(Re)writing traditions: The bush ethos in Central Queensland writing

Thea Astley aptly summed up a sense of Central Queensland's regional distinctiveness when she remarked that the 'real Australia doesn't begin until you are north of Rockhampton'. This chapter examines Central Queensland writing since the nineteenth century, and argues that it has been shaped primarily by the enduring influence of the bush ethos. While much of this legacy appears conventional and imitative, deriving in part from the city bushmen of the Sydney Bulletin, it has also provided writers with a starting point for a more original exploration of local and regional identities, especially in recent decades. Indeed, the regional preoccupation with the land and mateship both precedes and extends beyond the period of Bulletin influence from the 1890s to the Second World War. Rather than assuming that the 'bush ethos' constitutes a monolithic set of literary conventions, this chapter seeks to identify different strands, pastoral and proletarian, that enjoyed influence at different periods. Finally, this analysis constitutes a reassessment and revision ofthe national legend through the lens of contemporary regional writing from Central Queensland.