Gala Storytelling Night

On Saturday night, I went with a couple of girlfriends to the Gala Opening of the Wheelers Centre for Books Writing and Ideas. One friend, Robyn, and I travelled in by train and were running late. The line for seats - we all had tickets but seats weren't allocated - snaked out the front doors of the Melbourne Town Hall, along Swanston Street and around the corner up Collins Street. The faces of the people queuing up were shining with expectation. Around us milled another crowd of people; all wearing AC/DC t-shirts and all wearing the same excited faces. You've gotta love Melbourne.

Once inside, Rob and I met up Alison and we went upstairs to find seats. The place was packed and as always I admired the amazing organ pipes behind the stage. Chrissy Sharp, the CEO of the centre, welcomed us and Peter Bachelor, the new Arts Minister, did the usual political aren't-we-great blah blah. There was also a beautidul acknowlegdement to the traditional owners of the land we were on by an elder whose name I have now forgotten but will look up. And then the show was on the road.

A croaky-voiced David Malouf opened with unravelling of a family secret. How did his mum who'd grown up quite privileged in England come to be a deck-class immigrant to Australia? A tale about the power of secrets. Cate Kennedy followed with funny, endearing tales of her eccentric, belligerant grandfather. I thought to myself that my own eccentric, belligerant grandfather, Harry, would have loved Cate's poppa. The laughs continued with Shane Maloney's tale of how his father asked him to edit his (the father's) memoirs. Shane is dismayed to find one reference to himself - a short interlude about how Shane was born with an extra toe and how his father and the doctor decided to cut off the toe at the same time he is circumcised.

I think Judith Lucy was next and as usual she had us laughing at the foibles of her parents. Her mother once gave her a vivid account of Judith's birth and then three years later Judith discovered she'd been adopted. In a lovely Irish accent, Alex Miller recounted one of the bedtime stories his dad used to tell him and his siblings. The message was that the things we value aren't always as valued by other people. Chris Tsiolkas recounted the first time he went to the Greek village of his mother's family when he was ten. His grandmother was aghast to discover her daughter had been lax in giving young Christos lessons on how to kill a chicken. She filled in the gap in learning, much to Christos' horror. As an adult, working in a vet's office, this lesson came back to help him. John Marsden recounted a confronting tale about a visit to a clothing shop and the lessons of judgement and trust.

The beautiful Tara June Winch told a lyrical tale of heritage and love about her grandmother. There were tears in glistening in many eyes after that stary. John Safran revealed that the acorn doesn't fall far from the tree as he recounted how his father prodded him into subversion as he was growing up. Chloe Hooper reflected on an Aesop's fable her grandmother used to tell her and whether she'd ever understood it as a child. Now as a adult she reflects the meaning could be more about the unfairness and unevenness of life. Alexis Wright told vivid, poetic stories of her Indigenous heritage and finally Paul Kelly recounted how his aunty met and married an American and sang a song of their meeting.

It was a wonderful night. The stories were tight and meaningful. No-one overstayed their welcome and everyone had something to tell us about the power of storytelling. Rob, Ali and I left on a high, looking forward to the upcoming events planned and organised by the Wheelers Centre.