FURTHER BOOKS

Clive gave me a copy of Along these Lines: from Trowenna to Tasmania, an anthology edited by C.A. Cranston, first published in 2000. The writings in it travel through time and across space, via prose (fiction and nonfiction) and poetry; the gathering itself is put together according to a strategy that both exemplifies and examines narrative, as outlined in the editor’s introduction. Its intention is to offer something of the complex texture of Tasmania. Perhaps it’s analogous to that forest texture that I’m so struck by.

Here’s a fine quote about the experience of being here, from the introduction: “It’s not for nothing that Tasmania gets left off the maps. Its geography insists that there are no seamless narratives here; that it does not share the same narratives as the mainland, that the break in the journey to get here requires a shift in perspective.”

I’ll note also that I’m struck by the title’s echo of Along Prairie Lines, the anthology published by Turnstone Press in 1989 that first focused on the long prairie poem and, I think, (from this distance in time and space) made a case for the long poem (and often long line) as a reflection of the prairie landscape. Cranston comments on the highways and grids that provide ways of arriving and framing both place and writing: “The title Along These Lines signals the structure: an anthology patterned on visible and invisible lines that traverse the city and countryside, both of which have prompted or inspired the lines reproduced here by poets and prose writers.”

Now the more about Birds on Farms, subtitled “A glovebox guide to birds and habitat restoration and management in NW Tasmania”, published in 2005 by the North-West Environment Centre. The book arose from a project, “Restoring birds to Northwest Tasmania for healthy sustainable landscapes”, coordinated by the centre, and including field research on farms across the area to teach bird identification and habitat management. The beginning sections of the book describe the project, which encouraged collaborative and community responses to create larger patches of habitat as well as offering suggestions for combining farm production and bird conservation.

Most of the book consists of the guide to specific birds, Each gets a full page with an illustration and comments on behaviour, foraging habits, breeding, habitat, range and status, as well as a description. At the bottom of each page is a description of the bird’s key habitat. The end material includes lists of resources, programs, and scientific names as well as strategies for monitoring birds on your farm.

The project and book are fine examples of locally-based initiatives that address an environmental situation or concern, and also aim to build community. It must have been exhilarating to be involved with it.