Book set at Moreton Island whaling station nominated for award
WHALE watching is now an important part of Queensland tourism. But not that long ago, we were killing the marine creatures. Now a book set in the brutal world of a whaling station just off our coast has been nominated for Book of the Year.
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BEN HOBSON’S WHALE OF A BOOK
A coming of age novel set in the brutal world of a whaling station at Tangalooma on Moreton Island sounds historical but it’s more contemporary than you think.
In fact up until 1962 they were still slaughtering whales there and Brisbane author Ben Hobson thought that must be worth a story. The result is his compelling novel To Become a Whale, published by Allen & Unwin, which is one of eight books nominated for The Courier-Mail’s People’s Choice Queensland Book of The Year for 2018.
Hobson, 34, says he went looking for a story, hit paydirt but was shocked to find that whaling was still happening in Moreton Bay in the early 1960s.
“I thought it had died out 200 years ago not 50,” Hobson says.
“It’s very recent history and that surprised me. I wanted to write a novel about a boy whose father is attempting to make a man out of him and was looking for an industry to set it in. Back then they made money out of killing whales, now people make money out of watching them.”
Hobson, 34, who lives at Narangba with his wife Lena and their two children and teaches English and music at Bribie Island High School. When he decided to write a book about the gruesome goings on at the whaling station at Tangalooma he needed to research the subject. Luckily he found a book entitled The Whalers of Tangalooma written by local author David Jones, who Hobson met.
“My novel would not exist without his book,” he says.
The Courier-Mail editor Sam Weir says the award is an important part of the literary landscape.
“The Courier-Mail is passionate about supporting literacy and Queensland talent,” he says. “It gives all Queenslanders a chance to encourage and get behind local talent..”
The award will be presented at this year’s Queensland Literary Awards (QLA) ceremony at the State Library of Queensland on October 23.
To vote go to qldliteraryawards.org.au/peoples-choice
WELCOME TO OUR CHUNDERFUL NEW SPARKLAB SCIENCENTRE
Okay, so here’s a tip. If you or yours decide to take a ride on the spinning chair they call the Rotation Station at the new Sparklab Sciencentre at the Queensland Museum maybe do it on an empty stomach.
The Rotation Station is one of the old favourites from the centre’s previous incarnation but it has made the cut to be included in the new revamped SparkLab Sciencentre which opened this week.
And somebody has already vomited while riding on it so my advice is, if you get anywhere near it, stand well back. I’m sure it won’t be the last time this happens, particularly with the school holidays coming but never mind. It’s all part of the fun, right?
The stunning SparkLab Sciencentre was officially launched by Minister for Science and Arts, Leeanne Enoch, on Sunday. I guess she would get to open it since the State Government gave the museum $9.4 million for the new centre, the first major renovation to the Sciencentre since it opened in 2004.
SparkLab is a hands-on affair with 40 interactive exhibitions and there’s a science bar where kids can be guided through various experiments, hopefully without blowing themselves up.
It has a more serious intent too as well as all the fun according to Minister Enoch.
“It is also a showcase for STEM (science, Technology, Engineering and maths) supporting the Government’s Advance Queensland initiative to put Queensland at the forefront of STEM learning,” she says. And that’s a good thing.
Queensland Museum partnered with Science Museum Group London to deliver SparkLab and will also have the University of Queensland as an academic partner.
There are lots of new exhibits including the amazing Science On A Sphere projection, a two-metre illuminated globe on which you can study the surface of Mars and the Moon or watch hurricane’s forming and all sorts of other cool stuff.
SparkLab Sciencentre, admission $12.50 to $15.50 ; qm.qld.gov.au/sparklab
ARTIST’S LOVE OF THE EXTRAORDINARY ORDINARY
How many artists have passed by the Cement Australia facility at Pinkenba and thought - gee I’d like to paint that? I only know of one, Brisbane artist Michael Cawdrey. And he did. Paint it, that is. A very fine painting it is too and you can see it at his exhibition Evocative Imagery now showing at Aspire Gallery, Paddington.
The inspiration for that work and some of his other Brisbane River inspired paintings goes back to his time working as a nightwatchman out that way for the Harbours and Marine Department back in the 1980s.
Cawdrey, 63, who lives at Kallangur in Brisbane’s north, says it wasn’t the greatest job he ever had.
“But it paid the bills,” he says. “I’m not exactly nightwatchman material.”
But seeing the river and the port and industrial facilities out near its mouth lit up at night did inspire him. Cawdrey likes to paint mundane subjects, or what some might regard as mundane. Hence there are works depicting old substations and the like. The wooden ferries that ply the river from Eagle Street Pier in the city also feature in the exhibition of 34 works.
There are some rippers of Brisbane at night too and it’s obvious that the former Pom loves the joint. He arrived here at the age of 11 and started painting at the age of 14 when he was living at Albany Creek.
He’s from Southampton in England originally but has never been back.
That’s okay, he loves Brisbane. He loves living in Brisbane. He loves painting Brisbane. Good enough. Cawdrey has also painted homelessness and he will donate 20 per cent of his proceeds of the sale of Watching The Passing Parade, one of the paintings in the show, to Homeless Connect - an initiative of The Council of Capital City Lord Mayors which offers assistance to people experiencing homelessness. If you want to meet the artist he will be at the gallery on
Saturday between 2pm and 4pm.
Evocative Imagery is on at Aspire Gallery, 53 Kennedy Terrace, Paddington, until Saturday, September 22 ; aspiregallery.com.au
BOLLYWOOD MAGIC
OK folks you may need to wear sunglasses to this one! The Merchants of Bollywood show is full of glamour and glitter with 2500 shimmering handcrafted costumes and 500 pieces of jewellery, making it quite a spectacle. And it’s coming our way. Again.
A fictional story based on real life and the Bollywood film scene in India, this show launched 15 years ago and has been going gangbusters ever since. More than 2 million people have seen this spectacle which comes back to the Gold Coast and Brisbane from late next month.
Executive producer and creative director Mark Brady says he is excited to be bringing the show back to Australia. “The glitz, glamour, sheer spectacle, song, dance and romance that we know as Bollywood will excite the senses and this lavish new production is bigger, bolder and brighter and features all the smash hit songs from the biggest Bollywood blockbusters.”
The Merchants of Bollywood charts the enchanting history of the world’s largest and most prolific film industry and the stars who have made it what it is today.
The Merchants of Bollywood, comes to The Star, Gold Coast on October 31;
ticketek.com.au
Concert Hall, QPAC on November 2 and 3 ; qpac.com.au
Brisbane fashion coup as duo set up shop
A favourite label of Australia’s “first lady” will open a store-within-a-store in Brisbane City after closing their flagship Gold Coast outlet at the start of the year.
Kay McGrath to step down from anchor role
She is one of Queensland’s most famous faces but Kay McGrath has decided the time is right to read her final news bulletin. Find out what she’ll do next and who will replace her.