This place where we are matters in life’s big scheme, and in the minutiae of life. A special part of the festival was the Byron Tales event orchestrated by Jenni Cargill founder of The Story Tree Company that provides storytelling performances, workshops and recordings. Cargill chose as her theme “The Ground We Stand On” and invited seven speakers representing diverse constituencies of the community to talk about the forces that have shaped and changed Byron Bay.

First up was Delta Kaye who representing the Arakwal Aboriginal people of Byron Bay. Delta entertained everyone with her warm stories of growing up in Byron. She told of playing hide and seek among the cows with a mob of kids- in the paddock where the new Woollies petrol station now is and of her sister Yvonne getting chased by a bull. She told of eating fish for breakfast, fish for lunch and fish for tea, and of her parents fishing with nets at night ands being posted to watch for the dreaded fishing inspector. She told of living in Suffolk Park Caravan Park and her mother’s fast reflexes with a branch snapped from a nearby tree if they were naughty. Delta spent hours most days at the Taylor’s Lake in Suffolk after school. heer Mum gradually taught her and her siblings more and more, as they got old enough, about bush tucker and stories and how to be a good custodian of their sacred land.
Delta now passes on this knowledge to younger generrations as a part of the Cape Byron Trust running Bush Tucker walks through the National Park and the ‘Dolphin Dreaming’ cultural education programme for school kids, families and adult groups at Cosy Corner and the Pass.

Rusty Miller is a former USA Surfing Champion, who surfed with masters in Hawaii and in the early 70s he moved to Byron Bay. During the Aquarius Festival in 1972 he published the region’s first alternative free newspaper. He was featured in the film “Morning of the Earth” that time that offered a visual manifesto for soul-surfers (as opposed to a competition surfer). Since 1984 Rusty has produced the Byron Bay Holiday Guide each year, as a free booklet and teaches surfing.
“Rusty took up all his speaking time singing and playing Byronesque music from the 70s and 80s with his band. I loved the music and the ambience it created, especially some of the funny original songs the guys sung,” said Cargilll. “But I was disappointed not to hear a story from Rusty, who writes so beautifully for his Byron Guide.”

Frank Mills was the first farmer to sell land to hippies and had to weather disapproval from some of his peers. He was also a Byron Bay Councillor for many years and a Fire Inspector and has self-published many books of local history and is regularly invited to speak about Byron and Brunswick history.

Eighty-one year old Frank took people right back to the days of the old factories of Byron in earlier days. He said Sunnybrand Chickens emits but a mild aroma compared to the fetid stench that that use to roll out of the meatworks. Council meetings were lively. One landlord demanded the Council act to stop his hippy tenant from reading books that contained shocking language. Another made her demands wearing a large hat rammed down over her eyes while waving her umbrella wildly at the Councillors.

Phoebe Robinson, a teenager, from Mullumbimby is a member of a band and wrote a song bout Byron and played guitar. She had taught herself three weeks before but it didn’t show and Phoebe had real presence. The song reminded me that no matter the era we growing up in that our concerns are universal.

Sol was instrumental in the establishment of two skate parks in the shire, has run youth festivals and once led a rain dance during a drought here in Byron Shire which apparently resulted in a brief but steady fall of rain. Sol runs Soul Adventure Tours.
Sol shared his experiences of climbing Mt Chincogan (Mullumbimby and Byron’s small mountain), of men’s rituals held at the summit, and the great gifts the mountain gave him. Sol even told of the night when all his house mates had the same dream about the beings he had met on the mountain- without having heard a word about it from Sol!
Sandra Helpeirn is a passionate environmentalist. and 71yrs young Jewish woman who also works for Aboriginal people. She worked as a scientist, and moved into social welfare and social justice. She arrived with her partner/husband in Byron Shire 1992 and they set up a consultancy in social justice which they ran for 12 years. She was a Byron Shire Councillor for a few years.

Sandra spoke about becoming a grandmother soon after arriving in Byron, which caused the epiphany that led her to become an environmentalist and an active member of the greens. She also spoke of the joys of working to re-afforest her own property.

Jimmy Willing Jimmy Willing, lead singer of ‘The Real Gone Hiccups’ is a musician, singer, songwriter, puppeteer , puppet maker, storyteller, and events co-ordinator, “and he is also an artist extraordinaire,” says Cargill. “I invited Jimmy to explain the story behind the huge new iconic mural set in 1960s that he has painted in one of our main pubs.
Jimmy was dynamic and passionate as ever and even spoke to time! He told us why he set the mural in 1962 and in the 70s or during the Aquarius Festival. He related arriving decades ago in Byron on the train with a band he was playing with and the lead singer would always say “Phew where do they get these women? They are like something from a movie set!”
In 1962 you could drive your Holden on to the beach and take your dog on the beach but women could not take off their top. He had to remind a few Rails patrons of that when they pleaded “Mate where are the white pointers, the lovely white pointers?!” as enthusiastically gesticulated with their hands to indicate upright breasts on their chests.

Marian Edmunds, and with thanks to Jenni Cargill for filling in details of an evening I enjoyed immensely but chose to just sit and enjoy on the night.

Admittedly the topic of how to put humour on the page was barely addressed in this session, but it delivered a barrel of laughs, writes Ryan Butler. One thing that stood out was the brutal honesty with which Imran Ahmad, Denise Scott, Michael Cathcart, and Tom Gleeson, address even the most taboo subjects. Simon Marnie, hosted the session.
Denise Scott, has starred in shows such as The Big Gig, she is also a radio host and has a career as a stand-up comedian. Her new book is All That Happened at Number 26 is a revelation of her life, and those of others, at Number 26, where she still lives. During the period described in the book, her mother developed Alzheimers. Although this is a sad episode, it is not without its comedic inspirations for Denise. On one occasion, Denise took her dog to the hostel, it took a poo in the public dining and living room. “I leant down and apologised to an old lady sitting near by. She looked at me incredulously. ‘Why are you apologising darling?’. ‘Because my dog has just done a big poo at your feet Theresa’. She was adamant. ‘You must never apologise for something like that…after all darling, we all do it’. ‘Sure I agree with you Theresa, we all do poo, but not usually in the middle of a public dining room’. She leant towards me conspiratorially, ‘actually darling, I think most of us in here have done exactly that’…So on the way out I just said to the girl at reception, ‘I think one of the residents has done a poo’. She also talks about the quirks that come with a circus-performing partner. The problem with being good, says Denise, is that it doesn’t pay financially. “A heart of gold, but God, really poor”. Curiously Denise was distracted in her attempts to read the room by one woman’s, what she called “feverish knitting”. “You looked like you were riding a motorcycle,” remarked Denise.
Imran Ahmad was born in Pakistan but migrated to London at the age of one. His autobiographical book, Unimagined tells, in an endless present tense, of the major events of his life and the impressions they left on Imran while growing up till the age of 25. Of particular chagrin is Imran’s shortcomings with girls, and the fact that he did not lose his virginity til l the ripe age of 24. “I was for many years labouring under this assumption that girls dig guys who have cars. So I spent every summer working really hard, inversting in a car, and by the time I was doing my PhD I had an Alpha Romeo, and on top of that I bought a microwave oven. Now this was 1985, it was the only privately owned microwave on campus. But between the Alpha Romeo and the microwave I still couldn’t…(laughs)”. But these experiences over the years have brought Imran a more developed sense of sexuality. “I’ve learned the truth now. Its not that girls like guys who drive cars, its worthwhile girls dig guys who write books. Anyway I would love to say that this was 18 or 19, but unfortunately its age 24, while doing my phd, more or less.”
Tom Gleeson grew up as a country kid with red hair. But his was a unique upbringing in this sense. This was due to him being a member of a very small town in which red-haired kids were the majority. This he explained turned him into a red-haired extroverted jock, who would pick on the brown-haired kids, and call them ‘brown-knob’, and ‘choc-top’, while he and his friends would laugh amongst themselves in the shade. “There was a hundred people there, but we have our own website though, it’s run by my Auntie Helen. That’s not a joke, its just a fact. The website is just like the town, it hasn’t been updated in five years, all the links go nowhere”.

When he grew up and became a comedian Gleeson thought he’d like to go to Iraq and other places and ‘have a bit of a look’. His time spent entertaining the Australia troops changed his life and he wrote a book about it, Playing Poker with the SAS: A comedy tour of Iraq and Afghanistan

Michael Cathcart started his comedy career at various Melbourne venues. He is an author and has a new book titled, The Water Dreamers. Michael pointed out that “I’m actually a Lecturer in History at the University of Melbourne” to which the Chair, Simon Manie apologised, “Oh I googled the wrong Michael Cathcart”. Michael told of how this world of academia can be both terribly unfunny, but also a surprising source of comedic material, especially when dealing with American history students’ interpretations of Australian history.

* Ryan Butler from Murwillumbah is a creative writing and journalism student at Griffith University.

Note from blogger, Marian Edmunds : I was going to add to this post as there were so many laughs, and some squeamishness too. Denise’s smoking art installation and Tom’s massage anecdote painted excruciatingly funny pictures. And Imran made us but both laugh and grimace at the situations he put himself through. But I’ll say no more on that. Ryan has captured enough anecdotes for one sitting, and readers should obtain these authors’ extremely entertaining books. The worst/best part of writing a festival blog is leaving with a list of about 25 books on the wish list. Don’t you find that? How many books are on your wish list? More posts will follow, as and when can be fitted in between making a crust/crumb/crust.

The philosophy employed by CuzCo  is one that they adopted from Brazil, where it’s been recognised that socially disadvantaged students require a more personal approach, writes Ryan Butler. But CuzCo have taken it a step further again however, aiming to eliminate the formality that can characterise student/teacher relationships by having both parties play each the role in turn.
Who are CuzCo?
They are Wire MC, who is a descendant of the Gumbayngirri nation (on the north east coast of New South Wales) with an Aboriginal conscience that acknowledges all First Nations across Australia. Wire MC sees hip-hop as the “modern day corroboree” for young Indigenous Australians, looking for a way to express themselves and their culture in a positive way, and Choo Choo. He is a hip-hop artist and rapper, born in Argentina and raised in Australia, who works and performs nationally and internationally with young people from many different cultural and linguistic backgrounds, showcasing his socially conscious lyrics.
Kids teach them about their life experiences, and only then do Cuzco take the reins and apply an appropriate strategy tailor-made for the individual. Most of their projects are small, though the most rewarding and effective, they say, are the ones that occur over an extended period, usually because it takes time for  some individuals to open up.
What makes the Cuzco method so unique, and arguably more effective, is the love they share for hip-hop music. This they claim “speeds up the learning process”. The beauty of the idea of is that kids are encouraged not only to use words, and to be creative with them, it also teaches kids about their own subjective power and potential. CuzCo are well aware of the negative connotations that surround hip-hop and rap music, and they take issue on this point. It is important to recognise that “Gangsta Rap” comes from LA, and that the subject matter is commonly unique to its own origin. This brings us to the apparent advantages of the medium, which are that it has an immediacy that allows for easy expression of truth, and the consequence of this is that kids develop an increased awareness and an aptitude for questioning their own surroundings. It also celebrates hopes and dreams, giving them the knowledge that their opportunities really are limitless.
After a difficult beginning CuzCo have enjoyed great success in their labours, achieving significant and satisfying results and becoming respected internationally along the way. While most of the work is conducted in Australian communities, where they can identify a market and a need, they have also worked in South America, most notably Argentina.
CuzCo gave us a demo in the second half of the session, whipping kids and adults alike into a groove which not only sounded great but had kids making up the words.

* Ryan Butler, from Murwillumbah, is a journalism and creative writing student at Griffith University.

Well there was some, but not much, chat about Jane Austen in the session, Three very attractive men talk sensitively about Jane Austen, hosted by columnist Mark Dapin and featuring two of Australia’s most prominent authors: Tom Keneally, and Rob Drewe. Actually between Dapin’s tattoed biceps, the twinkle in Keneally’s eye and the merry sparring humour between the three men, there was a lot to be attracted to, writes Richelle Buckingham*.
Both Keneally and Drewe talked about their working day, both admitting to early morning procrastination – several newspapers, and cryptic crosswords later, the serious business of writing would (hopefully) ensue. At 73, Keneally chuckled that he was very much ‘…seduced by the cryptic crossword and girls with walking frames.’
The authors also talked about the inherent loneliness of the writer; as Keneally says, ‘…the solitude of writing can be a problem in magnifying depression.’ But Drewe and Keneally both agree the accomplishment is worth it. With that twinkle in his eye, and that whiskery gnome like appearance that wouldn’t be out of place, fishing rod in hand, beside your garden pond, Keneally pointed out that the festival audience gives you the kind of illusion that they have all read your book – and you could tell that Keneally and Drewe relished every moment of it.
The talk went on to ‘prose’, what type did the author’s prefer? The shared opinion was, less is more, although a variation of light and heavy can be good. But as Drewe said, ‘Let the verbs do the work …too many adjectives, too flowery.’
Keneally, with Schindler’s Ark (List) and The Chant of Jimmy BlackSmith, and Drewe, with Our Sunshine (aka Ned Kelly) and Shark Net, have seen their work successfully adapted for the screen. And as proud as the authors are of this accomplishment, they also sagely advise not to be too precious about the adaptation. As Keneally says, ‘The director looks at your book as a point of departure not as the bible!’

Well there was some discussion of Jane Austen, unlike any other discussion ever of Jane Austen, adds Marian Edmunds.
Tom Keneally said Jane Austen is a genius but she “annoys the hell out of him”. Where are the servants? Where are the philanthropists, Where are the Jacobites?.
Keneally’s take on the action in Jane Austen novels, “I must say, Ms Whatever, I find your company exquisitely stimulating and I would like to further our acquaintance, instead of saying,” he said, “how about it love?”
“So if you look at other writers Tolstoy – Dostoevsky, they had the servants, and Rob’s (Drewe) great work Shark Net had a serial killer,” said Kenneally. Jane Austen should be sauced up with a serial killer too, he said.
By which time the audience was in fits of laughter.
“You get the impression that the British Empire was just there to allow these silly girls to tremble around the drawing room and say, ‘Oh Mr So and So’s come,” said Kenneally.
“A nice woman in the line waiting for coffee – who was a Jane Austen expert, unlike me, told me Jane was aware of the possibility of sour and bitter marriages,” said Keneally. “The way she places marriage as the the great God of the millenium is a little like the Bolsheviks looking on the October revolution as the coming of the millennium and what did they get?” he said.
“Stalin. And half the girls in the book who are yearning for marriage, they get Stalin too,” said Keneally. “There a few controversial remarks on Jane Austen, and i know “‘ll be flogged for them,” he said.
But there was no flogging in evidence, just roars of laughter. And Keneally was not done yet.
He spoke of the Merchant Ivory movies where “people turn up a grand country houses and you see a bloke leading a horse away – and i think why didn’t they make a movie on that bloke. What are his yearnings and aspirations?”
“That’s what annoys me a bit about Jane even though she is a genius,” said Keneally.
Rob Drewe has never read a Jane Austen novel but said he’s got a “nine-year-old daughter who’s obsessed with Jane Austen or what you see on TV and the movies, and following that she’s obsessed with Colin Firth’s wet shirt.”
Keneally interjects: “As the nice woman in the coffee line said, ‘that’s as close as anything gets to wet’” in the works of Austen.
“It doesn’t get any more sensitive than this,” said Dapin wrapping up.

Thomas Keneally’s latest book is ‘The People’s Train’ – fighting the Russian Revolution from Melbourne. Rob Drewe has released another collection of short stories The Rip; and Mark Dapin, has published three non-fiction books, and has his first novel coming out later this year.

* Richelle Buckingham is a freelance writer who graduated from Southern Cross University in 2008.

One can only marvel at the increasing audacity of the sporting world, its economic and business equations. While around the world people of all countries seal their wallets shut, companies go bust, governments issue stimulus packages, and GM receives $200,000,000 just to stay afloat, and within a period of one month, Real Madrid splashes out $A430 million on five players, writes Ryan Butler *. Cristiano Ronaldo being the most significant signing, the transfer fee breaking the world record with $A163 million.
At the Masters of their game: a passion for sport and writing panel Roy Masters and Tom Keneally joined Colin Bowles.
Observations gathered over years of working within the world of sport, both as a commentator and coach have made Roy Masters sympathetic to the realities faced by athletes, particularly the radically developing expectations that the public has of athletes. Masters is the author of three books, his latest being Bad Boys and is working on another on the great philosophical issues in sport. Speaking on the issue of sportspersons as role models, Masters says: “The idea that sportsman are supposed to be great role models is based on the assumption that sport is like life. But sport is not like life. In fact it is very much unlike life…” he said.
“Sports have specific ends and beginnings, rules and protocols. Life isn’t like this. Often it is vague and uncertain and we really don’t know what’s going to happen from one day to the next. What we do know is that there will be a game on this weekend. So because of this belief, people expect sports men to be great life role models, and they are not. These people leave high schools straight into football factories and then professional teams.”

Sports persons he says, were much better role models during the times in which he was coach of Western Suburbs Rugby League Club. “But these guys were responsible because they had to get up to work at 6am to work as truck drivers or teachers, or bricklayers or policeman”.

Tom Keneally, whose latest book is the historical fiction ‘The People’s Train’ and with Australia, history book coming out next month, says sport plays a dominant role in our cultural and political landscape.

“The problem in Australia, a relatively stable country, is that sport can become your entire politics. I don’t think that that should be so, but in a happy country you can afford to let sport become your entire politics. He asked us to remember the politician who once said “I want Australia to be so secure people can go straight to the sports pages”. (Does any reader know who that was?)
Keneally and Masters recalled memorable sporting moments:
– Zola Budd and the collision between her and her idol Mary Decker at the 1984 Olympics, and how Decker lost sympathy when she rebuffed Budd’s apology.
- Pete Sampras playing on into the early hours to beat Jim Courier in the 1995 Australian Open quarter-finals, in spite of his visible distress and emotion about his coach Tim Gullikson who had suffered a stroke.

Colin Bowles is a full-time novelist, and former semi-professional footballer. His latest book is I’ve Been Flushed From The Bathroom Of Your Heart. When asked about his role in press sport coverage Bowles said that “at that increasing intersect between sports and business, there isn’t anyone covering it. Sports writers don’t really want to cover it because involves looking at balance sheets and studying up on exchange rates, and rules in respects to the salary cap. It also invites a lot of litigation if you want to take on powerful groups. Business writers, well they don’t really have the context, or the people to ring up to check things out. So there is this vast increasing aspect of the world, that of sport, that is basically falling by the way,” said Bowles, who willingly fills this space, “typically by default because there is no one else doing it”.

* Ryan Butler is a journalism and creative writing student at Griffith University.

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