Early Australian fairy tales

Twelve years ago my daughter participated in the Heathmont College German Exchange Program which has been in operation for fifteen years. Her host family lives in the medieval village of Kaufungen, just seven kilometres from Kassel, which was the home of the Brothers Grimm. Coincidently, an aspect of my PhD research focuses on the relationship between the author I am investigating, Olga Ernst, and the influence of the Grimm fairytales she read in the original German version as a child. Finally I have an excuse to visit my daughter's host family! After half a year of emails Professor Dr. Achim Barsch of University Kassel is interested in my research and offers, although he has a full timetable of lectures, to meet with me to discuss aspects of my research such as:  the importance of Ernst reading the Grimm fairytales in their original German. blending of disciplines in my appropriation of new historicism I am also invited to present some aspects of my research of Ernst to h

The Old Geology Theatre at University of Melbourne was an apt place for my presentation on Olga Ernst: Creating an Australian bush identity in children's literature.   Of course graduating with a B.Arts and M.Arts from this university Ernst would have been familiar with the original buildings and pathways. Perhaps she could have stood or walked or held a deep conversation somewhere close by.   Always useful to be challenged to look in new directions,  discussion initiated during question time and poster presentations included German culture, second language writing, use of technology for research and visual text.  How well has digitisation of Ernst's books, use of digitised resources such as TROVE and NLA's newspaper archive contributed to your research? How do the pictures contribute to a sense of Australian place meshed with old-world folk figures in the illustrations. (i.e. The cartwheel in the Father Time illustration)?   What sou

For the past two days I have stood in front of my poster at the Australian Association for Research in Education (AARE 2010) Conference in Melbourne.     Comments and high interest about her University Melbourne education and the essence of 'Germaness' in her stories. Cornelia Funke, German children's writer said, ' I always thought it hadn't influenced me very much, but I heard from many people from  England that many motives from  German fairytales are to be found in my book s'.

We decided to trial a primary version of the Girlfriends! program at GIPS due to the small number of female year 6 students in this particular year. With only a small group of 8 girls, we found their connectiveness to the school, its teachers and the other students was suffering. The girls were tired of spending time confined to such a small social group but were not making any effort to connect with the girls in year 5. As such the younger students were also missing out on the valuable friendships of the year 6 girls. Our first Girlfriends! group consisted of 4 year sixes and 8 year fives. The combination of the group was formed on what the upper school teachers considered to be a ‘needs’ basis. The group allowed some of the more introvert students to have a voice in an environment where they felt safe and supported. The ‘rules’ of the group were decided by the girls and adhered to during all sessions. All the girls had the right to say anything they felt and the responsibility t

The house is in wedding mode with preparations for the 'little' cousins Pantry Tea (give Kel something you'd like to see in her pantry - possibly Timtams and sprinkles!) so I am attempting to finish all that I can in advance. A poster seemed to be an easier option than a presentation but not so - juggling font sizes, colours and quick bites of info to grab the attention is challenging. Now I know that Courier and Arial are easy to read but so yesterday! Main title about 4 cm, subheadings about 2cm and body about 1 cm.  The audience might be attracted  to the design but if they can't read it, what's the point. This was my first attempt -  readable at A4 but will the writing be too big when it is blown up to A0?  I have 3 more attempts and will upload the final design on 3rd December. I submitted poster and paper in the hope one would be accepted and both were - so now I need to start writing.

This is  a gem,' said the librarian at the State Library as she hands it to me ... and I am inclined to agree. ‘ Rosalie’s Reward’ begins with a poetic description of Ballaarat that evokes both mood and time. The house that the impoverished mother and child come to live in stands in ‘ gloomy silence’ while the sounds of mining are clear and eerily evocative.   ‘Shrill whistle heard so clearly in the silence that called the miners to midnight toil.’ The resurrected English style cottage garden is the perfect place for a group of fairies that the reader doesn't meet until page six of the story.  There is an energetic discussion by the fairy folk about what is prized more as a reward: beauty or gold. Not surprisingly, in a gold mining town, it is gold. Rosalie’s reward for her kindness to the fairies is being left a fortune by the dying gold miner who owns the cottage. He fortunately arrives at the cottage hours before his death to bestow on Rosalie a golden future in Melbo

A warm sunny day, the Special Collections room has the fans humming and is a room with a view - of the grounds of Uni Melbourne. This room is quiet and serene and has a special aura. The past is revered and the lucky can take a look back. I came to hold a copy of Fairytales told in the Bush to see if Sister Agnes built on Ernst's narrative structure. Suggestions that Sister Agnes was inspired by Ernst are hard to believe. Her settings are not descriptive and most of the stories are those remembered from her childhood. She describes herself as a lover of fairies. They belong to her past and are not invented Australian fairytales. She claims two were told to her by King Barak, one days before he died. She paints Barak , variously called King William, last chief of the Yarra Yarra tribe' or 'Beruk (white grub in gum tree) belonging to the Wurundjeri  whose country lay along the Yarra and Plenty Rivers, as a man who will tell a story for the right price, usually a coin. She