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AbstractHistoryArchive Description
Whitby Downs, a famous cattle station on the Clarence River, has been in Whitby hands since the 1840s but now they're selling up. Or are they? What about the native title claim? Family conflicts, generational splits, commercial opportunism - nothing is black and white in the fight over Whitby Downs. (Publisher's blurb.)
Notes
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A novel in verse form.
Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of
Works about this Work
-
‘Country’ in Australian Contemporary Verse Novels
2014
single work
criticism
— Appears in: JASAL , vol. 14 no. 3 2014; 'Research is yet to describe the stylistic preferences that shape contemporary Australian verse novels which provide political and social critique. This article examines Lisa Jacobson’s The Sunlit Zone (2011), Judy Johnson’s Jack (2006), and Geoff Page’s Freehold (2005), texts which share a stylistic preference for representations of speech and thought that are closer to ‘naturally’ occurring oral communication, and which maximise use of vernacular, regional idiom, and colloquial diction. A close reading of these texts identifies the expressivity markers by which they depict attitudes, beliefs, and values pertaining to ‘country’, with particular focus on analysing the interplay of poetic and narrative elements that is instrumental to foreground the ‘natural’, and to correlate their narratives with mimetic, real-world representation.' (Publication abstract) -
'Their Graves Are Green, They May Be Seen': Geoff Page’s 'Visible Histories'
2009
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Journal of the European Association for Studies on Australia , vol. 1 no. 2009; (p. 64-72) 'Geoff Page's most sustained approach to settler history as twinned achievement and failure appears in the triptych: Invisible Histories (1989), The Great Forgetting (1996) and Freehold (2005). In these mixed-genre texts Page writes obsessively from within the contemporary dispensation of the politics of regret, searching for registers and modes in which responsible witness may be carried out with respect to the foundational historical myths of the nation. The problem with foundation chronicles for the ancestors of people who invaded, murdered and appropriated the land of others can be referred to the current debate around the notions of "guilt" and "shame". Despite Page's collaboration with the Aboriginal artist Pooaraar in The Great Forgetting, and his ambition to bring differing stories into a useful confluence, the task of writing a healing history might be impossible for reasons that lie beyond the writer's strategies or good-will.' Source: David Callahan. -
New Poetry, 2005-2006
2006
single work
review
— Appears in: Westerly , November vol. 51 no. 2006; (p. 60-73) Argues for the importance of first impressions in reading and appreciating poems. -
Poetry Survey
2006
single work
review
— Appears in: Island , Winter no. 105 2006; (p. 82-86)
— Review of The New Arcadia 2005 selected work poetry ; The Universe Looks Down 2005 single work poetry ; Freehold : Verse Novel 2005 single work novel ; Rattus Rattus : New and Selected Poems 2005 selected work poetry -
Steady Pools
2006
single work
review
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , April no. 280 2006; (p. 49)
— Review of Freehold : Verse Novel 2005 single work novel
-
In Short : Fiction
2005
single work
review
— Appears in: The Sydney Morning Herald , 5-6 November 2005; (p. 22)
— Review of Freehold : Verse Novel 2005 single work novel ; Designated Targets : World War 2.2 2005 single work novel -
Supple in Fertile Complexity
2005
single work
review
— Appears in: The Canberra Times , 19 November 2005; (p. 16)
— Review of Freehold : Verse Novel 2005 single work novel -
Bringing the Epic Back to Life
2005
single work
review
— Appears in: The Age , 23-24 December 2005; (p. 20)
— Review of Freehold : Verse Novel 2005 single work novel ; The Universe Looks Down 2005 single work poetry -
[Review Essay] Freehold : Verse Novel
2006
single work
review
essay
— Appears in: API Review of Books , January no. 40 2006;
— Review of Freehold : Verse Novel 2005 single work novel'Geoff Page's Freehold: Verse Novel attempts to negotiate the different modes in which white and Aboriginal Australians connect to land and country and to counteract the forgetting of historical wrongs perpetrated against Aboriginal communities and 'justified' by white understandings of land ownership. Despite the back cover's claim that 'nothing is black and white', Page reveals that, like the Clarence river which repeatedly cuts into the novel, a sharp divide exists between black and white cultural understandings of land use. This divide in turn, serves to make Aboriginal culture transparent and invisible to white Australia. Page's verse novel attempts to narrow the gap a little.' (Introduction)
-
Steady Pools
2006
single work
review
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , April no. 280 2006; (p. 49)
— Review of Freehold : Verse Novel 2005 single work novel -
New Poetry, 2005-2006
2006
single work
review
— Appears in: Westerly , November vol. 51 no. 2006; (p. 60-73) Argues for the importance of first impressions in reading and appreciating poems. -
'Their Graves Are Green, They May Be Seen': Geoff Page’s 'Visible Histories'
2009
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Journal of the European Association for Studies on Australia , vol. 1 no. 2009; (p. 64-72) 'Geoff Page's most sustained approach to settler history as twinned achievement and failure appears in the triptych: Invisible Histories (1989), The Great Forgetting (1996) and Freehold (2005). In these mixed-genre texts Page writes obsessively from within the contemporary dispensation of the politics of regret, searching for registers and modes in which responsible witness may be carried out with respect to the foundational historical myths of the nation. The problem with foundation chronicles for the ancestors of people who invaded, murdered and appropriated the land of others can be referred to the current debate around the notions of "guilt" and "shame". Despite Page's collaboration with the Aboriginal artist Pooaraar in The Great Forgetting, and his ambition to bring differing stories into a useful confluence, the task of writing a healing history might be impossible for reasons that lie beyond the writer's strategies or good-will.' Source: David Callahan. -
‘Country’ in Australian Contemporary Verse Novels
2014
single work
criticism
— Appears in: JASAL , vol. 14 no. 3 2014; 'Research is yet to describe the stylistic preferences that shape contemporary Australian verse novels which provide political and social critique. This article examines Lisa Jacobson’s The Sunlit Zone (2011), Judy Johnson’s Jack (2006), and Geoff Page’s Freehold (2005), texts which share a stylistic preference for representations of speech and thought that are closer to ‘naturally’ occurring oral communication, and which maximise use of vernacular, regional idiom, and colloquial diction. A close reading of these texts identifies the expressivity markers by which they depict attitudes, beliefs, and values pertaining to ‘country’, with particular focus on analysing the interplay of poetic and narrative elements that is instrumental to foreground the ‘natural’, and to correlate their narratives with mimetic, real-world representation.' (Publication abstract)
Awards
Last amended 21 Sep 2011 12:08:38
Settings:
- Clarence River, Grafton - Maclean area, Mid North Coast, New South Wales,
- Grafton - Maclean area, Mid North Coast, New South Wales,
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