Ivan Southall



It hasn't been a good couple of weeks for aging male writers of genius: Tony Hillerman, Studs Terkel, and now Ivan Southall.

I probably read Simon Black in the Antarctic when I was nine years old, when it was brand new. I can't quote a single moment from it but I do remember loving it, probably because it had all the thrill of Biggles without the weird Englishness: miraculously, this was a book about an Australian action hero. That alone is cause for me to be grateful for his work.

The Age quoted John Marsden about Southall: "Some of his books haven't dated all that well admittedly because he was quite class conscious when he wrote … but he was still just a terrific, natural writer with a great flair for storytelling." That reminded me of the single moment from a Southall book that has lodged most clearly in my memory -- I can't even tell you what book it's from, possibly To the Wild Sky. A rough working-class man makes a hostile crack at a young owning-class character, and the narrator comments that he had 'offended against the innocence of the boy' (from memory, so any correction gladly accepted). I was an adult when I read that, and have no idea how it would go down with a 10 year old, but it seems to me that while it might seem dated now, it was never un-dated. That could never have been a fashionable line. It does pull one up short and communicate sharply about what I suppose would be called the intersection of class and age oppressions.

I read somewhere in the early 90s that Southall hadn't given an interview for many years. In fact he had spoken at length to Anna Fienberg, then Editor of The School Magazine, in 1989. Since that interview, intended for readers aged 11 or so, was invisible to the mainstream media then, I imagine it would remain so now. It's in Touchdown Nº 6 1989, page 170. You can download a pdf of the whole article here.
Many of your books are about the transition from childhood to adulthood ...

Yes.The reason for this theme in my books is that many of my characters are on that cusp. Because this is a higher period than perhaps any other in life. From my own recollection and observation, I've found that these are the years of discovery. You become aware of things for the first time. And that is unique.

everything that happens at that time is extreme - there is such an intensity. I enjoy writing about this because in the recollection of it, I discover even more things. In that period of life, of things happening for the first time, one is anxious for every day to begin. I was affected by that to a great degree. And I'm still anxious for every day to begin.

I hope that attitude stayed with him to the end. I'm sorry there won't be a state funeral.

Posted: Mon - November 17, 2008 at 09:25 AM           |

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