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AbstractHistoryArchive Description
'She Played Elvis is the story of a trip that Shady, a young American immigrant to Australia, undertakes with her Australian boyfriend to rediscover her homeland - which, after several years in Australia, doesn't necessarily feel like "home" anymore. As part of the journey, the pair decide to make a pilgrimage across America, travelling on Greyhound buses, to get to Graceland for the celebrations of the 25th anniversary of Elvis Presley's death, with Shady busking and singing Elvis songs at cities and towns along the way.
'As they travel across America, memories of her past begin to surface and Shady realises that while she is coming to understand the meaning of "home", she is also untangling the knotted threads of her difficult relationship with her estranged, erratic, unreliable and often violent father.
'A moving, witty and original meditation on the idea of pilgrimage, family, home and loss, She Played Elvis is a classic road story and a journey of self-discovery set to an Elvis soundtrack; a story told with a clear-eyed, intelligent, unforgettable grace.' (From the publisher's website.)
Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of
Works about this Work
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Elvis Down Under : Simulations of a US Pop Icon in Australian Fiction
2010
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Reading Across the Pacific : Australia-United States Intellectual Histories 2010; (p. 177-193) 'This paper will examine a selection of Australian fiction which features Elvis Presley, or a Presley manqué, as a character. This will include novels and short fiction by Debra Adelaide (A Household Guide to Dying), Julie Capaldo (Weather), Nick Cave (And the Ass Saw the Angel), Gail Jones ('Heartbreak Hotel') and Dorian Mode (A Cafe in Venice). The paper will investigate the capacity of a ubiquitous pop icon such as Presley to absorb and reflect socio-cultural meanings that transcend national boundaries while at the same time affirming elements of national character. In doing so it will consider the meaning and function of trans-national celebrity in a globalised world, and explore why it is that Australian authors—and readers—find a resonance in the figure of Elvis Presley that is seemingly missing from the pop-iconography of their own country.' (Author's abstract) -
[Review] She Played Elvis
2009
single work
review
— Appears in: Bookseller + Publisher Magazine , September vol. 89 no. 2 2009; (p. 33)
— Review of She Played Elvis 2007 single work autobiography -
Non-Fiction
2009
single work
review
— Appears in: The Age , 7 November 2009; (p. 26)
— Review of She Played Elvis 2007 single work autobiography -
The King and I
2009
single work
column
— Appears in: Illawarra Mercury Weekender , 29-30 August 2009; (p. 8-9) -
Writer Nominated for Rich Literary Prize
2007
single work
column
— Appears in: Campus News , October 2007; (p. 10) Dr Shady Cosgrove of the School of Journalism and Creative Writing was nominated for her work She Played Elvis. This piece of 'creative nonfiction' tracks her journey across the United States with her Australian partner to visit Graceland for the 25th anniversary of Elvis Presley's death in 2002. (Hartgerink)
-
Non-Fiction
2009
single work
review
— Appears in: The Age , 7 November 2009; (p. 26)
— Review of She Played Elvis 2007 single work autobiography -
[Review] She Played Elvis
2009
single work
review
— Appears in: Bookseller + Publisher Magazine , September vol. 89 no. 2 2009; (p. 33)
— Review of She Played Elvis 2007 single work autobiography -
Writer Nominated for Rich Literary Prize
2007
single work
column
— Appears in: Campus News , October 2007; (p. 10) Dr Shady Cosgrove of the School of Journalism and Creative Writing was nominated for her work She Played Elvis. This piece of 'creative nonfiction' tracks her journey across the United States with her Australian partner to visit Graceland for the 25th anniversary of Elvis Presley's death in 2002. (Hartgerink) -
The King and I
2009
single work
column
— Appears in: Illawarra Mercury Weekender , 29-30 August 2009; (p. 8-9) -
Elvis Down Under : Simulations of a US Pop Icon in Australian Fiction
2010
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Reading Across the Pacific : Australia-United States Intellectual Histories 2010; (p. 177-193) 'This paper will examine a selection of Australian fiction which features Elvis Presley, or a Presley manqué, as a character. This will include novels and short fiction by Debra Adelaide (A Household Guide to Dying), Julie Capaldo (Weather), Nick Cave (And the Ass Saw the Angel), Gail Jones ('Heartbreak Hotel') and Dorian Mode (A Cafe in Venice). The paper will investigate the capacity of a ubiquitous pop icon such as Presley to absorb and reflect socio-cultural meanings that transcend national boundaries while at the same time affirming elements of national character. In doing so it will consider the meaning and function of trans-national celebrity in a globalised world, and explore why it is that Australian authors—and readers—find a resonance in the figure of Elvis Presley that is seemingly missing from the pop-iconography of their own country.' (Author's abstract)
Awards
Last amended 17 Oct 2012 15:21:33
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Memphis,
Tennessee,
cUnited States of America (USA),cAmericas,
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