Writing against the tide
Abstract
A tide of conservatism is rising. Despite bushfires and a global epidemic, many are unwilling or unable to grapple with the facts behind these catastrophes. What is not said drifts in and out of public consciousness. In present silences and lacunae, past stories wait to be told anew. In this presentation, I reflect on discontinuity and continuity in the curious silence around the Joh Bjelke-Petersen era in Queensland history, a time remembered for corrupt politicians and cops, but otherwise culturally (and conveniently) forgotten in literary fiction. I discuss my creative response to this era, and outline processes that are saving me from drowning in entwined political, cultural and personal silences as I write an exegesis and novel.
This paper has been withdrawn.