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CREATIVE NON-FICTION AND FEATURES
Blowsy gardens, houses with a story to tell, wholesome food, travel with a
purpose, alternative medicine, adoption, fertility and
family life are just some of the subjects I love to write about. Amongst other
places, in the pieces below you will go whale watching, horse racing and
wine-tasting in
South Australia, and drop in for tea and cake at the Royal Manx Agricultural
Show.
QUIET CITY
Quiet City: walking in West Terrace Cemetery
is my first full length work of
non-fiction. It took many years to research and write, although the stories
were so absorbing that I barely noticed the time passing.
In this book I was able to combine writing with my love of
making images. I hope this will be a template for future long form works of
non-fiction.
I do not think that I believe in ghosts, but just for this morning, just for
the time it will take to ramble through this quiet city under clouds the colour
of tin, or of pigeons' wings, I am going to believe in them.
Ordinary lives are revealed as extraordinary, as Carol Lefevre traces the
stories of some of the little-known inhabitants of Adelaide’s historic West
Terrace Cemetery: there is the tale of the man who fatally turned his back on a
tiger, and the man who avoided one shipwreck only to perish in another; there
is the story of the young woman who came home from a dance and drank
belladonna, and those who died at the hands of one of South Australia's most
notorious abortionists.
Said to be the most poetic place in Adelaide, in this heritage-listed burial
ground the beginnings of the colony of South Australia are still within reach.
Amid a sea of weather-bleached monuments, the excavated remains of Australia's
oldest crematorium can be seen, and its quietest corner shelters the country's
first dedicated military cemetery.
From archives, and headstones, the author recovers histories that time and
weather threaten to obliterate.
Quiet City
is a book for everyone who has ever
wandered through an old graveyard and wished its stones could speak.
Praise for
Quiet City:
'Lefevre's touching, terrifying, courageous characters return to haunt us in
this rich and companionable book - a treasure trove of social history and a
fine writer's personal reflection on death and living.' - Nicholas Jose
'Part personal reflection, part speculative fiction,
Quiet City
is also history
and biography, made up of many short sections and lyrical observations…Similar
to W.G. Sebald’s
Rings of Saturn
(described in The Guardian as a 'strange and
moving work') Carol Lefevre’s narrative is also built on spatial elements -- in
this case the cemetery grounds itself.... This is an incredibly rich book and
it is difficult to give an account of all that it contains. It is to Lefevre’s
credit that she has imbued it with respect and gravity. More so that it is
entertaining and in spite of the subject matter, generally a pleasure to read.
' - Nicolette Stasko, Southerly
'A must read.' - Marie, The Big Book Club
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Quiet City
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NOT CUTTING THE MUSTARD
This piece on the vanishing art of home cooking appeared in Manx Tails.
Not Cutting The Mustard
ZEN AND THE ART OF BACKYARD BEEKEEPING
Beekeepers exude an enviable serenity; in conversation they are affable and
calm. But is this composure - which they appear to possess in abundance -
innate, or has it developed as a consequence of handling large numbers of bees
without being badly stung? In short, is there a beekeeping temperament?
After spending time with members of South Australia's Amateur Beekeepers'
Society, I was as keen to keep bees as I was to understand the Zen mindset.
(Zen & The Art of Backyard Beekeeping
was published in SA Life magazine)
Zen and the Art of Backyard BeeKeeping
FROM HERE TO CLARE
Perhaps the most recognisable Australian wine label around the world is Jacob's
Creek, and I've often wondered, while pouring a glass of their excellent
Riesling, whether the creek named on that classic black and white label really
exists. This southern summer, on a trip through the wine country, I was finally
able to satisfy my curiosity. (
From Here To Clare
was published in Manx Life)
From Here To Clare
ENCOUNTERS WITH WHALES
Whale watching is a unique opportunity for a close-up look at the world's
largest mammal in its natural habitat. The beauty of South Australia is that
you can manage it from the comfort and safety of some of the world's finest
beaches.
Encounters With Whales
was published in SA Life and Manx Tails.
Encounters With Whales
A DAY AT THE RACES
From the very earliest days, South Australia's country race meetings have been
important events on the rural calendar, social gatherings in which everyone
plays a part, from horses and trainers to the toddlers picking up discarded
betting tickets while judges puzzle over which of their lovely mothers will win
the Fashions-in-the Field.
A Day At The Races
was published in SA Life Magazine.
A Day At The Races
THE CELTIC CINDERELLA
In recent times, a fairy godmother – in the shape of the European Union – has
waved a magic wand and revitalised the Irish economy with the result that
Dublin’s elegant 18th century houses, which once seemed in a state of terminal
decay, have been rescued and restored to their former beauty. Each city street
has enough history in it to keep you busy for a month, but the greatest
pleasures to be found in Dublin are some of the simplest to access, those
aspects of life the city has always excelled at - a hot towel shave in an old
fashioned barber’s shop, or a perfectly poured glass of Guinness enjoyed in any
one of the handful of public houses which have resisted change and are loved
all the more ardently for that.
The Celtic Cinderella
was published in The Advertiser Review on 24th November 2007.
The Celtic Cinderella
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