Country towns are renowned for everyone knowing everyone else. There’s the sense of community where people will rally around those in crisis. On the other hand, you can’t fart in the main street without someone telling your mother. Not all country towns – or lives – are the same, however.

Here, many stories are told as memories. Some are joyous ones with the sepia tint of nostalgia for a more innocent time. Others are told in stark monochrome, describing how desperate life was. A frequent refrain is moving between city and country (or vice-versa) and the comparison of life between the two. Many of the stories look back to school days, with trips on the bus being a feature.

Sami Shah’s ‘Slow Life’ is a strong choice as first story. The writing is current, humorous and – coming from a Karachi-born Australian – emerges from an unexpected source. Bridie Jabour’s ‘Grafton’s Derry Queen’ is eloquent and emotional. ‘The Country Club’ by Lech Blaine is completely different, offering a seedier side of Toowoomba definitely not included in the tourist brochures. Growing up on a property quickly gets you acquainted with death. This is captured with nuance balance in Claire Baker’s ‘Meat’. Being placed towards the end of a long collection may not be ideal, but it’s worth persevering for Tom Plevey’s ‘Shallow Crossing’.

The better pieces are relayed as anecdotes, rather than trying to be ‘literary writing’. (Some writers are too keen to validate their country chops by overusing rural slang.) This collection is full of pensive reminiscences for us country folk, and elucidation for big-smoke dwellers.

Reviewed by Bob Moore

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Rick Morton is an award-winning journalist and the author of three non-fiction books. My Year of Living Vulnerably launched in 2021.

Morton is also the author of One Hundred Years of Dirt (2018) and the extended essay On Money (Hachette, 2020).

Dirt is part family memoir, part book of essays about growing up on the outside in Australia. It explores intergenerational trauma, poverty, addiction and mental health and the role of a mother who tried to love enough for the failures of everyone else around her. He is the Senior Reporter for The Saturday Paper.

Originally from Queensland, Rick worked in Sydney, Hobart, Melbourne and Canberra as the social affairs writer for The Australian with a particular focus on social policy including the National Disability Insurance Scheme, aged care, the welfare system, religion and employment services. Rick is the winner of the 2013 Kennedy Award for Young Journalist of the Year and the 2017 Kennedy Award for Outstanding Columnist. He appears regularly on television, radio and panels discussing politics, the media, writing and social policy.

One Hundred Years of Dirt was shortlisted for the 2019 Victorian Premier’s Literary Awards, longlisted for the 2018 Walkley Book of the Year, and longlisted for both Biography Book of the Year and the Matt Richell Award for New Writer of the Year for the 2019 ABIA Awards. Dirt was also shortlisted for the National Biography Award.