The Conversations at Curlow Creek

David Malouf

Mar 2019 · Bolinda · Narrated by Maeliosa Stafford

About this audiobook

The year is 1827, and in a remote hut on the high plains of New South Wales, two strangers spend the night in talk. One, Carney, an illiterate Irishman, ex-convict and bushranger, is to be hanged at dawn. The other, Adair, also Irish, is an officer of the police who has been sent to supervise the hanging. As the night wears on, the two discover unexpected connections between their lives, and learn new truths. Outside the hut, Adair's troopers sit uneasily, reflecting on their own pasts and futures, waiting for the morning to come. With ironic humour and in prose of starkly evocative power, the novel moves between Australia and Ireland to explore questions of nature and justice, reason and un-reason, the workings of fate, and the small measure of freedom a man may claim in the face of death.

About the author

David Malouf is one of Australia’s most celebrated writers. He is the author of poems, fiction, libretti and essays. In 1996, his novel Remembering Babylon was awarded the first International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award. His 1998 Boyer Lectures were published as A Spirit of Play: The Making of Australian Consciousness. In 2000 he was selected as the sixteenth Neustadt Laureate. His most recent novel is Ransom.

Maeliosa has been closely associated with the Galway-based Druid Theatre Company since 1978, as artistic director and actor. He has been involved with premiere productions of Martin McDonagh’s work, including Olivier Award winning and four-time Tony Award nominated The Lonesome West. A co-founder of Sydney-based O’Punksky’s Theatre Company, he has directed and acted in numerous productions, most recently The Night Alive and The Seafarer. He continues to split his time between Ireland and Australia.