This collection of Tasmanian short stories, apparently the first, was published a few months ago. It was edited
by Ralph Crane and Danielle Wood.
Although the quality of the stories is a little variable, I enjoyed the collection very much. I was attracted to it, I guess, because I've always had an interest in Tasmania having lived, worked and traveled there for a year or two in the mid 1970s.
Although we like to see Australia as fairly homogeneous, as compared to the USA for instance, there are significant differences.
Climate is different, and that affects lifestyle and attitudes to life.
Two things struck me living in Tasmania which also come through in these stories.
First, in Tasmania you can feel somehow closer to Australia's convict past and the conflict with indigenous people. Perhaps, this is because Tasmania was less successful in terms of economic development during the 20th century, so the past is more present in terms of buildings and streetscapes is more present. Partly, it might be due to a smaller, more resolutely British population, less affected by the postwar influx of southern european migrants.
Second, Tasmania feels (felt?) itself separate from the mainland. Tasmania can feel like a closed world, less affected by the forces and trends shaping other parts of Australia. When I worked in the Huon valley picking apples, some locals were concerned about mainlanders taking their earnings away from Tasmania. Many young people left Tasmania as soon as they could in search of work, or to study in Melbourne or Sydney. Often they returned to the better quality of lifestyle in Tasmania when they got married.
Many of the better stories (or perhaps those more interesting to me) in this collection draw upon these two themes.
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