What the whale inspired was wonderment, a dilation of the ordinary
December 5, 2015 2:25 PM   Subscribe

Whale Fall, an essay by Australian writer Rebecca Giggs. In a 2010 interview with Overland, she discusses the discipline of writing, the psychological and spiritual effects of climate change, and being labelled a "young writer": "I don’t believe in the label ‘young writer.’ All writers should zigzag, meander and fail throughout their career. All writers should embark on infinite tasks, abandon works half-way through, try to take on the wrong voice, start in an incorrect place and finish too far after the end." Her first book, After the Whales, "a work of creative non-fiction examining the place that whales hold in Australia's natural environment, our history, and our cultural imaginations", is forthcoming from Scribe.
posted by jokeefe (4 comments total) 12 users marked this as a favorite
 
Read this earlier today and was just dazzled by some of her turns of phrase. Can't wait for the book.
posted by mykescipark at 2:37 PM on December 5, 2015


This essay is fantastic, thanks! Enjoyed the interview, too.
posted by oulipian at 5:27 PM on December 5, 2015


The section on the whale's fall to the ocean floor was amazing. That image of the skeleton separating from the flesh...
posted by rory at 8:12 AM on December 6, 2015


This was so beautiful.
posted by Joe in Australia at 2:57 AM on December 16, 2015


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