A very unusual publishing-related event took place recently in Melbourne.
To explain its significance, a little history is needed. In 1980, Scribe published three books: Buckley's Hope, by Craig Robertson (a fictional recreation of an epic encounter between white and black, before and then during the European foundation of Victoria; Come Spring, by Maria Lewitt (the first piece of Holocaust literature to be published in Australia, written as what we dubbed an 'autobiographical novel'; and The Murders at Hanging Rock by Yvonne Rousseau (a series of individually plausible but mutually contradictory hypotheses about what might have happened within the fictional world of Joan Lindsay's Picnic at Hanging Rock).
The first two titles are still in print (which is almost miraculous in publishing terms), and on Sunday, 12 November 2006 the author of the first book finally realised his long-held desire to organise an anniversary celebration of the publication of his book. In truth, it was originally meant to have been a 25th anniversary celebration last year, in December 2005, but it had been slightly delayed.
About sixty people turned up to what turned out to be a significant event, held at the Trades Hall bar in Carlton. The author, Craig Roberston, spoke about the background to the book (see his speech, below); I spoke about my sense of the book's importance; Barry Hill also spoke about the Buckley story, and read three poems from his work Ghosting William Buckley; Jan Wosititzky performed an extract from his current show, The Go-Between: William Murrangurk Buckley; and Gregory and Julitha, a duo from Victoria's surf coast, sang their own songs about Buckley, and finished with Jan's 'Barraworn' song from his show.
There was a special feeling in the room, because everyone knew that they were celebrating something intrinsically important. It wasn't just the William Buckley story, but the undeniable fact that, by writing Buckley's Hope, Craig single-handedly had rescued Buckley from obscurity.
Indeed, the anniversary afternoon was a snapshot of the way in which his book has stimulated an outpouring of artistic responses in forms as various as poetry, painting, writing, and drama. But the Buckley tale has never 'taken' in the wider culture the way it should have, probably because it's an account of a white man who went native for 32 years. A film option has been taken out, so maybe there's still hope.
The William Buckley story should be taught to every school child. In the meantime, I have vowed that, at least while I’m running the company, it will never go out of print.
Henry Rosenbloom
Author Craig Robertson celebrates the anniversary of Buckley's Hope with Henry and Margot Rosenbloom.
Download Craig Robertson’s speech as a pdf: Download