Source : PERTHNOW NEWS
Claremont ecologist Greg Taylor didn’t plan to write a novel, but a passion for preserving Australian wildlife led to his first manuscript — and it’s now shortlisted for a State writers’ award.
The Fremantle Press’ biennial Hungerford Award is an opportunity for debut WA writers to submit an unpublished work of adult fiction, young adult fiction, narrative non-fiction or verse novel.
This year’s award received 128 manuscripts, which is the largest number in the award’s 35-year history. The winner will receive a $15,000 cash prize, a publishing contract with Fremantle Press and a professional fellowship with the Centre for Stories.
“I knew for a fact that this book would not be shortlisted. That it has is deeply moving, and it has made me wonder whether there is something in these species’ lives that speaks to a broader audience than I had imagined,” he said.
“Between field jobs and stints in grad school I wrote a few dozen short stories, all submitted for publication, none actually published. These didn’t have much to do with wildlife, and certainly nothing at all to do with conservation … these weren’t stories that needed to be written.”
The work is a collection of narrative-based introductions to 24 animal species living in Australia’s eucalyptus forests, and seeks to expand readers’ understandings of these familiar creatures.
After completing his PhD in ecology, Mr Taylor decided to ditch the Melbourne cold and embrace the Perth beaches, but he quickly discovered WA isn’t just coastlines and sunshine.
“When I started looking at satellite imagery of Perth and its surroundings, the first thing I noticed was this web of what was apparently bare dirt spreading across the jarrah forest. Trying to figure out whether it was natural or man-made, I clicked on a marker in the middle of the dirt-web which read, simply, ‘Alcoa’,” he said.
Mr Taylor said Australia’s environmental protection laws are not strong enough to prevent biodiversity loss and he decided to write his story to address this concern.
“There is the story of the bandicoot that scurried away while you were out walking the dog … but there is also the story of the numbats holding on at Dryandra and the Upper Warren Region; and there is that of the swift parrot, whose population is now so small and whose breeding areas are so remote, that few humans have the honour of glimpsing it,” he said.
“This book tells the stories of these animals’ births, their adolescences, their travails in raising offspring, their deaths. It tells the stories of their declines in the face of habitat loss and invasive species. Perhaps more than anything, it tells the stories of their struggles to make it from one day to the next, and to continue doing so for as long as they can.”
Fremantle Press publisher Georgia Richter said she felt proud to end the year by recognising a new WA author.
“The Hungerford’s legacy of identifying talent and launching careers is something we are very proud of, and we can’t wait to introduce our shortlisted writers to the community,” she said.
Carlisle local Jessica Kennedy, Mt Lawley-based Michal Stone and Glen Forrest resident David Harris are the other shortlisted writers in the running.
The winner will be announced on Friday, October 16, at Walyalup Civic Centre on the final night of Totally Lit Festival. Tickets are free and available online.
