Art & Design

Gritty and Gothic: The Underbelly of Victoria’s Goldfields

Posted by

<
>

The beer garden at Camberwell restaurant Nataraj is full of people basking in the recent sunshine, unwinding and enjoying a beer and. It’s pretty far removed from the flood-ravaged goldfields that form the backdrop to Robert Engwerda’s most recent historical crime novel, Mosquito Creek.  There’re no treacherous police commissioners, no penitent troopers or malicious miners, just middle-class citizens having beers topped up by teenage waiters. Robert Engwerda seems at ease amongst this jigsaw of sun-seekers. Just over fifty years old, he has the easy pleasantry of a favoured teacher.It’s not surprising.

‘In a former life I was an English teacher, though history has always been a passion’ he admits when asked how he managed to take the Victorian goldfields of 1855 and imbue them with such insight and authority. The seed of this passion was first stirred when he joined family friends and amateur archaeologists on a dig at the ruins of a settler’s hut near Colac. After unearthing aboriginal artefacts, Engwerda says ‘I was fascinated with the past and fascinated with these people who must’ve been here before and what happened to them.’

Much like his Miles Franklin Award long-listed debut Backwaters, Engwerda’s new book focuses thematically on the past. The two main characters, remittance man Commissioner Charles Stanfield and ex-convict turned police Sergeant Niall Kennedy, are both grappling with their English heritage while trying to scratch out an existence in the unforgiving landscape of colonial Australia.  ‘They’re both effectively exiles from their countries,’ Engwerda says.

‘When Stanfield comes to Australia, he’s very insular, defensive, all he wants is to get back to England, while Kennedy… starts to embrace the country, he tries to understand it, even though it’s quite a harsh terrain and climate, he starts to understand there’s a beauty in it as well.’

That beauty is apparent throughout Engwerda’s prose. His descriptions of the landscape seem stolen straight from memory. Infused with a foreboding gloom that engulfs the pages like the fog enfolding the goldfield, the book occasionally reads like gothic fiction. As he states, ‘the environment says a lot about characters, how they respond to it and the people within,’ which he uses expertly to explore the darker depths of humanity.

Though much of the intrigue stems from Stanfield’s obsessive pursuit to reclaim a lost family relic at the cost of those around him, Engwerda is eager to make the reader comprehend the Commissioner. Mosquito Creek asks us to understanding the actions of men, not judge. ‘I try to be sympathetic to all the characters,’ he explains.

The book itself seems to have a long past. ‘I actually wrote it when I was about 29, it’s been with me for a long time in a lot of different incarnations.’ Originally drawing influence from Hemmingway and Patrick White, Engwerda explains that earlier versions of Mosquito Creek were ‘understated [like Hemmingway] until people told me you’ve got to spell it out a bit more, that’s a juggling act, you don’t want to spell out every single thing.’ But he didn’t want to emulate White either, and now his prose teeters somewhere in between.

Not that Engwerda is stuck in the past. Next up is a contemporary novel set in Melbourne concerning a man coming to terms with the death of his wife and a collection of short stories. One of the few authors I’ve met who heralds it, Engwerda is also looking forward to the digital future of publishing.

‘You can value add whether its fiction or non-fiction, you can do an interview, audio visual… you can have the directors cut version if you like – the chapters that got chucked out. That appeals to me quite a bit,’ he smiles.


Uncategorized

http://www.milkbarmag.com/2019/09/30/an-interview-with-christie-johnson-melbourne-marathon/

An interview with Christie Johnson, Melbourne Marathon

We spoke with dietician Christie Johnson ahead of the Melbourne Marathon.

What's On

http://www.milkbarmag.com/2023/07/21/your-guide-to-where-you-can-watch-the-fifa-womens-world-cup-2023/

Your guide to where you can watch the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023™

Your guide to watch the FIFA Women's World Cup 2023™ in Melbourne.

http://www.milkbarmag.com/2022/08/15/bourne-local-the-newest-market-in-collingwood/

Bourne Local: The newest market in Collingwood

In residence at a former Honda showroom site, the Collingwood Market market punters a grungy experience complete with table tennis, retro roller disco, decent coffee and a plethora of fashion, arts and crafts, and crystals. Next market date is Sunday 28 August.

http://www.milkbarmag.com/2022/07/15/man-oh-man-manchester-u-are-back-in-melbourne/

Man-oh-man, Manchester U are back in Melbourne

English Premier League powerhouse Manchester United will hit Melbourne this July for a two-match series taking on Melbourne Victory and Crystal Palace.