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AbstractHistoryArchive Description
'It is the dawn of the twentieth century in Australia and a woman has done an unspeakable thing. Twenty-two-year-old Jessie has served a two-year sentence for horse rustling. As a condition of her release she is apprenticed to Fitzgerald 'Fitz' Henry, who wants a woman to allay his loneliness in a valley populated by embittered ex-soldiers. Fitz wastes no time in blackmailing Jessie and involving her in his business of horse rustling and cattle duffing. When Fitz is wounded in an accident he hires Aboriginal stockman, Jack Brown, to steal horses with Jessie. Soon both Jack Brown and Jessie are struggling against the oppressive and deadening grip of Fitz. One catastrophic night turns Jessie's life on its head and she must flee for her life. From her lonely outpost, the mountains beckon as a place to escape. First she must bury the evidence. But how do you bury the evidence when the evidence is part of yourself?' (National Library of Australia record)
Adaptations
-
form
y
The Burial
( dir. Jasmin Tarasin
)
Australia
:
Renegade Films
,
2017
10723475
2017
single work
film/TV
'The Hunter Valley 1921. On a quest for freedom and a home, outlaw Jessie Payne must elude both the law and the mob who seek revenge… and unexpectedly find love and a family.'
Source: Screen Australia.
Notes
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Inspired by the life of Jessie Hickman.
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Dedication: For my mother with love.
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Epigraphs:
The truth of the heavens is the stars/ unyoked from their constellations/ and traversing it like escaped horses. - Jean Giraudoux, Sodom and Gomorrah
This is all. In the distance someone is singing. In the distance. My soul is not satisfied that it has lost her. - Pablo Neruda, Tonight I Can Write
How could we ever keep love a-burning day after day if it wasn't that we, and they, surrounded it with magic tricks...' - Harry Houdini -
Author's note: This is a work of fiction - inspired by art, music, literature and the landscape, as much as the life and times of Jessie Hickman herself.
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'Parts of the story - including the circus episode - have their roots in the documented history of Jessie Hickman, Known as the Lady Bushranger of Wollemi...' (Source: The Australian, ARTS, Courtney Collins, 13 October 2012)
Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of
Works about this Work
-
Stella Award Women Writers Line up for Prize
2013
single work
column
— Appears in: The Advertiser , 21 March 2013; (p. 34) -
Unearthing Herstory : Courtney Collins’ The Burial
2013
single work
review
— Appears in: Crikey , 27 February 2013;
— Review of The Burial 2009 single work novel -
Unearthing Herstory : Courtney Collins’ The Burial
2013
single work
review
— Appears in: Crikey , 27 February 2013;
— Review of The Burial 2009 single work novel -
Review : The Burials
2013
single work
review
— Appears in: Antipodes , June vol. 27 no. 1 2013; (p. 113)
— Review of The Burial 2009 single work novel -
Going With Your Gut
2013
single work
column
— Appears in: Writing Queensland , July no. 231 2013; (p. 8-9)
-
Fiction
2012
single work
review
— Appears in: The Saturday Age , 1 September 2012; (p. 30) The Sydney Morning Herald , 1-2 September 2012; (p. 32)
— Review of The Burial 2009 single work novel ; Tarcutta Wake 2012 selected work short story ; The Marmalade Files 2012 single work novel -
Untitled
2012
single work
review
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , October no. 345 2012; (p. 72)
— Review of The Burial 2009 single work novel -
Audacious Evocation of a Lady Bushranger
2012
single work
review
— Appears in: The Weekend Australian , 13-14 October 2012; (p. 22)
— Review of The Burial 2009 single work novel -
Digging Up the Truth
2012
single work
review
— Appears in: The Canberra Times , 20 October 2012; (p. 20)
— Review of The Burial 2009 single work novel -
Bushranger Takes a Woman's Touch
2012
single work
review
— Appears in: The Courier-Mail , 3 - 4 November 2012; (p. 20)
— Review of The Burial 2009 single work novel -
Stella Award Women Writers Line up for Prize
2013
single work
column
— Appears in: The Advertiser , 21 March 2013; (p. 34) -
Going With Your Gut
2013
single work
column
— Appears in: Writing Queensland , July no. 231 2013; (p. 8-9) -
Unearthing Herstory : Courtney Collins’ The Burial
2013
single work
review
— Appears in: Crikey , 27 February 2013;
— Review of The Burial 2009 single work novel -
What I’m Reading
2013
single work
column
— Appears in: Meanjin Online 2013;
Awards
- 2013 shortlisted New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards — UTS Glenda Adams Award for New Writing
- 2013 shortlisted Kibble Literary Awards — Nita May Dobbie Award
- 2013 shortlisted The Stella Prize
- 2009 shortlisted The Australian / Vogel National Literary Award (for an unpublished manuscript)
Last amended 4 Apr 2023 09:27:29
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