BRUCE PASCOE

Author / Koori commentator

Bruce Pascoe was born in Richmond, Victoria, in 1947. He graduated as a secondary teacher and taught for many years and was a Curriculum Development officer with the Victorian Education department. He has also worked as a farmer, fisherman and barman.

He now runs Pascoe Publishing with his wife Lyn. Until recently, they also published the successful quarterly, Australian Short Stories. He has two children and lives at Cape Otway in Victoria where he is the proud member of the Wathaurong Aboriginal Cooperative.

As well as writing and publishing, he also runs guided Koori tours around the Apollo Bay and Cape Otway area. He has won numerous literary accolades including Fellowship of Australian Writers Award for best unpublished novel (Shark), highly commended in the ABC bicentennial literary awards, ACT short story competition and Melbourne Times short story competition.

His successful novel Shark is told in colourful and lively Australian English, full of vernacular and wry humour. A small fishing village is the setting for this emotionally and intellectually appealing novel which, on the one hand, presents a telling picture of the minutiae of small-town living in Australia. On the other, the characters of the novel move out onto the national and international political stages, engaging in contemporary considerations of democracy, an Indigenous treaty for Australia, the struggle against dispossession, social inequity, racial intolerance and the destruction of culture.

Teachers notes:

Relationships

At many levels, Shark explores the needs of individuals and how these are met through family, lovers, professional and community levels and the political process.

The political future for Australia’s Indigenous Peoples

Shark poses, as an imperative, the importance of negotiating a treaty for our Indigenous peoples. What would this mean for the majority of Australian’s? What are the stumbling blocks to achieving this? Shark contrasts the forms of political struggle that are restored to by ‘first peoples’ in Australia and other countries. What is acceptable elsewhere (eg. Irian Jaya) is not acceptable here. Why?

Australian English

The plot and characters of Shark are rendered through various types of Australian English, and include many analogies which are intrinsically Australian. How does the use of language affect the readers’ appreciation/identification?