Suzy Gordon

I am excited about the writing in this first issue of Word Oysters. While the issue is fairly small in size (there are seventeen pieces of writing in total), its scope is unexpectedly rich and resonant, and its energy captivating. From narratives about animals as kindred spirits, and about the resilience of the human spirit, to a story about the musings of Hamlet (the play/book not the man), the writings weave a lively tapestry full of emotional depth, adventure, and vivid imagination.

The magazine opens with Gauravani Larwood‘s tale of young Adeline and Graywater, the huge whale whose life Adeline saves only to discover that he is in fact saving hers. The twists and turns of the story are managed beautifully by Gauravani’s rhythmic prose and dramatic dialogue.

Theo Tolson and Gus McElroy also write about the spectacular power and mystery of the ocean. Theo has experimented with three different forms of writing to create an image of dugongs as watery wonders that live harmoniously in loving families. Using alliteration and onomatopoeia, Gus’s haiku brings to life the spectacle and sound of a dolphin diving in the ocean.

The magazine is filled with writers’ explorations of poetic practice: Sarah Russell, Lois Gale, and Winnie McElroy work specifically with form, rhythm and rhyme to draw thoughtful images of everyday life, literature and history.

In her poem, ‘Flight for Life’, Rachael Lambert’s staccato verse mimics the strenuous but successful flight of the WW2 carrier pigeon, Winkie, who saved the lives of four men when their damaged RAF bomber crashed into the North Sea in 1942. The poem’s broken metre and stark, hard-line breaks bring to our attention a kind of haunted breathlessness, the fragile and uncertain prospect of Winkie’s success.

When Madden Prosser tells his autobiographical story of the violence and bullying he endured in school, he too gives us insight into the quiet strength that can turn the tide of fate. Loved by a family willing to go against the grain and begin the journey of home education, Madden reminds us that heroism doesn’t always come in grand gestures; sometimes, it’s simply the act of surviving, of refusing to be silenced, and finding a way forward.

While Madden’s piece explores personal resilience in the face of hardship, another kind of life story unfolds in Quinnley Meyer Wallace’s biography of Les Giddins – one that celebrates curiosity, legacy, and adventure. In his lively take on Giddins’ story, Quinnley offers a glimpse of a life shaped by a passion for sharing the knowledge of the land and offering insights into a broader understanding of Australian heritage.

An entirely different thread emerges in Benji Strafford’s piece, an extract from his whodunit, ‘The Garden’. Benji sharply conveys the experience of a child who finds himself centre-stage in an adult drama. While the protagonist navigates this new-found world, oscillating between terror and responsibility, Benji shows us in his writing the special ways that genre can map out a story’s world. Working rather differently with the terms and conventions of genre, Emily Yeates uses personification as a key device in her deftly crafted story that casts the relationship between a book and its bookmark as a romantic comedy.

There is a quirkiness to Emily’s approach that is reflected in Henry McElroy‘s poem, ‘I am Me’. Henry ponders a topsy-turvy world where ‘basketball tea’ is served, and identities are confounded, asking whether, in this disordered place, we can still own our own thoughts.

Tensions between adults and children arise again in Aliza Kroeger’s story about a young girl’s independence and Bennett Gale’s discussion piece on social media. Bennett takes as his focus recent debates about children’s use of apps such as Snapchat and TikTok and the increase in governmental oversight into family life that proposed legislation would involve. In ‘Hea and the Ocean’s Gift‘, Aliza writes of a a young girl’s impatience to join the world of adult women. There is a nuanced contrast in Aliza’s story between the world of adults and that of children. While grown women are powerful adventurers charting oceans, childhood is imagined as a secret place where magic and mystery may unfold.

Not dissimilarly, Aislinn Bonanno reminds us of the thrill of story-telling and its magical prospects for the child. In ‘The Wild Pig and the Girl’, Aislinn whisks us away on an adventure where a wild pig, a mysterious portal, and a fairyland reveal that writing, like childhood, is a journey of possibility and discovery.

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It is with genuine delight that I am now able to bring to you this collection of students’ writings. My thanks go to the contributors without whom this inaugural issue of the magazine would have been impossible. Thank you for being brave enough to put your words – your thoughts, feelings, imaginations and dreams – in front of new eyes. My hope is that your courage will empower and inspire more and more writers to share their writing in subsequent issues.

Please share this magazine widely among your communities of would-be published writers. My hope is that, over time, Word Oysters will reach every home educating family and community Australia-wide.

Note: Throughout the magazine, the writings are illustrated with drawings, collages, paintings and prints contributed by home educated students. I hope that you enjoy the sometimes deliberate and often serendipitous connections these bring to your experience of reading.

The second issue of Word Oysters will appear later this year, and the call for submissions can be found HERE. Both written work and artworks are invited. All details available via the above link. Any queries, please contact me, Suzy, at suzistock@tutamail.com .

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