception in Australian ports. I wanted to use the words of the colonists at the time and what better way than to use original text and 'erase'. So, follow the link to the Blue Corner and see what it is/was all about. There's an audio file to go with, which includes the voices of Eleanor Jackson and Andrew Phillips as well as my own.
While we're talking about family history, I have so far neglected to mention that I will be going on a cruise next year: the 4th Unlock the Past history and genealogy cruise. As well as all the obviously exciting things a genealogy cruise has to offer, I will be giving a presentation about 'Writing Poetry: different ways to present your family history'. Earlier this week I got to speak to Unlock the Past. here's what I had to say.
And (it's a huge week for news), speaking of interviews, my third and final interview for the 2013 Queensland Poetry Festival: spoken in one strange word, with New Zealand based poet Siobhan Harvey, is available here.
That ought to keep you busy a while.
But the Orphan story isn't necessarily easy to write. Especially the bit about their reception in Australian ports. I wanted to use the words of the colonists at the time and what better way than to use original text and 'erase'. So, follow the link to the Blue Corner and see what it is/was all about. There's an audio file to go with, which includes the voices of Eleanor Jackson and Andrew Phillips as well as my own.
While we're talking about family history, I have so far neglected to mention that I will be going on a cruise next year: the 4th Unlock the Past history and genealogy cruise. As well as all the obviously exciting things a genealogy cruise has to offer, I will be giving a presentation about 'Writing Poetry: different ways to present your family history'. Earlier this week I got to speak to Unlock the Past. here's what I had to say.
And (it's a huge week for news), speaking of interviews, my third and final interview for the 2013 Queensland Poetry Festival: spoken in one strange word, with New Zealand based poet Siobhan Harvey, is available here.
That ought to keep you busy a while.
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