Tim Winton Brief Biography

Early life  Born 1960, Karrinyup, Western Australia  Completed high school in Albany  Studied creative writing at the West Australian Institute of Technology (now Curtin University)  Achieved recognition as a writer by the age of 21

Writing career  Wrote his first novel, An Open Swimmer, while he was at university, for which he won The Australian/Vogel Literary Award in  His second book, Shallows, won the Miles Franklin Award in  His fifth novel, Cloudstreet, established his place in Australian literature

Writing career (cont)  Winton has published nine adult novels and the Lockie Leonard series and Blueback for children  He has also written four collections of short stories and three plays  He has won the Miles Franklin Award four times and was nominated twice for the Man Booker Prize  A variety of his work has been turned into TV/film/play: Lockie Leonard; Cloudstreet; The Turning; Dirt Music; Breath.

DISCUSSION:  How important do you think place is in Tim Winton’s writing? If you’ve read any of his other work, compare it with The Turning.

Writing style  Winton draws much of his inspiration from landscape and place, particularly WA  In an interview he stated, "The place comes first. If the place isn't interesting to me then I can't feel it. I can't feel any people in it. I can't feel what the people are on about or likely to get up to.”  Many locations, and some characters, recur throughout his work

Writing style (cont)  Winton’s texts also reflect the idea that childhood/adolescent experiences have a significant impact on the adult life of the character  Important themes include: belonging, the role of family, the influence of environment/place,

Activity:  Watch the following:  List all of the references to belonging, the role of family, the influence of environment/place and childhood/adolescent experiences that you have read so far in The Turning.

Winton article – The Guardian  ayreviewsfeatres.guardianreview9 ayreviewsfeatres.guardianreview9

Context The Turning is set in Australia.  Long, wide spaces- Australia is supposed to be one of the most sparsely populated countries so we get lots of space which is nice. There's a lot of times during the novel (or during the 17 short stories, if you prefer) where characters have to cross these long, wide spaces, like when Vic goes to find his dad in "Commission," when Vic is coming home after his cadet camp in "Immunity," or when Gail and Vic are going to visit Daisy and Fenn in "Defender." And then there's a chapter titled "Long, Clear View" which kind of adds to this because you wouldn't really be having a long, clear view if it wasn't for the long, wide spaces available. And then I guess you could also kind of argue that there's a long, wide space between Vic and Gail in terms of their relationship. Especially since Gail's continually visiting Angelus and even going out with some other guy there to boot.  The outback- Well, it's pretty wild and interesting and unique to Australia, which is why there's always been lots of poems and stories and whatnot dedicated to it (bush rangers, anyone?). Sure enough, there's a few stories in here in which the wildness of Australia's outback is important- stories like "Aquifer," for instance, where Alan Mannering drowns in a swamp, as well as "Fog" where Bob Lang and Marie are stuck in the bush overnight.

 Connection between people and place- particularly important to Aboriginal culture, but it can still be seen in this book even though there aren't that many Aboriginals. For example, the swamp is a big part of the children's life in "Aquifer" and then there's the whole idea of returning to one's hometown to search for answers just as Frank does in "Family" and Gail kind of does in "Damaged Goods" (but not really since Gail's trying to find answers about Vic's life).  Mainly secular society, but there are still many people who practise a religion of some description. The Turning has several characters who are Christians, such as Sherry and Dan in "The Turning" and Agnes' family. Christianity certainly helps Raelene in her time of need.  There are a lot of immigrants but sometimes there's still a sense of who's "Australian" and who's an immigrant. Agnes' family is British, and Agnes refers to herself as "fresh off the boat."  Notion of the "underdog" eventually gaining superiority: Frank was the "underdog" in his younger years- bullied by Max and never quite able to walk among the men just as Max could. However, he eventually becomes a professional footballer (though not for long).  winton.html winton.html