Get Swallow The Air Scripted By Tara June Winch Presented As Mobi

published inbut reissued inin a really lovely smallformat hardcover, this is a gripping account of a young Aboriginal girl whose single mother dies, leaving her and her older brother in the care of an auntie.
When Aunties fondness for drink and men who throw their fists around gets too much May strikes out on her own.


Told in a series of selfcontained short chapters and vignettes a bit like short stories, the narrative charts Mays ups and downs, the heartbreak she contends with, the crappy jobs she works, and the people good, bad and indifferent that she meets along the way as she comes to term with her past and seeks out her own indigenous culture.
The redemptive ending, when she returns to her childhood home as a proud Wiradjuri woman, makes this beautiful, heartfelt book such a powerful one.
Written in lush language, it contains so many evocative descriptions of people, places and experiences that its the kind of book you want to savour rather than rush through.


Oh, and did I mention its won a million awards So beautiful and so sad May Gibson is a young woman of mixed Aboriginal and European heritage, living in disadvantaged circumstances in Wollongong.
Billy, Mays older brother, is her closest companion, although he has a different father, The story follows Mays life after the sudden death of her mother when she was a child, She and her older brother Billy were taken in by Aunty, who loved them, looked after them to the best of her ability.
However Aunty has alcohol and gambling problems and an abusive boyfriend, May loves going to the beach to hang out, until one day she is raped by white boys in the dunes.
Eventually she runs away.

Throughout her teenage and young adult years, May moves around a lot, and mixes with many people of Aboriginal heritage, living with drug, alcohol, unemployment and violence issues.
She has drug abuse issues of her own, and a lack of identity, Initially she tries to trace her natural father in Darwin, but returns to Sydney without finding him, Later she looks in western NSW for members of her mothers family, part of the Wiradjuri nation, She is desperately trying to find herself and her true family, and to locate her real home, Eventually she returns to Wollongong to resume contact with her Aunty and brother Billy,

The book is slight, and the chapters are brief, more like vignettes than fullblown chapters, The writing is spare, lyrical, poetic and entrancing, There is a lack of sentimentality which I found refreshing, May talks about social problems with a calm, matteroffact voice, belying the pain and sadness which sits underneath.


Winch simply writes about a life which to me seems to be based in reality, perhaps being semiautobiographical.
She illustrates clearly the circumstances under which many Aboriginal people live, but she does not overdramatise or become selfindulgent.
There are flashes of humour which enliven the narrative, and Mays character shines through in the end, Some readers may find the subject matter not to their taste, or find the spare prose unsatisfying, However, the book did win the David Unaipon Prize for Indigenous Writing in, a deserved winner in my opinion.

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Winchs novel reads like a semi autobiographical text, if it is or not, Im unsure, but the way the author writes presents a connection between writer and text that has me believe that is the case.


The story presents the complex event of May arching for her mob and country, in a way that is palatable for those with the littlest knowledge of Aboriginal culture or storytelling.
I recommend this as a starting place for those wanting to explore Indigenous Australian stories,

However it is not the type of text I would pick up on my own free will, and I would have probably not finished it if I hadnt have been reading it for my class.


When a story is fictional, it tends to follow a pattern that convinces the reader to keep reading, keep them interested.
However a story doesnt HAVE to follow this format, and stories that depict the lives of real people often dont, because they cannot make up interesting events that happen in their life, and they shouldnt have to when in pursuit of telling their story.


That being said, Mays story lacks any peaks and valleys, there is no climactic moment, no resolution, no real structure.
Perhaps thats intentional, to show that for many peoples whos stories are like Mays sometimes that defining moment or revelation never comes.
Its likely a commentary on that,

However its not a novel in rushing back to, I can tell this novel holds a lot of significance for its writer, as do many stories that depict the lives of Indigenous Australians.
It is an experimental format that in my opinion, reads much better as a commentary on the loss of identity to Indigenous Australians, that it does as a novel that you can kick back, relax and enjoy.


That being said, I dont dislike this text, I rather think it is important, and I think as an Australian it is important to read the stories of Indigenous people.
However, compared to the other stories of Indigenous Australians, this one didnt have the same impact on me.


Winchs writing style is incredible, her creativity is undeniable and the story is written beautifully, I think if it sounds like a story you would enjoy, you will likely take a lot away from it.
: I read this in a single night, completely captivated by Winch's prose, The book draws you on this intense journey, tracked by emotional rather than simply temporal flow, that moves across the country.
Despite the dreamlike tone, the book sharply invokes instantly recognisable slices of Australia, from the Gong

to the Block, to Darwin's surrounds.
The section in the Block was so instantly real, local and part of my world that it felt like hitting a dose of fresh, cold water, in a good way, after the slightly surreal parts conjuring the world of drugs and blunted reality.
The book is a literary, personal, journey that plays with images, language, vignettes in structure, which allows a tight focus on the protagonist's emotional world.
She has a fabulous capacity to conjure sensation through words, bringing readers in, It can be hard for nonAboriginal Australians to understand the impact of generational trauma and constant racism on the lives of Indigenous Australians, and this book simply shows us what it feels like, and in the process helps explain the inexplicable.
Winch lets us see the resiliance, generosity and strength of Aboriginal people, while never shying away from the damage.
The dreamlike nature of the book works to both soften some of the harshness, and center it on the emotional journey.
The relentless optimism of the protagonist and a determination to find something better also relieve the book of any grimness, allowing pathos, anger and hope to shine brightly at times.
It is an astonishing read one of the best of the year for me, The kind you feel grateful to live in the same world as, An Alternate Cover Edition of this ISBN can be found sitelinkhere,

In, Tara June Winchs startling debut Swallow the Air was published to acclaim, Its poetic yet visceral style announced the arrival afresh and exciting new talent, Thisth anniversary edition celebrates its important contribution to Australian literature,

When May's mother dies suddenly, she and her brother Billy are taken in by Aunty, However, their loss leaves them both searching for their place in a world that doesn't seem to want them.
While Billy takes his own destructive path, May sets off to find her father and her Aboriginal identity.


Her journey leads her from the Australian east coast to the far north, but it is the people she meets, not the destinations, that teach her what it is to belong.
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