Purple Prose (30 page)

11
ibid., p. 123.

12
John Gage,
Colour and Meaning: Art, Science and Symbolism
, Thames & Hudson, London, 2000, p. 227.

13
James C. Marvis, ed., ‘The Water-lily Pond – Symphony in Green',
Arch Gen Psychiatry
, 64(12), 2007, p. 1347.
archpsyc.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=482495

14
Hemerocallis
is Greek for ‘beauties of a day', a variety favoured by Monet for the fleeting lifespan of their blooms: Laurence Bertrand Dorléac,
Claude Monet,
ed. Alice Ertaud, Réunion des Musées Nationaux: Musée d'Orsay, Paris, 2010, p. 66.

Bruised

Alice Morgan,
What is Narrative Therapy? An Easy-to-read Introduction,
Dulwich Centre Publications, Adelaide, South Australia, 2000.

Jacqueline Wright,
Red Dirt Talking
, Fremantle Press, Fremantle, WA, 2013.

My Descent into Purple

1
The Christian Democratic Party (CDU)
–
a party with a conservative Catholic tradition
–
chose a Turkish-Muslim woman as their candidate in the 2013 federal elections – she won. There are eleven Turkish-born MPs and two African-born MPs in the German Parliament.

2
In 1933, the Nazi government used a similar law banning artists, communists, socialists and Jews from certain professions; they were later sent to concentration camps.

3
In the 1950s, the House Un-American Activities Committee blacklisted card-carrying communists or any sympathisers from working as actors, directors, screenwriters, etc.

4
Hanifa Deen,ed.,
Sultana's Dream
(online magazine), May 2011 – April 2014.
http://www.sultanasdream.com.au

Towards Metamorphosis

1
Jenny Joseph, ‘Warning', first published 1961 in the BBC's magazine
The Listener
; in print in her
Selected Poems
(Bloodaxe, UK, 1993) and
Warning: When I Am an Old Woman I Shall Wear Purple
(Souvenir Press, UK, 1997); her reading of the poem is at
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8cACbzanitg

2
Liz Byrski,
Getting On: Some Thoughts on Women and Ageing
, Momentum, ebook, 2012.

3
Valerie Monroe, ‘What it Feels Like to Stop Getting Noticed', in
O, The Oprah Magazine
, March 2009.
http://www.oprah.com/spirit/How-to-Deal-with-Aging-Valerie-Monroe-on-Getting-Older

4
M. E. Radina, A. Lynch, M. C. Stalp and L. K. Manning, ‘ “When I Am an Old Woman, I Shall Wear Purple”: Red Hatters Cope with Getting Old', in
Journal of Women & Aging
, 20(1–2), 2008, p. 100.

5
Hilary Mantel, ‘Women Over 50 –The Invisible Generation', in
The Guardian
, 4 August 2009.

6
Red/Pink Hatters in WA information site,
http://www.red-hatterswa.net
;
Red Hat Society
(US),
redhatsociety.com

7
Stef Hayward, interviewed on ABC
Stateline
(n.d.), Red/Pink Hatters in WA information site.

8
‘Margaret', in M. C. Stalp, M. E. Radina and A. Lynch, ‘ “We Do it Cuz it's Fun”: Gendered Fun and Leisure for Midlife Women through Red Hat Society Membership', in
Sociological Perspectives
, 51(2), 2008, p. 340.

9
Unnamed interviewee, in C. M. Yarnal, ‘The Red Hat Society: Exploring the Role of Play, Liminality, and Communitas in Older Women's Lives,
Journal of Women & Aging
, 18(3), 2006, p. 64; Hayward, ABC
Stateline
.

10
Clema, in S. van Bohemen, L. van Zoonen and S. Aupers, ‘Performing the “Fun” Self: How Members of the Red Hat Society Negotiate Cultural Discourses of Femininity and Ageing', in
European Journal of Cultural Studies
, 16(424), 2013, p. 430.

11
‘Nora', in Stalp et al., p. 336.

12
Yarnal, ‘The Red Hat Society', p. 64;
Red Hat Society
(US).

13
Stalp et al., p. 344.

14
Rebecca Wright, ‘Local Red Hatters Ditch the Purple and Red, Start New Social Club', in
The Windsor Star
, 21 September 2013.
http://blogs.windsorstar.com/life/local-red-hatters-ditch-the-purple-andred-start-new-social-club

15
‘Crabby Old Lady' (Ronni Bennett), ‘How the Red Hatters Disappoint', in
Time Goes By
, blog, 1 February 2006.
http://www.timegoesby.net/weblog/2006/02/how_the_red_hat.html

16
Comments by kenju and Jennifer Warwick, ibid.

17
Julia Twigg, ‘Clothing, Age and the Body: A Critical Review', in
Ageing & Society
, 27, Cambridge University Press, UK, 2007, pp. 293–4.
http://www.researchgate.net/publication/228344436_Clothing_age_and_the_body_a_critical_review

18
Ann Hunt, ‘Review: Deca Dance, Batsheva Dance Company', stuff. co.nz, 22 February, 2014.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/culture/nz-festival-2014/9751895/Review-Deca-Dance-Batsheva-Dance-Company

19
William Yeoman, ‘Hope is the Vital Key',
The West Australian
, 17 June, 2014.

Liz Byrski
is a novelist, non-fiction writer, former journalist and ABC broadcaster, with more than fifty years experience in the British and Australian media. She is the author of eight bestselling novels including
Gang of Four
and
Family Secrets,
and several non-fiction books including
In Love and War: Nursing Heroes
and
Remember Me.
Her books have been published in the UK, France and Germany. Liz has a PhD on the subject of women's fiction and lectures in professional and creative writing at Curtin University.

Lily Chan
was born in Kyoto, raised in Narrogin, studied law at Murdoch University and now resides in Melbourne.
Toyo,
a memoir of her grandmother, was the recipient of the 2010 Peter Blazey Fellowship for a manuscript-in-progress, won the Dobbie Literary Award and was shortlisted for the Colin Roderick Award in 2013. Lily is at work on a second book and keeps an illustrated dream diary.

Amanda Curtin
is the author of novels
Elemental
(shortlisted for the 2014 WA Premier's Book Awards) and
The Sinkings
, and a short story collection,
Inherited
, and has had short fiction published in
Griffith Review, Westerly, Southerly, Island
and
Indigo
. She is the current fiction editor for
Westerly
and is associated with Edith Cowan University as an adjunct lecturer. She will not entertain requests for performances on stage that do not involve her holding a book. Visit Amanda at
www.amandacurtin.com

Hanifa Deen
is a Melbourne-based author who writes narrative non-fiction. Her titles include the award-winning
Caravanserai: Journey Among Australian Muslims
,
Broken Bangles
(shortlisted for the WA Premier's Book Award),
The Crescent and the Pen, The Jihad Seminar
(shortlisted for the Australian Human Rights Commission Non-Fiction Literary Award),
Ali Abdul v. The King
and
On the Trail of Taslima.
Hanifa is the founding editor of online magazine
Sultana's Dream,
www.sultanasdream.com.au
. Visit Hanifa at
www.hanifadeen.com
.

Lucy Dougan
is a widely published poet. Her books include
White Clay
and
Meanderthals
and
The Guardians
; and her prizes include the Mary Gilmore Award and the Alec Bolton Award. A past poetry editor of
HEAT
magazine, she now works for the Westerly Centre at UWA and is poetry edtior for the journal
Axon: Creative Explorations
. Her PhD, concerning representations of Naples, was awarded in 2010.

Sarah Drummond
is the author of
Salt Story: of Sea Dogs and Fisherwomen
, a memoir and social history of south coast commercial estuarine fishers. Her shorter works are published in
Best Australian Essays, Overland, Indigo
journals and many other publications. Sarah lives on the south coast of Western Australia.

Tracy Farr
is a novelist, short story writer, and former research scient ist. In 2014, her debut novel
The Life and Loves of Lena Gaunt
was longlisted for the Miles Franklin Literary Award, and shortlisted for the WA Premier's Book Awards and the Barbara Jefferis Award. It will be published in the UK in 2016. Tracy was born in Melbourne but grew up in Perth, and studied science and arts at the University of WA. She lives in Wellington, New Zealand.

Deborah Hunn
is a lecturer in the Department of Communication and Cultural Studies at Curtin University. Her publications include short stories, critical essays and reviews. She blogs at deborahhunn. wordpress.com/

Toni Jordan
's debut novel, the international bestseller
Addition
, was published in 2008, chosen for the Richard and Judy Bookclub and longlisted for the Miles Franklin award. Her second novel,
Fall Girl
, was published in Australia, the UK, France, Germany and Taiwan, and has been optioned for film. Her latest novel,
Nine Days
, was awarded Best Fiction at the 2012 Indie Awards, was shortlisted for the ABIA Best General Fiction award and was named by Kirkus Review in the top ten Historical Novels of 2013. Toni has been widely published in newspapers and magazines.

Natasha Lester
is the award-winning author of
What is Left Over, After
and
If I Should Lose You
. Her third book will be published in early 2016. She has been described by
The Age
newspaper as ‘a remarkable Australian talent'. When she's not writing, Natasha teaches creative writing and plays dress-ups with her three children.

Anne Manne
is a Melbourne writer. She was a regular columnist for
The Australian
and
The Age
, and writes essays on contemporary life for
The Monthly
and other publications. Her book
Motherhood: How Should We Care for Our Children?
was a finalist in the Walkley Award for Best Non-Fiction Book. She has also written a
Quarterly Essay: Love and Money; The Family and The Free Market,
and a memoir,
So This is Life: Scenes from a Country Childhood
. Her most recent book is
The Life of I: The New Culture of Narcissism
.

Rachel Robertson
is a lecturer in the School of Media, Culture and Creative Arts at Curtin University. Her memoir
Reaching One Thousand
was shortlisted for the National Biography Award in 2013 and she won the
Australian Book Review
Calibre Award
for Outstanding Essay in 2008. Her personal essays have been published in journals and anthologies such as
Life Writing, Westerly, Griffith Review
and
Best Australian Essays
. Her research interests include critical disability studies, Australian literature, motherhood studies, life writing and ethics.

Rosemary Stevens
has worked in London for a publisher and literary agent and in Asia as a travel writer. She currently teaches creative and professional writing at Curtin University and was assistant editor for
Griffith Review
's 2015 summer issue
Looking West 47
, focusing on Western Australia. Her short stories, travel books and articles have been published throughout Australasia.

Annamaria Weldon,
author of
The Lake's Apprentice
, won the inaugural Nature Conservancy Australia's Prize for Nature Writing (2011). Her poems, non-fiction, reviews and short stories have been published in Australian literary journals, broadcast on the ABC's Radio National and featured in collaborations across art disciplines. Earlier poetry collections are
The Roof Milkers
and
Ropes of Sand
.

Jacqueline Wright
has been published in
Bodylines, Summer Readings, Griffith Review, Kimberley Stories, Summer Lovin', Knitting and Other Stories
and
Griffith Review
's
Looking West
. Her first novel,
Red Dirt Talking
, written as part of a creative arts doctorate at Curtin University, earned her first prize in the T. A. G. Hungerford Award (2010), was longlisted for the Miles Franklin Literary Award (2013) and shortlisted for the Dobbie Literary Award (2013). Parts of
Red Dirt Talking
have been adapted for radio and stage. Jacqueline works as a producer for
Mornings
at ABC Kimberley.

The editors would like to thank the writers whose contributions make up this diverse anthology; without their imagination and generosity the idea would not have grown wings. Many thanks, too, to research assistant Eva Bujalka for early research on the colour purple. We are grateful to the School of Media, Culture and Creative Arts at Curtin University for support for this project. And last, but by no means least, to our editor and publisher Georgia Richter and the entire team at Fremantle Press with whom it has been such a pleasure to work.

The publisher gratefully acknowledges permission to reproduce quotations from the following works: Liz Byrski © 2013,
Getting On: Some Thoughts on Women and Ageing
. Reprinted by kind permission of Momentum; Tracy Farr, ‘The Sound of One Man Dying' first appeared in
Another 100 NZ Short Short Stories
, ed. Graeme Lay, Tandem Press, Auckland, 1998); Rebecca Goldstein © 2009,
Betraying Spinoza: The Renegade Jew Who Gave Us Modernity
. Reprinted by kind permission of Schocken Books; John Gage © 2006,
Colour in Art
, reprinted by kind permission of Thames & Hudson Ltd, London; John Gage © 1999,
Colour and Meaning
, reprinted by kind permission of Thames & Hudson Ltd, London; John Gage © 1993,
Colour and Culture
, reprinted by kind permission of Thames & Hudson Ltd, London; Richard Holmes © 2009, ‘A Meander through Memory and Forgetting' in
Memory: An Anthology
, Harriet Harvey Wood and A. S. Byatt, eds, published by Chatto & Windus and reproduced by permission of The Random House Group Ltd; Simon Ings © 2008,
The Eye: A Natural History
, Bloomsbury Publishing Plc.; Lloyd Jones © 2013,
A History of Silence
, published by Text and reproduced with permission from the Text Publishing Company Pty Ltd; Adam Phillips © 2005, ‘The Forgetting Museum', first published in
Index on Censorship 2
, and reproduced by permission of the author.