Go north young man … what a novel idea
Brisbane author Greg Bourke’s debut novel is set in steamy Far North Queensland and mines his experiences as a young teacher.
A young teacher gets posted to a relatively remote school where he encounters romance, adventure and danger in what turns out to be, at times, a nightmare. Does this sound familiar? No, I’m not talking about Kenneth Cook’s classic novel, Wake in Fright.
Although let’s be clear, there is a little of the DNA of that classic in Brisbane author Greg Bourke’s novel Under Silkwood and the author acknowledges that.
He also acknowledges the Welsh poet Dylan Thomas (he has impeccable literary taste), who wrote a classic radio play about a small town, Under Milk Wood. In fact, there’s a quote from the play at the beginning of the book which begins: we are not wholly bad or good/Who live our lives under Milk Wood.
The same could be said for the people of Silkwood, a tiny sugar farming hamlet in Far North Queensland that is the setting for Greg Bourke’s novel. As a young high school teacher, Bourke’s first posting was to nearby Innisfail.
“Under Silkwood was inspired by a return visit to Far North Queensland (FNQ) where I lived in the 1980s,” he says. “The verdant, humid environment is glorious, only partially conquered by the sugar industry. The novel is set in Silkwood, a tiny sugar farming hamlet, settled by many Sicilian immigrants. The brooding location, combined with the Italian passionate temperament provided ideal ingredients. I wrote the outline in a cabin at the idyllic Etty Bay Caravan Park, near Silkwood, where a cassowary foraged nearby. ‘Cassie’ made it into the novel.”
Bourke’s career has focused on writing and expression, first as an English teacher and later within corporate communications. Over many years he has also helped many families and people with their stories and memoirs.
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Bourke’s protagonist is Darcy Grant, graduate teacher, who arrives in steamy Far North Queensland in the 1980s to take up his first teaching job
Under Silkwood is his debut novel and was shortlisted for the Queensland Writers’ Centre 2024 adaptable program. An excerpt from the novel was long listed in the 2024 Sydney Hammond Memorial Short Story Award. It was picked up by Hawkeye Publishing, a small Brisbane publishing house that is making a name for itself by discovering exciting new talent. Like Greg Bourke.
In Wake in Fright the teacher in question is John Grant and, in a nice twist, Bourke’s protagonist is Darcy Grant, graduate teacher, who arrives in steamy Far North Queensland in the 1980s to take up his first teaching job. Struggling with the frontier lifestyle, Darcy is drawn to a mother figure at the school, Frances Russo.
Through Frances he is welcomed to Silkwood, a small cane-farming hamlet. The Sicilian immigrants are friendly, but wary of the southern outsider.
Darcy relies on rules and order, just like in his classroom, but he finds the power of attraction is greater. He takes a dangerous path within a community where honour is defended, while his actions trigger retaliation for unfinished family business.
“When I was asked what to compare it to, Kenneth Cook does come to mind,” Bourke says. “It is about an outsider who goes into a small community and suffers a kind of culture shock. But I enjoyed my time in Innisfail and the friendships and relationships.”
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And what about the romance? Because there is a bit of that in the book. Forbidden romance, according to Sicilian tradition and taboos. Bourke is cagey about his own romantic experiences up yonder, so we will not labour that point.
Besides, it was a long time ago and over the decades his memories have percolated and his experiences have matured into a personal mythology ripe for the fictional picking. The setting of the book was, he says, a conundrum because he deals with traumatic events and some criminality and that was part of the reality. But again, this is dramatic fiction based on his own experiences. It is not autobiography, he stresses.
“It’s fiction that comes from a place of experience,” he says.
The book has been well received up around Innisfail and he has been on local radio there spruiking it.
“The response up there has been good,” he says. “People who don’t know about this region often miss the best part of Queensland. There are the glorious cane fields, beautiful beaches.”
And while this is not strictly crime fiction (it is more domestic noir with thriller elements), it does share that genre’s habit of making the sense of place as much a character as the people.
And while the novel may introduce us to a part of Australia we may not be that familiar with, Under Silkwood is by no means a tourist brochure. It is thick with atmosphere and Bourke beautifully evokes the country and its backdrop is the stage on which his players strut.
I am loathe to go into too much detail because it should unfold in the reading with surprises and delights along the way. But I will say that I really enjoyed one character in particular – his crooked principal.
Is this a student teacher’s revenge? If so, how sweet it is.
Under Silkwood by Greg Bourke, Hawkeye Publishing, $29.99 hawkeyebooks.com.au
Greg Bourke will discuss Under Silkwood at Books@Stones, 360 Logan Rd, Stones Corner, on December 4 at 6.30. Go to humanitix.com/books-stones-event-under-silkwood-by-greg-bourke