It is 1924, near Queenstown on the west coast of Tasmania. A boy holds a double-barrelled gun with a black cockatoo perched, bright-eyed, on the barrel. A young woman with short curly hair stands beside him in the button grass, a dead black cockatoo dangling from each hand.
When I saw this arresting image in a photograph in 2018, I was captivated by the woman's face and intrigued by the scene. What is this place? Who is this woman, and what is she doing?
In 2021, I decided to find out - and the family interviews, archival research and environmental immersion has resulted in GERT - a non-fiction narrative poetry collection that tells two life stories: that of a place, and of one woman who lived there. GERT also includes prints, made using local botanical specimens and photographs.
The Canberra launch of GERT will be at Smith’s Alternative on Monday 18 August.
Detail of more events and performances to come. GERT is now available for pre-order on the Recent Work Press website.
