AustLit

'If moments define our lives, for Libby Hathorn there was one defining moment that left her feeling "more than usually powerless". It was the early 90s and Libby was researching her novel, Valley Under the Rock (Hodder Headline, 1994). In the story, the mother of the protagonist was hiding something from her daughter about her relationship with someone who went to war. Needing to know about the period Libby started to research Vietnam, delving into books, poems and photos. As it turned out, what she found would affect her so much that she left the book and began instead to write poetry about the Vietnam War.' (p. 6)