Interview with Eileen Chong

Eileen Chong is a familiar name for many English teachers since a suite of poetry from her collection Burning Rice was included in the NSW Year 12 Prescribed Texts list. One of these poems is also featured in the syllabus as part of a study on Contemporary Asian-Australian Poets, however, Chong is so much more than this. With her poetry spanning the remote corners of the human condition - from highly personal journeys into the inner psyche to sharply-observed forays into broader discourse - it's always fascinating to get an insight into her processes and methods. Beyond Burning Rice, Chong's poetry collections also include Peony, Painting Red Orchids, Rainforest, Dark Matter, A Thousand Crimson Blooms, and her upcoming 2025 release We Speak of Flowers.

I was lucky enough to have an opportunity to ask Eileen Chong some questions about her work and she was very generous with her time and answers!

What first led you to poetry?

I've always enjoyed reading poetry, even from before I realised what poetry was. My first poetry, I suppose, was from the Bible. I attended Methodist and Anglican schools as a child in Singapore, and had always been drawn to Psalms and Proverbs as well as the Song of Songs. I remember asking a teacher why parts of the Bible were written in sentences and others in 'parts'--even at a very young age part of me discerned the difference in language between prose and poetry.

I studied Literatures in English and Linguistics as an undergraduate at university, and was a high school teacher for a number of years. I'd always loved reading and teaching poetry, but my tastes were quite conservative and tied to the canon. It wasn't until I started a Master of Letters at Sydney University and studied the craft of poetry under the tutelage of Judith Beveridge that I started to read more contemporary poetry across different cultures and also in translation. I started writing poetry around 2010, and had my first book of poems published in 2012 with Australian Poetry. 2025 will see my sixth collection of poems (and my tenth book in total), We Speak of Flowers, to be published with UQP.

 

Do you feel like your poetry has changed over those 6 collections?

Absolutely—my poems have changed across the 6 collections because I have changed as a person over the past 14 years. Of course my work must have retained some defining aspects of a poetic voice, but my concerns, interests and obsessions have evolved, doubled back, overlapped, expanded and/or changed, and the poems reflect that in themes and form. 

For example: my next collection, We Speak of Flowers, is a book-length poem in 101 numbered fragments to be read in any order (including sequentially). The book demanded to be written in this manner—the usual poetry collection of 50 poems or so was not the right container for this work.

I teach the poems from my first collection, Burning Rice, a fair bit in schools, and as the years pass, I gain more and more distance from those poems, to the point where I often wonder: who wrote them? I’m actually consistently surprised by the craft of those poems, by the density of and the compression of language, and feel like I could not write poems like those now, simply because I am not longer the same person and poet as then. 

At the same time, there are words and phrases I used in poems in my previous collections that I would no longer be comfortable using as my sociopolitical consciousness has grown over time and with age. Some of the ideas that gripped me so intensely at different times have also faded out of focus as I have moved on to different stages in life, and others have come to take their place.

I love that my work remains dynamic and in flux even after more than 14 years as a writer.  I would be bored if I were to do the same thing day in, day out, and that applies to my poetry as well. 

You mentioned Burning Rice as an ongoing bridge into schools; how does it feel having your poetry listed as one of the options for NSW students to study? Does it change your relationship with the text?

I don't write for any specific audience, but I am beyond thrilled that students are studying the poems in Burning Rice. I think it's a wonderful recognition to have my poems studied in schools. I was previously a high school teacher of English in Singapore, and know first hand how transformative literary texts in schools can be for students and what a great impact it can have on young minds, sometimes long after their schooling years.

To the best of my knowledge, Burning Rice is also the first single-author collection of poetry by an Asian Australian to be on the HSC syllabus. That is a great honour, and I certainly hope I won't be the last. Having my book on the syllabus has also helped me greatly in a financial sense as I am able to go to schools to speak on my work, which has provided an alternate source of income as I continue to try to make a living through my writing.

I think it is also important for students to be able to read contemporary poetry and to encounter the poet in the flesh, and to understand that creativity is a process that is constantly in-flux. I have absolutely loved being able to be back in classroom to speak on the craft of poetry and to teach my poems to students. I hope that the poems form an entryway into students thinking about migration, identity, multiculturalism, liminality and ultimately leads them to reading more contemporary poetry.

I like what you say about creativity being constantly in-flux. Do you find that the ongoing interaction between students and your poetry challenges the idea of the author being in control of the text?

Absolutely. I’ve often spoken about the creative process and how sometimes even the poet isn’t fully aware of what might be in the poem. I’ve always thought that the final stage in a poem’s creation takes place in the mind of a reader. It’s also refreshing to be in the classroom and have students respond to a work in ways that surprise me, but which are completely valid.

Most of all, I really love watching the expressions and responses to my poems when I read them aloud in classrooms, before I explain any of the literary devices used, or even speak about possible interpretations. To witness a poem’s emotional effect on students is a true gift. To paraphrase Eliot, poetry can communicate meaning even before or beyond conscious understanding.

I have also written poems in response to being in the classroom—a kind of metatext about the creative process to try and articulate this interesting circularity. One such poem, ‘Making Sense’, from my last collection A Thousand Crimson Blooms, begins this way:

I tell my students:

poetry is a way to make sense

of what you fear.

And it ends with:

A girl at her desk begins a poem:

I dreamed everyone, even my own

mother, had forgotten my name—

Which comes first, the poet, the poem, or the reader? Perhaps they are all one and the same. 

I love that. I think we get too rigid sometimes about separating the author from the text and their audience. Why do you think poetry became your primary medium for expression?

As far back as I can recall, I have loved language—the science of it, the sounds of it, the craft of it. I majored in both Linguistics and Literatures in English as an undergraduate, but I had to choose one of the two for my Honours year. I very nearly chose Linguistics over Literature—I was particularly interested in neurolinguistics, pragmatics, and lexicography. But Literature won out and, though unknown to me at the time, it set me on a path that would eventually lead me to poetry as a profession.

Simply put, to me, poetry is the highest form of linguistic expression possible. It is the most varied, the most compressed, and the most encompassing of forms. What I love most of all about poetry is its capacity to move the spirit, its neverending mystery, and how a poem can renew and reinvent language in the smallest space imaginable. (Dove: ‘Poetry is language at its most distilled and most powerful.’) 

I also love how poetry is a broad church, and how it aligns itself with every human experience and emotion in ways that other art forms might not be able to. As I grow older, not much surprises me, but poetry retains the power to astonish and revise my experience and existence. (Dickinson: ‘If I feel physically like the top of my head were taken off, I know that is poetry.’)

I often joke about how if I had a choice I would never have chosen to be a poet. It is likely one of the hardest careers to make a living from, because our capitalist society values it so little. (Wordsworth: ‘Poetry has never brought me enough money to buy shoestrings.’) Yet I feel like poetry has been a blessing to me and a calling I could not refuse. Many of my friends from childhood are at the stage of life where they are preoccupied with their careers and life paths, but very few can say that they have spent most of their time pursuing their passion. (Graves: ‘There’s no money in poetry, but there’s no poetry in money, either.’) I can, hand on heart, say that I have, and I’m grateful for that, at the very least. 

It might seem that ‘poetry makes nothing happen’ (Auden), but I believe that ‘a good poem helps to change the shape of the universe’ (Thomas). Above all, it reminds us of what it means to be human, and that there is power in it, that ‘poetry is a political act because it involves telling the truth’ (Jordan), even if you ‘tell it slant’ (Dickinson again). Joy Harjo tells us that when you begin to listen to poetry, ‘you begin to learn to listen to the soul, the soul of yourself in here, which is also the soul of everyone else.’ What other vocation allows you this? Only poetry does. 

You mention some great classic poets from years gone by. If you had to choose 3 great poets from the 19th, 20^th and 21^st centuries, who would you pick?

An impossible task, I’m going to cheat and pick two each. John Keats, Emily Dickinson, Elizabeth Bishop, Adrienne Rich, Li-Young Lee, Joy Harjo. I’m sure I’ll regret these choices in one way or another. There are so many poets worthy of reading, and not enough time in the world to do so. 

Thanks Eileen. Final question - what advice would you give to anyone wanting to write poetry?

Read poetry. Read non-fiction. Read fiction. Read widely and without prejudice. Read poetry aloud. Listen to its sounds, rhythms, cadences. Study the history of poetry, of forms, across cultures. Read poetry in translation. Read ancient poetry. Read contemporary poetry. Read craft books written by poets. Read interviews with poets. Keep reading, listening, feeling, thinking. See art. Watch plays and performances, attend music events. Walk, swim, sleep in nature. Travel, in person or on the page. Fall in and out of love. Connect with community. Live your life to its fullest. Fill your well, nourish your imagination, and feed your soul. That which spills over? That which cannot be contained? That is the beginning of your own poetry.

 

Visit Eileen Chong's website here.

An Interview with Vuong Pham

If you're a teacher of Standard English in NSW, you might be familiar with Vuong Pham. As one of the featured poems from the anthology Contemporary Asian-Australian Poets, Pham's 'Mother' is part of a suite that can be studied as part of the Language, Identity and Culture module. I was lucky enough to get to speak to Pham and ask a few questions about his poetry, with a specific focus on 'Mother'. 

Something we often talk about in English is the idea of the 'persona'; that the voice in the poem is a construct or character that the author creates. To what extent do you think this is true for your poem 'Mother'?

Much of the experiences covered within the poem are authentic. For instance, the plucking of grey hairs, gardening as a hobby, conversations over my mother's past life, struggles in settling into a new country - they're all based on real life experiences and the special relationship I have with my mother. In saying this, I also write with an awareness of what other Vietnamese refugees experienced - offering a 'mirror' to the Vietnamese community, to acknowledge that they weren't alone in what happened. Understanding what other Vietnamese people experienced can help me write with empathy and assist in adding additional elements to my poetry. To answer the question more directly, the character in my poetry is mostly based on my authentic self, with some added elements to give voice to the Vietnamese community.

How would you describe your relationship with Vietnam?

I was born and raised in Australia. Vietnam was a once great and prosperous nation before the war. With the takeover of Communism, the spread of poverty, corruption and misinformation lead Vietnam downhill. For example, mum's childhood would include singing songs about a whole range of topics (EG. Freedom of birds, nature, love of country, compassion, etc.), though when the Communist party took over, everyone was forced to sing grim songs about a dictatorial president, Bac Ho. There was a high emphasis on valuing education in the previous democratic government. If for example there was a coffin being carried down the street, common courtesy existed amongst the community to stop and take off their hats as a sign of respect. Such values are not promoted by the Communist government because they don't care about building up the nation. In short, I see Vietnam as a nation that has been restrained - now merely an echo of a once great song.

That's quite a powerful image. Do you think that great song could ever come back?

Not under the grip of a suppressive government. I remember a newspaper story from my childhood that exemplifies that. The front cover image depicted a whistleblower on trial for speaking out against an unjust government measure - and his mouth was literally covered by the government officer to stop him speaking. This is what millions of Vietnamese have to live under, a government that purports to aim for a utopia, but the populace are in fact gagged and chained.

How would you describe your relationship with poetry?

I started getting into poetry since high school. I was hooked on poetry ever since reading the classical poetry of Wordsworth, Shakespeare, Rumi, and Basho. I've always been a quiet person, and in most social contexts I'll be the quiet one in the room. Poetry is a way for me to express myself in an evocative and eloquent manner. 

How do you feel about your poem being studied by potentially thousands of students in NSW over the last 5 years?

I was over the moon when I found out my poem was studied in the NSW schools at the start of this year. I wish I had more of an ego so that I would've found out about it earlier, by way of Googling my name sooner. But on a serious note, it is an amazing privilege to have my poetry studied as part of the NSW curriculum. The essence of the poem is about honouring my mother's sacrifices and hard work. Having the poem studied by thousands of students is good affirmation for both my mother's sacrifices and my poetry writing journey.

You've worked as a teacher. How does this inform your work as a writer?

I'd say my teaching experience plays a significant role in informing my work as a poet. I like to craft my writing in a way that is accessible to a wider audience. In particular, not making it too simplistic to the point of being ordinary, whilst not being too aloof either whereby only certain people within an English university department, for example, can decipher. As a teacher, it's in my experience to aid students at the grassroots level and then scaffold learning. Poetry in general is not a popular form of text in the wider public. I understand why because it generally requires more leg work to understand in comparison to other texts. I try and make my poetry accessible and engaging. 

Why is poetry important?

Poetry is way for writers to express the depths of their emotions, experiences and insights through a condensed and evocative medium. Through the beauty of language and its many poetic devices such as metaphor, simile, rhythm, imagery, symbolism, etc, poetry serves the purpose of expanding the imagination. It is an art form that can have rich layers of meaning. Many poets utilise poetry as a kind of healing tool - an emotional release to help writer and reader navigate the complexities of life and find consolation. Empathy can be encouraged amongst people of diverse backgrounds and cultures through poetry, which can positively influence the fabric of societal and cultural norms. Much of my writing focuses on the Vietnamese diaspora experience, so in that sense, poetry can act as a way of preserving our cultural heritage, passing down values and stories that would otherwise be lost if not documented. Poetry offers much educational value because it encourages us to think deeper, think critically and analytically. I've had an affiliation with poetry since high school, reading and admiring classical poets like Wordsworth, Basho, and Shakespeare. I was fascinated by how much depth of meaning they were able to achieve and express in their carefully crafted words. Poetry is a stellar option for people seeking the joys and literary beauty. 

Vuong Pham is available for poetry presentations and workshop bookings via his Facebook poet page or via the contact page of his website: Vuong Pham Poetry.

Standard Module A: Language, Identity and Culture

Some of the texts in Module A for Standard English

Before we get stuck into the prescriptions for Standard Module A: Language, Identity and Culture, here's a quick break-down in terms of representation.

Regarding text types, this module includes:

• 1 fiction novel
• 1 memoir
• 1 suite of short stories
• 2 suites of poetry 
• 3 plays
• 1 documentary
• 2 films

In terms of authorship, it breaks down as thus:

• 7 male composers, 9 female composers
• 14 Australian authors (2 of whom are Aboriginal, 7 Asian-Australian), 1 British, 1 Jamiacan-British
• 7 of the texts were created in the 21st century, 1 in the 1990s, 1 in the 1950s, 1 in the 1910s, and 1 approximately in the late 19th century.

Prose Fiction Options
There are two options in this part of the module; a collection of short stories and a novel. The novel in this section is the only text in the module written by a non-white, non-Australian author.

Short Stories by Henry Lawson

• The Drover's Wife
• The Union Buries Its Dead
• Shooting the Moon
• Our Pipes
• The Loaded Dog

What is it: This suite of short stories covers a range of themes from Australia's colonial period. 'The Drover's Wife' and 'The Union Buries Its Dead' deal with the harsh reality of colonial life in the Australian bush; 'Shooting the Moon' tells a smirking story of fiscal irresponsibility and forged loyalties; 'Our Pipes' uses the symbol of the smoking pipe to explore coming-of-age, identity, and loss, and 'The Loaded Dog' tells the humorous tale of a dog running around with a live explosive in its mouth.

Scope for Study: Context will be key here, especially if working with students from multiple cultural backgrounds. The texture of Lawson's short stories can be hard to get a contemporary grasp on when read quietly and without an understanding of what life was like for white Australians in the second half of the 19th century. Students will need to experience the stories aloud, as if listening to an eloquent raconteur around a fire, and with glossaries on hand to translate the now antiquated colloquialisms that pepper Lawson's narratives.

NESA Annotations: As far as I can tell, there are no annotations for these Henry Lawson short stories in any of the three Annotations documents released by NESA.

Verdict: I'm unsure of this one. I can see the merit in doing this as part of a comparative study but I think, in isolation as a textual study of its own, it would be an increasingly hard sell to win over Standard English students. I'm not even sure if 'The Loaded Dog' is all that funny either. It ends with a bunch of dogs getting blown to pieces and all the characters laughing about it... 'uproarious' isn't a term I'd use for this! Some of the stories are fascinating from a historical standpoint when considered alongside an understanding of yesteryear's values, but I think an examination would need to be made about the absence of Aboriginal representation (aside from racist references in 'The Drover's Wife'). As a Prescribed Text, I think this would live or die on the basis of an individual teacher's passion for it or on the cultural context of the students studying it. 

Small Island by Andrea Levy

What is it: In 1948 London, with the bombings and war with Hitler now over, Queenie Bligh finds herself without her husband and in need of an income. Flying in the face of the attitudes of the times, Queenie opens her house up to Jamaican boarders, most notably former RAF Airman Gilbert Joseph and his newlywed wife Hortense. The West Indian migrants have come to England in search of a better future but instead find a country cold and largely unaccepting of their skin colour. Meanwhile, after disappearing into a military prison in India, Queenie's long-lost husband Bernard begins to make his way back home... 

Scope for Study: Small Island provides fertile ground for exploring complex issues relating to the Jamaican diaspora and England - notably the impact of colonialism and the extra dimensions this brings to the immigration narrative, the role of racism in shaping inter-cultural relations, and the degree to which identity is tied to place. Students will also need to contend with the role of language through the text's use of Jamaican and British dialects in its portrayal of multiple first person perspectives.

NESA Annotations: Annotations for Small Island can be found in the 2015-2020 document, with reference to the text's inclusion in the old Standard English 'Distinctive Voices' Elective for Module A. The novel's value is highlighted through Levy's winning of multiple awards, as well as its skillful exploration of "themes of prejudice, empire, war and love". Other aspects identified by the annotations are: the text's historical authenticity, the use of extensive flashbacks to create a non-linear narrative, the use of multiple narrative points of view, and the language utilised to craft the distinctive voices of the four protagonists.

Verdict: It's a nice book and I'd probably enjoy it outside of an educational context. But as a text intended for Standard English students to study? I just don't see how it could ever work. For starters, it's over 500 pages along. Then add in the fact that the narrative is quite complex in its use of four separate viewpoints (two of which are rendered in the Jamaican-English dialect), and that the plot unfolds across five years in three different countries. If a teacher somehow saw past all of this and was brave enough to try it with a Standard English class then there's a whole other issue to contend with as well - that of probable parental complaints. Some scenes are quite sexually graphic, and one scene in particular depicts racially-charged sexual violence with an underage prostitute. It boggles my mind how this particular book ended up on this list.   

Poetry / Drama Options

The largest amount of options for this module fall in this section, and this is where I suspect the majority of schools draw their Poetry/Drama text from. There are two sets of poetry, and three plays to choose from.

Contemporary Asian Australian Poets edited by Adam Aitken, Kim Cheng Boey and Michelle Cahill

• 'This is Where it Begins' by Merlinda Bobis
• 'Home' by Mariam Wei Wei Lo
• 'New Accents' by Ouyang Yu
• 'Mother' by Vuong Pham
• 'Circular Breathing' by Jaya Savige
• 'Translucent Jade' by Maureen Ten

What is it: Six Asian-Australian poets from a diverse range of backgrounds explore themes relating to identity and culture. 'This is Where it Begins' looks at the role of storytelling as a cultural event, 'Home' examines the multiple definitions of home that inform the persona's viewpoint of the concept, and 'New Accents' utilises humour and brevity to poignantly lay bare the shame, burden, impact, and prejudices that arise from a migrant's mispronunciation of words. In 'Mother' the persona compares the hopes and dreams of a Vietnamese refugee with that of her privileged daughter, and 'Translucent Jade' considers the idea of cultural heritage being bound up in objects. Finally, the poem 'Circular Breathing' muses on the concept of a connection between the persona and Aboriginal culture.

Scope for Study: The breadth of styles in the poetry of these six poets makes it difficult to create a thesis of study based solely on structure and technique (which is for the best, really!). Instead, students will need to consider the shared 'Asian-Australian' experience and other themes that arise from this, such as the relationship between the past and the present, the role of culture in forging identity, and the sincere wish of each poet in wanting to better navigate the awkward space between the two cultures they inhabit.

NESA Annotations: There are two sets of annotations in the 2019-2023 NESA Annotations document - one for Standard and one for EAL/D. The Standard section asserts that students will develop empathy through their engagement with different perspectives and representations. Stylistic elements of poetry that are singled out for examination include: stanzaic patterns, enjambment, repetition, bilingualism, wordplay, figurative language, and descriptive language. The annotations also suggest that students should reflect on the 'intercultural insights' offered by the poetry in relation to contemporary Australian society.

Verdict: This option is unique among all the Prescriptions in that it is thematically-unified rather than the work of just one author. As such, it presents certain challenges, however, the poetry itself is still quite accessible for Standard English students. Provided that the teacher supplies the level of support needed to understand context, annotate the poems, and write personal responses to the themes therein, I can see this being a rewarding learning experience for our students.  

Inside My Mother by Ali Cobby Eckermann

• Trance
• Unearth
• Oombulgarri
• Eyes
• Leaves
• Key

What is it: This suite of Eckermann's poetry weaves a sparse yet evocative tapestry that taps into the processes of memory, the complex modern connection to culture, the ongoing trauma of the Aboriginal peoples in the wake of the Stolen Generations, and the problematic spaces that exist between the poet and her ancestors. 

Scope for Study: When considering this text Standard English students will be able to connect with various elements that have allowed Eckermann to create meaning through poetry. Among these are the poet's rejection of most forms of punctuation, the use of imagery and sensory descriptions to orient the reader in the poet's memories and thoughts, and the employment of structure to separate or combine ideas into a narrative. Teachers will also need to examine Eckermann's context as a survivor of the Stolen Generations and how her experiences are represented through her poetry in order to build and support student understanding.

NESA Annotations: Being quite a new text (published in 2015), 'Inside My Mother' has only been included in the latest 2019-2023 Annotations document. Recommendations are made to focus on the poet's personal experiences as supporting material for the selected poetry, and for each poem to be viewed "as a synecdoche for the loss of cultural identity". Students are also encouraged to consider the importance of family as a central concept in Aboriginal culture and the ways in which this is reflected in the text.

Verdict: Eckermann has been touted by some as the logical successor to Oodgeroo's legacy, which is quite a big claim but not entirely unfounded. It's just a shame that the poems selected are almost uniformly in the same three-lines-a-stanza style, especially when there are many other poems in the volume that don't follow this structure and creatively play with space and indentation in the 'concrete' style. The inclusion of the latter in particular would've worked really well with helping to 'sell' poetry to Standard English students as an intriguing and highly imaginative art form. I don't know if I could ever see myself teaching this text, I think I'd just feel disappointed that I couldn't use some of more inventive poetry within the volume that hasn't been prescribed.

Summer of the Seventeenth Doll by Ray Lawler 

What is it: It is 1953 and Melbourne woman Olive patiently awaits the arrival of Roo, a cane cutter from Queensland who travels south every summer to be with her. This is the seventeenth of these summers, and Roo's co-traveller Barney finds himself single once again after his lover Nancy has decided to get married in his seasonal absence. Olive is looking to fix Barney up with her fellow barmaid Pearl, a widowed single mother with reservations about the idea of an ongoing seasonal romance. Things become complicated in this fateful summer when Roo and Barney arrive with some news - Roo has hurt his back and may no longer be able to continue in the harsh work of the sugar cane harvest.

Scope for Study: In reference to Module A, Summer of the Seventeenth Doll offers a portrait of Australian life in another time. In the post-WWII context, cane-cutting was quickly becoming increasingly industrialised and no longer relied on the heavy hands-on input of the 'cane cockies'. Through its examination of this shift, the play offers a snapshot of the end of pre-multicultural Australia - a text written as the industry (and country) was undergoing significant cultural changes in response to the arrival of post-war migrants. Students will be able to examine this context and draw connections between the era and the characters - their dialects and values, the way their personal decisions and word choices are shaped by 1950s Australian morality, and the way in which the plot and structure of the play reflects a world in turmoil and decline.

NESA Annotations: Notes for this text can be found in the 2015-2020 Annotations document. Special note is made of its 'groundbreaking' use of Australian colloquial language and 'distinctly Australian characters', and themes that are particular to Australian society: 'mateship', nostalgia vs. pragmatism, the different kinds of adult relationships acceptable in 1950s Australian society, etc. The annotations also suggest that students compare and contrast the 'voices' of each of the play's characters and the ways in which they represent changing values in Australia at the time.

Verdict: It didn't take me long to read this one because it was so fan-bloody-tastic. I really felt the poignancy of the dying world presented by Ray Lawler, even moreso when you consider that he wrote this at the very time that it's set. It's so prescient and really cuts to the core of Anglo-Australian society in an unsentimental way, and the ending was like a strike of lightning. I think the potential for students to connect with this probably depends on how well the context is taught but, like most context-heavy texts, it will fall into place once enough groundwork is laid. Students should be able to 'get' the themes at its heart with little issue, and the dialogue feels authentic despite the gulf of years between the play's initial performance and the modern day.

Pygmalion by Bernard Shaw

What is it: Quite by chance, the academic phonetics expert Mr. Higgins meets a lower class flower girl called Eliza Doolittle outside the theatre one night and is taken by her accent. Eliza, hoping to better herself, seeks out Higgins afterwards to get tutored in 'speaking proper'. Higgins sees this as an opportunity to conduct an experiment in conquering the strictures of class, and the two begin a troubled journey that sees Eliza transformed (for better or worse) and Higgins challenged in regard to his amorality.

Scope for Study: Some contextual study will be needed to support Standard English students, specifically in understanding why Shaw saw a need to write this now iconic play. Coming at the end of the fin de siecle, the play presents the final days of the class system in England and reflects the rising class consciousness that had eroded the foundations of European society in the 19th century. Shaw's text comes at this issue sideways by highlighting vocabulary and dialect as symbols of class, with a theme of vocabulary being the key to articulating and understanding other people's thoughts. In a nutshell, students will need to understand the relationship between class and language in order to successful engage with Pygmalion.

NESA Annotations: None of the last three NESA Annotations documents (from 2009 to the present day) include annotations for Pygmalion. Bernard Shaw's play has popped on and off the Prescribed Texts list for, I suspect, at least 100 years, so I'm guessing the assumption here seems to be that we should all know it well enough to not need annotations.

Verdict: Pygmalion is undoubtedly a classic and its humour still holds up today, especially considering the ongoing divisions between Australia's own haves and have-nots. Due to its age I think it would be a challenging text to teach to a Standard English class, but not impossible - it just requires passion from the teacher and strong linking to context. Teachers will need to be wary of some of the nuances of language that have radically changed in connotation since the play's initial publication, for example, the line "you know you can't be a nice girl inside if you're a dirty slut outside" will unavoidably be a talking point with students, so you will need to be both brave and very sure of how you want to teach it. 

Shafana and Aunt Sarrinah by Alana Valentine

What is it: Shafana is a young Afghan-Australian woman who is studying science at university. Her closest relative and mentor is her aunt, Sarrinah, who has struggled to find skilled work in Australia due to her engineering qualifications not being formerly recognised in this country. In the course of working on a university assignment, Shafana has rediscovered her faith in Islam and is considering wearing the hijab. In seeking her aunt's blessing, however, Shafana finds that the older woman sees the religious veil as a barrier that will hold Shafana back in Australian society.

Scope for Study: Shafana and Aunt Sarrinah is a perfectly pitched text for Standard English in that it is challenging (in language, construction, and theme) whilst being relatively short. The brevity of this two-character play is such that it will allow plenty of time to examine the issues that are raised and the motifs that tie the text together. Students will need to be orientated to consider the play as a narrative set during the fallout of 9/11, an event that looms a lot larger in the teacher's psyche than it does for those who were born after it happened. Another challenge that the teacher will need to consider is how to present the text to a class - as a two-character piece it doesn't lend itself well to a whole class reading, and would probably be better absorbed as a presentation in which two teachers play the characters.

NESA Annotations: This text was first introduced in the last Prescribed Texts list as part of the previous Standard English Module C and, as such, annotations can be found in the 2015-2020 Annotations document. The text is described as significant due to its connection to the earlier multiculturally-themed 1968 play Norm and Ahmed. Attention is also paid to the play's role in challenging the negative attitudes that some students may hold towards Islam as a result of the media, particularly in relation to stereotypes regarding Muslim women and the impact of 9/11. 

Verdict: As it's written by a non-Afghan writer Shafana and Aunt Sarrinah could be viewed as problematic, however, there are several elements that may mitigate this, such as the author's close collaboration with refugees and the Afghan-Australian community. There is some scope here for students to engage with the marginalisation of voices in a multicultural society, and there will be many points that prompt class-wide discussion. I haven't taught this text but several colleagues at my school have, and it's worth noting that there were particular students who refused to engage with the text as a result of their own prejudices. Student performance in assessment tasks reflected this and, with that in mind, I feel that this might therefore be better utillised as a Year 11 text rather than something that performance in the HSC hinges on (not that we have that choice, just something to keep in mind next time teachers are consulted on the English syllabus).

 

Nonfiction / Film / Media Options

There are four options in this section, some of which might arguably be considered some of the more obscure texts to be featured in the overall Prescriptions. One is a non-fiction book, and the other three are films.

Unpolished Gem by Alice Pung

What is it: The author, a Cambodian-Chinese refugee, relates her upbringing in the Footscray area of Melbourne. With the use of an episode structure, Unpolished Gem charts Alice's beginnings as part of a family navigating their way through a new cultural landscape after escaping the horror of Pol Pot's Year Zero, her teenage depression when faced with crippling questions about her future, and the difficulties she faces in starting a romantic relationship with a 'skip' Australian.

Scope for Study: Unpolished Gem is a fairly accessible text for Standard English teenagers in that it utilises an authentic and honest voice to examine the intersection of two very different cultures with a lot of humour. Students will be able to engage with this humour and examine the way it disarms and cajoles the reader into identifying with Alice in her role as a figure trapped between two worlds. There is also scope for introducing the narrative device of 'stream-of-consciousness', which Pung employs increasingly in the last third of the memoir, signifying her journey towards self-actualisation.

NESA Annotations: No other text (that I've come across so far) has as many entries in the various NESA Annotation documents as Unpolished Gem. It is featured twice in the 2009-2014 annotations, both as a Standard and an ESL text, and again as an ESL text in the 2015-2020 annotations. From a Standard English viewpoint, the annotations support the now defunct Standard Module C Into the World Elective and highlight the importance of this text as providing an access point for students of South-East Asian heritage. The rest of the annotations don't really go too much beyond a few generalised comments about 'different narrative techniques' and 'aspects of Australian history'.

Verdict: Unlike the majority of the other texts in this list, which are largely monocultural or presented from a monocultural viewpoint, Unpolished Gem closely examines the nature of a hyphenated identity. Pung operates in a space between her Cantonese-speaking parents and wider Australian society, which adds a layer of internal conflict to the narrative that pulls together the various chapters set across a 19 year time period. We witness Pung's loss of language through her eyes and the impact that language can have on a family living in a new land. Perhaps most importantly, Unpolished Gem is a very worthy text because it encourages empathy and lets students see inside the experiences of someone who has lived the refugee experience.

One Night the Moon, directed by Rachel Perkins

What is it: Real life family Paul Kelly, Kaarin Fairfax, and Memphis Kelly play the Ryans, a colonial family living in the remote outback of Australia during the 1930s. One night daughter Emily climbs out the window to follow the moon into the wilderness and disappears, prompting a frantic manhunt led by her father Jim. The local police enlist the assistance of an Aboriginal tracker named Albert Yang, however, Jim's racist attitudes prevent the man from helping, and the search begins to look hopeless as a result.

Scope for Study: One Night the Moon is an unusual text within the Prescriptions List as it is both a musical and a non-feature film (too long to be considered a short film, too short to be considered a 'movie'). It is also an extremely valuable text as it is directed by an Aboriginal filmmaker, Rachel Perkins (daughter of famed activist Charles Perkins) and thus provides an Aboriginal voice on issues relating to Aboriginal identity and culture within the colonial context. The film features a lot of material that bears student examination, such as: the use of dutch angles, the purpose of each song, the employment of an elliptical structure for the narrative, and the contrast between Aboriginal and European viewpoints.

NESA Annotations: Covered in the 2015-2020 Annotations document, where it was included as part of the Distinctive Voices elective. Themes mentioned include loss, reconciliation, prejudice, and distinctive cultural values and perspectives. Mention is also made of the film's use of multiple genres (such as the 'opera film', fable genre, and the Australian 'lost child' myth) to create a "visually rich portrait of the unique Australian landscape". On a side note, it's unfortunate and disappointing to see such a relatively recent document using the word 'Aborigines'.

Verdict: This is a beautiful film and, while some Standard English students may roll their eyes at the use of country/folk ballads throughout, its brevity and relative straight-forwardness will make it accessible for study. Perkins' vibrant and organically loose camera movement gives the proceedings an ethereal atmosphere while keeping things moving along, and it's also interesting watching Paul Kelly in the only acting role he's ever undertaken. An examination of context, irony, and the way One Night the Moon utilises musical genres will also allow students to gain an appreciation for the disparity between (and inability of) the colonial and Aboriginal worlds to co-exist in the early 20th century.

The Castle, directed by Rob Sitch

What is it: The Kerrigans are a typical Australian family living in the Melbourne suburb of Coolaroo. When the government informs everyone on their street that their homes are about to be absorbed so that a multinational company can expand the airport, patriarch Darryl Kerrigan is appalled and dismayed. Darryl decides to fight the matter in the High Court of Australia by rallying the support of his neighbours and enlisting the help of a shonky low-level lawyer. The odds have never looked worse!

Scope for Study: The Castle should be well-known to a good portion of Standard English students due to both its perennial showing on free-to-air TV and its cult following among several generations of Australians. Drilling down into its use of humour and shared lexicon will only go as far as the teacher is able to link it to student experience, and attention will therefore need to be paid to highlighting the inherent 'Australian-ness' of the text that has both made it so popular in Australia and so indifferently received in overseas markets.

NESA Annotations: Another one where NESA have not provided annotations in any of the three Annotation documents from the last ten years.

Verdict: I love The Castle but my experience teaching it was with an ESL class where the majority of the migrant students did not get the humour at all. Truth be told, it was a very labouring and strange experience to see so many of its best jokes fall completely flat with an audience that, even after understanding why it was considered funny, would shrug and say 'so what?' Humour is, of course, highly subjective. I think it would be useful to gauge what sort of class you have before attempting to teach this one.

Reindeer in My Saami Heart, directed by Janet Merewether

What is it: In this documentary Australian filmmaker Janet Merewether visits northern Sweden to interview Inghilda Tapio, a poet and one of the Saami, Scandinavia's indigenous people. Tapio recounts a childhood of discrimination in which the Swedish government practised policies of dehumanisation and cultural destruction, and compares this to the contemporary struggles of the Saami people in their attempt to hold onto their reindeer-oriented culture.

Scope for Study: Students will be able to draw parallels between the history and experiences of the Saami people with the Stolen Generations. Reindeer in My Saami Heart also provides scope for Standard English students to engage with sophisticated concepts such as the power of language to represent experience and the ongoing battle of indigenous peoples the world over to resist the Eurocentric colonisation of the mind. The documentary is also open to study in its use of a rich sound design and traditional artwork to recreate the nomadic and ancient lifestyle of the Saami. Teachers will also do well to examine the film's intertextual ties with Tapio's own poetry.

NESA Annotations: Like Contemporary Asian Australian Poets, this text has two sets of annotations in the 2019-2023 NESA Annotations document - one for Standard and one for EAL/D. The Standard section highlights Tapio's role as an advocate for an ethnic minority, and calls attention to the construction of the documentary from a range of materials that utilise pathos to provoke an  emotional response from the viewer. The annotations also identify the maintenance of Saami language as crucial to the survival of indigenous culture.

Verdict: The story of the Saami is a fascinating one and is, in most cases, something completely unknown to Australian teenagers. Reindeer in My Saami Heart will probably therefore challenge the views of students in relation to the indigenous world as not something restricted to just Australia or America. That said, it has to be admitted that this documentary's gentle, poetic style may be alienating to Standard English students and, on a practical level, it's one of the harder texts to track down on the Prescriptions List. I think it would take a special kind of Standard English class to engage well with this film.