Australian children's literature: May Gibbs and her Gumnut characters

May Gibbs was the Australian children’s author of Sugglepot and Cuddlepie – the feature of a small exhibition at the Canberra Museum + Gallery from 16 July to 11 September 2016. The exhibition ‘May Gibbs by gum’ looks at her stories and artworks in a collection of her books in different formats.

May Gibbs (1877-1969) was born in Sydenham, Kent, in England. Her family migrated to Australia in 1881. She returned to England to undertake art studies in 1901. After her studies she settled in Sydney in 1913, where she published her first children’s book – Gumnut Babies (The Adventures of Snugglepot and Cuddlepie) – in 1916. It is a fictional story of bush babies living in native Australian trees called eucalyptus gum trees – influencing her creation of fictional gumnut babies.

May Gibbs married Bertram James Ossoli Kelly in 1919. In the 1920s she wrote three stories: Little Ragged Blossom, Obelia and Nuttybub, and Nittersing. In 1924 she wrote Bib and Bub as a comic strip for a newspaper – and also Tiggy Touchwood.

Her husband died in 1939 and Gibbs continued to live in Nutcote with her dogs. Her last was was Prince Dande Lion published in 1945.

The exhibition – in association with the National Centre for Australian Children’s Literature – also focuses on Nutcote, the home of May Gibbs in Neutral Bay in Sydney, Australia, bought in 1923, which is now a museum.

http://www.cmag.com.au/exhibitions/may-gibbs-by-gum

MARTINA NICOLLS is an international aid and development consultant, and the author of:- The Shortness of Life: A Mongolian Lament (2015), Liberia’s Deadest Ends (2012), Bardot’s Comet (2011), Kashmir on a Knife-Edge (2010) and The Sudan Curse (2009).

Comments

Pir-E-Kamil - The Perfect Mentor by Umera Ahmed: book review

The Perfect Mentor pbuh (2011) is set in Lahore and Islamabad in Pakistan. The novel commences with Imama Mubeen in medical university. She wants to be an eye specialist. Her parents have arranged for her to marry her first cousin Asjad. Salar Sikander, her neighbour, is 18 years old with an IQ of 150+ and a photographic memory. He has long hair tied in a ponytail. He imbibes alcohol, treats women disrespectfully and is generally a “weird chap” and a rude, belligerent teenager. In the past three years he has tried to commit suicide three times. He tries again. Imama and her brother, Waseem, answer the servant’s call to help Salar. They stop the bleeding from his wrist and save his life. Imama and Asjad have been engaged for three years, because she wants to finish her studies first. Imama is really delaying her marriage to Asjad because she loves Jalal Ansar. She proposes to him and he says yes. But he knows his parents won’t agree, nor will Imama’s parents. That

Flaws in the Glass, a self-portrait by Patrick White: book review

The manuscript, Flaws in the Glass (1981), is Patrick Victor Martindale White’s autobiography. White, born in 1912 in England, migrated to Sydney, Australia, when he was six months old. For three years, at the age of 20, he studied French and German literature at King’s College at the University of Cambridge in England. Throughout his life, he published 12 novels. In 1957 he won the inaugural Miles Franklin Literary Award for Voss, published in 1956. In 1961, Riders in the Chariot became a best-seller, winning the Miles Franklin Literary Award. In 1973, he was the first Australian author to be awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature for The Eye of the Storm, despite many critics describing his works as ‘un-Australian’ and himself as ‘Australia’s most unreadable novelist.’ In 1979, The Twyborn Affair was short-listed for the Booker Prize, but he withdrew it from the competition to give younger writers the opportunity to win the award. His autobiography, Flaws in the Glass

Sister cities discussed: Canberra and Islamabad

Two months ago, in March 2015, Australia and Pakistan agreed to explore ways to deepen ties. The relationship between Australia and Pakistan has been strong for decades, and the two countries continue to keep dialogues open. The annual bilateral discussions were held in Australia in March to continue engagements on a wide range of matters of mutual interest. The Pakistan delegation discussed points of interest will include sports, agriculture, economic growth, trade, border protection, business, and education. The possible twinning of the cities of Canberra, the capital of Australia, and Islamabad, the capital of Pakistan, were also on the agenda (i.e. called twin towns or sister cities). Sister City relationships are twinning arrangements that build friendships as well as government, business, culture, and community linkages. Canberra currently has international Sister City relationships with Beijing in China and Nara in Japan. One example of existing

FEAST OR FAMINE

Search This Blog