Ironbark and stone
Place and belonging in the nature novels of Inga Simpson
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1017/qre.2017.34Keywords:
Inga Simpson, nature writing, 'anti-Gothic' approach, white belonging, Australian ironbarkAbstract
This article discusses Sunshine Coast writer Inga Simpson’s nature writing in three recent novels, Mr Wigg (2013), Nest (2014b) and Where the Trees Were (2016c). It addresses Simpson’s self-categorisation as a nature writer, and shows how the recurrent motif of sacred trees allows three introspective protagonists to reach new understandings of universal themes: loss of love and innocence, ageing, inheritance, childlessness, sexuality, death, ancient cultures, cultural integrity and preservation of the environment. The article considers Simpson’s ‘anti-Gothic’ approach to landscape in her novels, yet also shows how her ‘realist’ depictions of place evoke unease surrounding the issue of white belonging in Australia. Simpson’s metaphoric self-identification with trees, particularly the
Australian ironbark, is pivotal to the quiet power of her fiction’s exploration of belonging in the Australian landscape.
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