AustLit
The material on this page is available to AustLit subscribers. If you are a subscriber or are from a subscribing organisation, please log in to gain full access. To explore options for subscribing to this unique teaching, research, and publishing resource for Australian culture and storytelling, please contact us or find out more.
Latest Issues
Notes
-
Dedication: For Larisa and Romany, for Neila and Alice and in memory of Anni S., that we are part of others' stories. as they part of ours.
-
Book is divided into two sections: Birds of Innocence (pp. 7-77) and Curlew Country (pp. 83-159).
-
'In this collection, Jena Woodhouse explores the taunting allure of dreams of flight. In a diverse range of stories arranged in two parts, she delicately traverses the aspirations which everyone harbours, which can either transport or engulf. The twin worlds of water and sky therefore are hauntingly invoked as being symbolic of these polar opposites. Evocative literary references pepper a text which is also distinguished by the poet’s sensibility, by an arresting insight into character, and by inventive shifts in narrative perspective. This is a richly nuanced collection from an accomplished writer of immense style and grace.' Robyn Sheahan-Bright
Contents
* Contents derived from the
Port Adelaide,
Port Adelaide - Enfield area,
Adelaide - Northwest,
Adelaide,
South Australia,:Ginninderra Press
, 2014 version. Please note that other versions/publications may contain different contents. See the Publication Details.
-
Aunt Matilda's Party Dress,
single work
short story
(p. 9-14)
Note: With title: Little Black Dress
-
The Agency of Water Quatrefoil
The Agency of Water Quatrefoil,
single work
short story
(p. 15-24)
In 'Cara', the narrator is at a concert hall for Vaughan Williams' 'A Sea Symphony'. They notice a boy with a service dog and a girl with heavy glasses, and realises they're blind. As the music plays and they watch the two blind people listen intently, the narrator wonders what it is that sighted people miss.
Note: With title: The Agency of Water Quatrefoil. - An Uninvited Guest, single work short story (p. 25-32)
- Against the Current, single work short story (p. 33-40)
- The Gamblers, single work short story (p. 41-50)
- Stopover in Budapest, single work short story (p. 51-54)
-
The Wall,
single work
short story
(p. 55-60)
Note: With title: The Zeigarnik Effect
- No Such Address, single work short story (p. 61-66)
- Horns of a Dilemma, single work short story humour (p. 67-72)
-
The Girl and the Tiger,
single work
short story
(p. 73-76)
Section: w
Note: With title: The Tale of the Girl and the Tiger
- Reading Rilke, single work short story (p. 77-82)
-
Voices in the Wind,
single work
short story
(p. 85-90)Cloistered on an island for a writers' retreat when cyclonic conditions arise, one woman is powerfully affected by the forces of nature, and by the unsettling presences she senses around her.
- Love Me Tender, single work short story (p. 91-96)
- Fool's Gold, single work short story (p. 97-102)
- None but the Lonely Heart, single work short story (p. 103-112)
- Poor Blighter, single work short story (p. 113-118)
- The Agency of Love Quatrefoil, single work short story (p. 119-130)
- Vergissmeinnicht, single work short story (p. 131-146)
- Billy Hunter, single work short story (p. 147-152)
- The Curlew's Cry, single work short story (p. 153-158)
Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of
Works about this Work
-
Emma Lee Reviews Jena Woodhouse’s ‘Dreams of Flight’
2020
single work
review
— Appears in: The Blue Nib [Online] , December 2020;
— Review of Dreams of Flight 2014 selected work short story -
Jena Woodhouse , Dreams of Flight
2016
single work
essay
— Appears in: Queensland Review , vol. 23 no. 2 2016; (p. 278-280) '‘Flight’ as a narrative of escape pervades Australian literature. In his article ‘Decomposing suburbia: Patrick White’s perversity’ (1998: 56), Andrew McCann argues that its prevalence establishes the trajectory as a prerequisite to self-actualisation, whereby a protagonist can only be fully developed (in the narratalogical and psychological sense) via acts of corporeal relocation. Moreover, the ubiquity of flight implies states of restlessness and discontentment, of unresolved yearning, as recurrent characteristics of Australian fiction.' (Introduction) -
Coming up for Air
2014
single work
review
— Appears in: Australian Women’s Book Review , vol. 26 no. 1/2 2014;
— Review of Dreams of Flight 2014 selected work short story 'DREAMS of flight. A flight towards or a flight from? Dreams of hope or of despair? This rich but immediately accessible collection of short stories leaves it up to the reader to decide the answers. But the metaphor of flight is more intricate than the simple idea of birds allows, although there are many of them in these stories with different fates. Another underlying image is that of water in all its aspects. From sea, to lake, to stream, water can trap us or give us freedom, especially when it’s combined with air, such as the experiences of the young photographer in the story “Stalking the Light,” “She is here, now, in the impressions of the moment, with the solitary canoeist whose craft draws a long chevron on the rose-tinted surface of the water below; with the cohort of ibis silhouetted against the forget-me-not blue unveiled by dispersing cloud above; with the kingfishers and herons and magpies who frequent the early-morning river bank: here, now in the strengthening light.”' (Author's introduction) -
Review : Dreams of Flight
2014
single work
review
— Appears in: Scope , October vol. 60 no. 9 2014;
— Review of Dreams of Flight 2014 selected work short story
-
Review : Dreams of Flight
2014
single work
review
— Appears in: Scope , October vol. 60 no. 9 2014;
— Review of Dreams of Flight 2014 selected work short story -
Coming up for Air
2014
single work
review
— Appears in: Australian Women’s Book Review , vol. 26 no. 1/2 2014;
— Review of Dreams of Flight 2014 selected work short story 'DREAMS of flight. A flight towards or a flight from? Dreams of hope or of despair? This rich but immediately accessible collection of short stories leaves it up to the reader to decide the answers. But the metaphor of flight is more intricate than the simple idea of birds allows, although there are many of them in these stories with different fates. Another underlying image is that of water in all its aspects. From sea, to lake, to stream, water can trap us or give us freedom, especially when it’s combined with air, such as the experiences of the young photographer in the story “Stalking the Light,” “She is here, now, in the impressions of the moment, with the solitary canoeist whose craft draws a long chevron on the rose-tinted surface of the water below; with the cohort of ibis silhouetted against the forget-me-not blue unveiled by dispersing cloud above; with the kingfishers and herons and magpies who frequent the early-morning river bank: here, now in the strengthening light.”' (Author's introduction) -
Emma Lee Reviews Jena Woodhouse’s ‘Dreams of Flight’
2020
single work
review
— Appears in: The Blue Nib [Online] , December 2020;
— Review of Dreams of Flight 2014 selected work short story -
Jena Woodhouse , Dreams of Flight
2016
single work
essay
— Appears in: Queensland Review , vol. 23 no. 2 2016; (p. 278-280) '‘Flight’ as a narrative of escape pervades Australian literature. In his article ‘Decomposing suburbia: Patrick White’s perversity’ (1998: 56), Andrew McCann argues that its prevalence establishes the trajectory as a prerequisite to self-actualisation, whereby a protagonist can only be fully developed (in the narratalogical and psychological sense) via acts of corporeal relocation. Moreover, the ubiquity of flight implies states of restlessness and discontentment, of unresolved yearning, as recurrent characteristics of Australian fiction.' (Introduction)
Last amended 2 Jun 2014 12:23:42
Common subjects:
Export this record
