I was pleased to be at Avid Reader bookshop in Brisbane’s West End on 1st March for the launch of a public art installation by local artist Vernon Ah Kee.

Fiona Prager, joint owner of Avid Reader*, is one of the drivers of the project, which has been a team effort managed by Chrysalis Projects.

The image above shows me with Vernon and Fiona in front of three of the 42 panels that will be wrapped around West End buildings in May. It’s a great community effort in which I’m a tiny cog.

The mural work will celebrate Brisbane authors, forming a mosaic of wordplay that has been overlaid featuring First Nations authors in Vernon’s own handwriting.

At the event, Vernon announced the title of the installation: Charcoal Story. He suggested the name reflected the earliest form of writing implement and may well be the last one we use when the world finally comes to an end. He also referred to the mention of charcoal in Sally Morgan’s book, My Place.

Sally wrote about her childhood in Western Australia: ‘When I couldn’t find any paper or pencils, I would fish small pieces of charcoal from the fire, and tear strips off the paperbark tree in our yard and draw on that.’

This is another view of some of the panels, with Fiona Prager and Carmel Haugh, one of the Chrysalis team. (Photo: Jonathon Oldham)

The project started at the beginning of the Covid troubles, and the original concept has blossomed, with a few hiccoughs along the way, but also essential input from architects, engineers and other professionals.

To be honest, I can’t quite envisage what the final display will look like. I’m looking forward to the final ‘unveiling’ when the panels are installed across the upper storey of Avid Reader in May this year.

Until next time

Darryl Dymock

*Avid Reader bookshop was the venue for the launch of two of my books: The Chalkies (2016) and A Great and Restless Spirit (2022).