Showing results by author "Don Watson" in All Categories

Watsonia gathers the fruits of a writing life. It covers everything from Australian humour to America gone berserk; from Don Bradman to Oscar Wilde; from birds and horses to history and politics. Wherever Don Watson turns his incisive gaze, the results are as illuminating as they are enjoyable. Watsonia displays the many sides of Don Watson: historian, speechwriter, social critic, humourist, biographer and lover of nature and sports. 

An enthralling journey, showcasing Watson's trademark literary gift and sardonic wit, through the Australian landscape and character. While most Australians live in cities clinging to the coastal fringe, our sense of what an Australian is, or should be, is drawn from the vast and varied inland called the bush. But what do we mean by 'the bush', and how has it shaped us?

The Passion of Private White describes the meeting of two worlds: that of the intensely driven anthropologist Neville White, and the world of hunter-gatherer clans in remote northern Australia with whom he has lived and worked for half a century, mapping their culture and history in breathtaking detail. As White began to understand this ancient culture struggling between the demands of Western modernity and the equally pressing need to preserve their lands, customs, laws and language, he was also trying to transcend the mental scars inflicted on the battlefields of Vietnam.

In Essay 63, with characteristic wit and acuity, Don Watson takes us on a journey into the heart of the United States in the year 2016. Plunging into the apparent chaos of the presidential campaign and tracing America's recent past, he puts Hillary Clinton, Donald Trump, and Bernie Sanders in a larger frame. He considers the irresistible pull - for Americans - of American exceptionalism, and asks whether this creed is reaching its limit.

He was a small-town boy who burst onto the international golf scene with a dramatic hook shot from deep in the woods to win the Masters - before the game he loved almost killed him. Opening up about the toll that chasing and achieving his dream of being a champion golfer took on his mental health, Bubba Watson shares his powerful story of the breaking point that gave him clarity.  

Don Watson takes us on a journey of indignation and how it has been expressed in his forebears. His ire towards US politicians has a new moving target: Donald Trump. The US President's primary pitch had less to do with giving people money or security than it was about vengeance. Trump exploited the anger we feel when we are slighted or taken for granted, turning the politics of a sophisticated democracy into something more like a blood feud. 

Jack, the half-breed offspring of a human mother and a genetically engineered father, lives a life of pain, alienated by human society and by many of the gens created by mankind to perform heavy labor. Not only do gens live like slaves, but humans have withheld from them the one piece of DNA that would grant them a soul. Jack is determined to uncover this well-hidden secret and rescue his fellow gens from a meaningless existence with no prospect of eternal life.

Hi, I'm Dona. I’m just an average American Patriot who loves God, her family, her country and tries really hard to listen to God’s voice. Oh, and sometimes I write stuff. Come with me and together let's explore this crazy experience we call life.

Twenty new and original short stories and poems filled with Christmas magic. From a heartfelt tale of a soldier who might be more than he seems, to the touching tale of a young boy who finds a fantastical creature while picking out the perfect Christmas tree, to the misadventures of a lost fairy, these stories and poems, appropriate for all ages, will kindle the joy of Christmas in new and magical ways. All inspirational reminders of the importance of Christ's birth, the stories will enrich your holiday and warm your heart.