Origin stories

Mapping the shape of a family

Featured in

  • Published 20240507
  • ISBN: 978-1-922212-95-5
  • Extent: 203pp
  • Paperback, ePub, PDF, Kindle compatible

IN THE EARLY hours of the morning, the boy turns to his mother. ‘Do you want me to tell you a story, Mum?’

She stretches, opens her eyes. ‘Yes,’ she says. She looks at him, lying on his back, bathed in the buttery light of dawn. She tries to stay awake so that she will remember. Later she will check the time on her phone and see that he woke her before six.

Already a subscriber? Sign in here

If you are an educator or student wishing to access content for study purposes please contact us at griffithreview@griffith.edu.au

Share article

About the author

Brooke Maddison

Brooke Maddison is a writer and editor living on unceded Turrbal and Yuggera Country. Her award-winning writing has appeared in Griffith Review, The Guardian and Kill Your...

More from this edition

Past-­making within the present

In ConversationThe Marranbarna Dreaming story is a central story to Gudanji, and that essential story forms our beingness. My kids grew up hearing that story from when they were tiny babies – they heard it through my words and they heard it through the words of their grannies, so they could embed the story within their own sense of identity and then retell it. Both of my girls are mums now, and they retell that story to their daughters all the time, so it just becomes a normal part of who and how they are as Gudanji people.

Black love matters

Non-fiction I WOULD LIKE to love my mother without feeling, to perform the rituals and duties of filial care without the risk to heart of hurt. Mine,...

Getting attached

IntroductionMore than fifty years after Larkin lamented the emotional inadequacy of generations past, we’ve equipped ourselves with an extensive vocabulary with which to characterise, analyse and diagnose our relationships with ourselves, with others, and with the places, objects and ideas that shape our sense of who we are and who we wish to become. Yet still we face the same old set of conundrums: from parasocial connections and fractious family politics to the solace we seek in non-human entities, our myriad attachments continue to offer us comfort and complication in equal measure.

Stay up to date with the latest, news, articles and special offers from Griffith Review.