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Ironbark and stone: Place and belonging in the nature novels of Inga Simpson

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 November 2017

Jane Frank
Jane Frank*
Affiliation:
j.frank@griffith.edu.au
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Abstract

This article discusses Sunshine Coast writer Inga Simpson's nature writing in three recent novels, Mr Wigg (2013), Nest (2014b) and Where the Trees Were (2016c). It addresses Simpson's self-categorisation as a nature writer, and shows how the recurrent motif of sacred trees allows three introspective protagonists to reach new understandings of universal themes: loss of love and innocence, ageing, inheritance, childlessness, sexuality, death, ancient cultures, cultural integrity and preservation of the environment. The article considers Simpson's ‘anti-Gothic’ approach to landscape in her novels, yet also shows how her ‘realist’ depictions of place evoke unease surrounding the issue of white belonging in Australia. Simpson's metaphoric self-identification with trees, particularly the Australian ironbark, is pivotal to the quiet power of her fiction's exploration of belonging in the Australian landscape.

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Articles
Information
Queensland Review , Volume 24 , Issue 2 , December 2017 , pp. 229 - 241
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s) 2017 

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