Where Does All That Sorrow Go?
Author Identifier (ORCID)
Research Statement
Research Background
A work of creative nonfiction that explores the impact of human development on the natural environment & the ways adults create stories for their children to avoid difficult answers to mature questions. The piece was inspired by my work drive from Busselton to Bunbury where the ongoing construction of the Bunbury Outer Ring Road impacts the environment, exacerbating the death of native species. The roadkill, & smoke from a nearby factory, recalled a memory of my mother telling me a story that transformed the reality of human pollution into a digestible story about a cloud factory. The work examines the contrast between the haunted landscape we blindly navigate as adults, and the fantastical fabrications of our childhoods. https://www.nightparrotpress.com/product/ourselves-100-micro-memoirs/
Research Contribution
In its exploration of local and global environmental concerns, the work highlights the importance of a regional perspective in these matters. The anthology breaks new ground for short-form writing in Australia. Editor Laura Keenan adds that the micro memoir “reveals a truth in a very distilled form”; the length restrictions raise structural and narrative challenges, in which poignant moments must be compressed into compelling stories. The anthology invites the “reader into the histories we often edit—or don’t tell—about ourselves” (NPP).
Research Significance
Night Parrot Press is a Perth-based, independent publisher, operating since 2019. They publish work that breaks boundaries, promoting experimental forms and genres. Ourselves is the first micro memoir anthology published in Australia. It includes 100 micro memoirs by a range of established and emerging writers, including Gillian O’Shaughessy, Donna Mazza, Susan Midalia, Rashida Murphy, and Scott-Patrick Mitchell. Aksel Dadswell was invited to read his work at the Margaret River Readers and Writers Festival, where the book was also the subject of a panel discussion.
Keywords
creative nonfiction, micro memoir, environmental writing, environmental degradation, road ecology, roadkill, habitat loss, human development, environmental humanities, eco-memoir, place-based writing, regional Western Australia, Bunbury Outer Ring Road, childhood memory, storytelling, family narratives, environmental change, nature writing, creative writing, life writing, memoir, micro nonfiction, Australian literature, environmental awareness, landscape and memory, autobiographical writing, anthology
Non-Traditional Research Output
Original Creative Work
Document Type
Non-Traditional Research Output
Date of Publication
2024
Publication Title
Ourselves: 100 Micro Memoirs
Publisher
Night Parrot Press
School
School of Arts and Humanities
RAS ID
84562
Links and/or Documentation
https://www.nightparrotpress.com/product/ourselves-100-micro-memoirs/
ISBN
9780648706366
First Page
90
Last Page
91
Recommended Citation
Dadswell, A. (2024). Where Does All That Sorrow Go?. In L. Keenan, C. Mulder (Eds.). Ourselves: 100 Micro Memoirs. Night Parrot Press. https://doi.org/10.25958/nm19-z722
Documentation Statement
This record presents a documented representation of the research output, including the research statement and associated contextual metadata. The creative work itself is not included. Where available, external links are provided to representations of the work.
Content Type
Documentation only
DOI Statement
The DOI refers to the repository metadata record only and serves as a documentation identifier.
Comments
Textual work
747 words