• Home
  • About
    • About Treefall Writing
    • About Melinda Tognini
    • Comments Policy
  • My Books
    • Many Hearts, One Voice
    • Tales From Our Home
    • Other Publications
  • Writing Comps & Opportunities
    • Opportunities for Young Writers
    • Writing Opportunities for All
  • Work with Me
    • Workshops
    • Mentoring & critiquing
    • Oral history
    • Working in schools
  • Blog
    • Reading
    • Writing
    • Family history
    • Young writers
  • Contact
  • Home
  • About
    • About Treefall Writing
    • About Melinda Tognini
    • Comments Policy
  • My Books
    • Many Hearts, One Voice
    • Tales From Our Home
    • Other Publications
  • Writing Comps & Opportunities
    • Opportunities for Young Writers
    • Writing Opportunities for All
  • Work with Me
    • Workshops
    • Mentoring & critiquing
    • Oral history
    • Working in schools
  • Blog
    • Reading
    • Writing
    • Family history
    • Young writers
  • Contact
scroll down for more
Reviews & Recommendations

6 Degrees of Separation: From Wintering to Homecoming

Melinda Tognini July 5, 2022 2 Comments

Welcome back to Six Degrees of Separation, where readers all start with the same book and link it to six other titles in any random way our minds decide to make connections.

This month’s starting book is Wintering: The Power of Rest and Retreat in Difficult Times by Katherine May.

I  haven’t read Wintering, but having heard the author read just a short passage, I’m heading straight to my bookshop as soon as I hit publish on this post.

Linking via title, my next book is Winter, a young adult novel by John Marsden. It’s probably 20 years since I’ve read it, and I don’t remember the story very well, but I often recommended Marsden’s books to reluctant teen readers when I was an English teacher.

Marsden is better known for Tomorrow When the War Began, the first book in a series about a group of teenagers who return from a camping trip to discover that their town has been captured and the country invaded by an unknown foreign power.

Claire G. Coleman has written a novel of speculative fiction that tells the story of invasion and colonisation. Terra Nullius riffs off the words—meaning empty land—that the British applied to Australia to justify their taking possession of it in the late 18th century (even though Australia was never empty).

With it being NAIDOC Week (which celebrates the history, culture and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in Australia), it seems timely to link Coleman’s novel to other stories by First Nations writers. If you want a collection that enables you to hear multiple stories from a variety of perspectives, check out Growing Up Aboriginal in Australia, edited by Anita Heiss.

Cindy Solonec, a Nigena (Nyikina) woman, grew up in the West Kimberley area of Western Australia, and she has written Debesa, part memoir, part family history and part social history.

Debesa was recently shortlisted for the Western Australian Premier’s Book Awards, as was Homecoming by Elfie Shiosaki. Both are published by Magabala Books, who are doing an incredible job of mentoring and publishing First Nations writers to ensure the voices of the next generation are heard.

This month, I began with the winter season, which Katherine May suggests is a time of retreat and rest. However, more than half of the links in my chain are by First Nations authors, who understand the changes in weather in terms of six seasons.

In the Nyoongar calendar (the traditional language where I live) identify these as Birak, Bunuru, Djeran, Makuru, Djilba and Kambarang; the Bureau of Meterology’s website can tell you the name of the seasons according to the First Nations language spoken in your area.

Over to You

Where will Six Degrees of Separation take you?

You can check out what books other readers have in their chains by heading to booksaremyfavouriteandbest.

Next month’s starting book will be The Book of Form and Emptiness by Ruth Ozeki.

Print Friendly, PDF & Email
Previous One-Word Creative Prompts #2
Next Creative Writing Prompts: Photographs
Melinda Tognini

story-gatherer & mentor

Related Posts
The Distance Between Dreams: In Conversation with Emily Paull March 31, 2025
6 Degrees of Separation: From Dangerous Liaisons to My Place February 1, 2025
6 Degrees of Separation: From Orbital to Imperfect January 4, 2025

2 Comments

  1. Davida Chazan says:
    July 5, 2022 at 3:38 pm

    Lovely chain here. I don’t know any of these books.

    Reply
    1. Melinda Tognini says:
      July 7, 2022 at 10:59 am

      Thanks, Davida! Heading over to check out your chain now (I’m a bit late this month).

      Reply

Your comment Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Newsletter Signup

Sign up here to receive regular writing resources, research tips and creative prompts, as well as reading recommendations and MAD links.

 

Please wait...

Thank you for signing up!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Privacy

Read my full privacy policy here , but essentially I promise to keep your information confidential and not pass on your details to any 3rd parties. Ever.

Blog Categories

  • Reading
    • Reading recommendations
    • 6 Degrees of Separation
    • Stories that matter
    • My story
    • Five Faves
    • Reading
  • Writing
    • Writing
    • Writing prompts
    • Writing quotes
    • Writing resources
    • Creating space for your story
    • Family History
    • Young Writers

What I’m Reading

goodreads

Australian Society of Authors

asa_logo_col

Latest Comments

Apologies for the late reply! I shall go check out your post - even the title is intriguing!
In 6 Degrees of Separation: From Orbital to Imperfect
I haven't read any of the books on your chain (though am reading Orbital currently) but love the clever links... And now adding Writer Laid Bare to my TBR.. my post is here - https://www.ladyinreadwrites.com/two-roads-diverged-in-the-words-with-trivia-twists-too/
In 6 Degrees of Separation: From Orbital to Imperfect
You're welcome! Thank you for being so generous with your time in answering my questions as well as all the incredible work encouraging creatives everywhere!
In Reflect. Simplify. Create: In Conversation with Amanda Viviers

Recent Posts

  • The Distance Between Dreams: In Conversation with Emily Paull
  • Creative Writing Prompts: April
  • Creative Writing Prompts: February
  • 6 Degrees of Separation: From Dangerous Liaisons to My Place
  • Creative Writing Prompts: January
  • 6 Degrees of Separation: From Orbital to Imperfect
Melinda Tognini (c) 2023 | Site by ICTECH