Special guests, ladies and gentlemen, it¹s a great pleasure for me to join you here today in celebrating the life and work of a Tasmanian treasure, Dr Margaret Scott – poet, novelist, essayist, teacher, scholar, mentor, raconteur and legendary wit.
And what better way to celebrate than to launch this eclectic volume of Margaret¹s collected writings and tributes from her friends and peers?
The Tasmanian government is proud to support its publication and I commend Summerhill Publishing and my colleagues at Arts Tasmania for bringing it to fruition.
Margaret Scott’s literary achievements are formidable. As a poet, she ranks with the very best. Fellow poet, John Tranter describes her poems as a little like AD Hope but she wears her learning more gracefully; as colourful as Slessor but with a warmer human touch.
Margaret’s fiction, prose and essays demonstrate an equally deft touch with the written word.
She is a masterful storyteller, a shrewd observer of human nature and a passionate voice for topics close to her heart such as the quiet heroism of the Tasman Peninsula community which inspired Port Arthur; A Story of Strength and Courage, her book about the Port Arthur massacre of 1996.
It is fitting that this afternoon Margaret is to receive the Australia Council’s 2005 Writer’s Emeritus Award for her lifelong contribution to Australian literature.
But literary achievement is just one string to this remarkable woman’s bow. Reading through the tributes to Margaret scattered throughout this book, I was struck by the common thread of appreciation of her unique brand of humour.
John Bryson captures it well when he talks about Margaret’s laughter as an act of collaboration. Quite often it is about some astonishing tragedy, he writes. “It lays out some stunning absurdity, an absurdity perhaps in human suffering … The fraud’s smirk, the dolt’s moan but, dear Margaret, the wise can’t help but laugh”.
We have a glimpse of this in Margaret’s response to her agent, Lyn Tranter, when asked how she was going. I’m fine, said Margaret. But my poor neighbour has been completely wiped out by parrots.
And another in Julie McCrossin’s recounting of her awe at Margaret’s talent for captivating the live audience on the set of the ABC television quiz show, Good News Week. I said, “Margaret, you are a comic genius and your timing is impeccable.” She looked at me dryly and replied, “That’s not comic timing, darling, that’s emphysema.”
It is gems of spontaneity such as these that have endeared her to the Tasmanian people and, indeed to the nation.
It is easy to conclude from this book that, to the people who know and love her, Margaret’s finest creation is the life she has lived – a life so varied and adventurous that I can hardly begin to summarise it here … Of her early life, I will just mention that it included scholarships to both Cambridge and Oxford and work in a false eyelash factory before her emigration to Hobart in 1959.
In the course of her distinguished literary and academic career, Margaret has twice suffered devastating loss through fire, once in the fires of 1967 and again in 2001. On both occasions, her home was burnt to the ground, taking with it all her manuscripts, paintings, books and possessions of every kind.
Such loss, impossible for most of us to contemplate, merely spurred Margaret on to new beginnings, new adventures. In the words of her friend, Sybil Smith, Margaret felt, of course, a profound sense of loss, but also some flicker of exhilaration at the thought of a new start, the lack of encumbrance.
This is a woman of extraordinary courage, tenacity and zest for life. I’m reminded of Oscar Wilde’s famous comment that he put his genius into his life and only his talent into his works. Nothing shines more clearly through the pages of this book than Margaret Scott’s genius for life.
Margaret, we are honoured to have you here today and to share in the bounty of your fine writing, your humour, your wise and resilient humanity. May this new book bring you the love and recognition you so richly deserve.
I declare this fine book, Margaret Scott – a little more, officially launched. Please join me in giving it a rousing welcome.
Minister for the Arts Lara Giddings’ speech was delivered in the Crystal Palace during Ten Days, Wednesday, April 6.
