A Big Wattletales Thank You — 2021 in Retrospect

A Celebration

As we celebrate new freedoms after nearly two years of COVID-19 restraint, it is time to thank the creative people who contributed so generously to Wattletales during 2021. Each guest has a remarkable story or a unique take on life that showcases the diversity of our poetic and creative talent in and around Adelaide. Despite the world’s ills, Australia is still a lucky country for most, with many able to again visit distant friends and family this festive season. For those who are suffering, our thoughts are with you.

We’ve had 15 guests this year, and I’ve summarised each of their posts in groups of three, with links to the original piece for those who missed them or would like to look back.

David Cookson, Nigel Ford and Julie Cahill

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Starting the year with Polonius With Metaphor, David Cookson dedicates his love of poetry to an English teacher, Reg Bayliss, who cast him as Polonius in a school play. A man of the sea, David loves the bush and, as anyone familiar with his poetry will attest, he’s a very keen human observer. He does not write to nominated topics but is inspiration driven, and in every poem, we find reverence for nature and compassion for human frailty.

Nigel Ford asks, How the Hell Did I Become a Poet? Although deaf as a child, Nigel became embroiled in words through his mother, who loved to read. Later during a dark period, Nigel became an avid reader himself. At 40, he suffered an irreversible injury that brought him to Victor Harbor. He immersed himself in poetry to create a satisfying life as a peripatetic poet in and around Adelaide in summer and off to Darwin each winter.

A return guest, Julie Cahill, wrote about her writing last year. This year, she brought us Painting Dreams. After organising a girls art day at her lovely home on the Fleurieu Peninsula, Julie discovered a hidden talent for art. People now snap up her paintings and commission her work. Already a memoirist, talented poet and writer, Julie is now an artist who writes short stories for her paintings.

Steve Evans, Geoffrey Aitken and Craig Harris

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In My Writing Life, author, poet, and editor Steve Evans tells us about his mother, who read to him as a child. He loved writing at school but became an accountant before becoming a writer. Steve now has 18 published titles to his name, and, as he says, I selfishly look forward to a bit of magic in every new piece I read. I guess I’m in this writing lark for good, as a reader and a writer.

Geoffrey Aitken’s irony is in his title, Finally, a Beginning. Geoff didn’t do well at school and suffered mental health problems on and off throughout his life but still managed to become a teacher and an advocate on behalf of First Nation’s People. Geoffrey’s story is unique and inspiring. Like his poetry, it is clipped, concise, and always meaningful, full of conviction, passion, and wry humour.

Craig Harris fell in love with an Aston Martin DB4 and wrote a book about it when he was 12. He ran out of puff at 30 pages after his father said publishing a book was too expensive. In My Writing Journey, Craig speaks of his lasting love of Aston Martins throughout his career. While he dedicated 49 years to the fire industry, his urge to write persisted and, in recent years, he has published poetry, short stories and two books.

Shaine Melrose, Heather Webster and Julie Wright

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In What Made Me a Poet and Gardener, Shaine takes us from Victoria’s high country to her beautiful home garden with Helen Burrowes in Adelaide’s foothills. Shaine is a poet whose words are themselves a garden, lush with waterways and greenery and vital with insight. Despite her debilitating health, Shaine’ writes technically restrained poetry that cascades respect and a deep love of the natural world.

Heather Webster writes unique poetry about science and birds. She is currently collating amazing poems about the birds at Windsong Wines, her home in Langhorne Creek. She recently published her debut novel, Colours of Perception. In Struggle, Science and Success, we get a taste of Heather’s difficult formative years, her later professional success and her complete joy now, living a creative life.

Julie Wright explores diverse topics, from her love of the bush to self-doubt and creativity in the Mystery of Life, Poetry and Imagination. Through her poems, she asks complex philosophical questions with few answers. I think Julie would agree; it is the journey that matters. The only true path to understanding is to bring curiosity to life and ask challenging questions as she does.

Mike Riddle, Kathryn Pentecost and Warren Porter

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Mike Riddle’s A Poetic Roadmap introduces us to a rich professional and creative life, marred but not destroyed by illness. Mike gives us poems about water, his poetic waterholes along the way. He is especially delighted to live on the Fleurieu Peninsula, where he has discovered friendships in poetry. His writing, he tells us, has blossomed, but it was always part of his life, from his mother’s love of Shakespeare and Coleridge to Ogden Nash.

Metamorphosis: The Persistence of Poetry is from academic, writer and artist Kathryn Pentecost, who confesses that she has carried a secret love of poetry for over 40 years. The first lines of her first poem in this piece read like a haiku; poems/grow/inside me. They are, metaphorically, birthed from a secret, inner space. While Kathryn’s life has moved through different phases, each finds its way into her creative work.

Warren Porter grew up in boys homes. This excerpt from his life story offers unique insight into working as a railway fettler on the Trans-Australia line. The story starts as Warren, and his best mate set out for a small railway siding called Loongana in WA, now a museum. Heading Out Along the Line contributes to the jigsaw of Australian history. Warren’s writing is full of compassion and joy despite the hardships he has endured.

Andrew Ballard, Maria Vouis and Rose Boswell

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Andrew Ballard started writing in his sixties to accommodate a chronic affliction that affected his life. As he says in a poem in Creativity Released, his creativity now walks freely. Andrew is both artist and poet. He produces abstract colour explosions, starting with digital doodling, sometimes mixed with digital manipulation. Ill health has released Andrew’s creative urge with spectacular results.

Last July, poet and singer Maria Vouis brought us a personal story about loving and losing her beloved dog, Oonah. In My Poetic Pilgrimage, she explores the relationship between her mother’s voice, her life in Australia as a Greek migrant child and her poetry. Maria is a multi-talented artist who appreciates and honours the symbiotic relationship between life and creativity.

My last guest for 2021 is Rose Boswell, who shares the excitement of launching her memoir with us. As with so many people, Rose’s creativity stayed in the background in early life, especially during her academic study, but she kept diaries which she distilled into a memoir. In Patchwork, A Life, Rose celebrates the 12 years it took and the fun and stress of writing and producing her book and its launch in October 2021.

A Final Word from Me

I apologise to all of my Wattletales guests. The website’s new security measures eliminated all Facebook like counts since the inception of blog posts three years ago. The only available counts are on pages (which are different) and new posts from November 2021. The insanity of this made me decide to end with a poem about the frustrations of technology. An oldie, but I hope it fits the bill.

I will leave you with that, no writing tips this month except perhaps to say with Rose Boswell’s experience in mind, take notes on your life. You never know when they’ll come in handy. Enjoy the Festive Season and take care during 2022. I hope to bring you more wonderful guest posts next year.

To read about last year’s marvellous Guests, click here.

Happy Writing

Wattletales