Anthology shares Plazzer story
A former Horsham resident and her tales of Wimmera life feature in a new Australian literary compilation assembling snapshots of life in modern rural Australia.
Audio producer, musician and writer Maryanne Plazzer will detail her deep Wimmera roots in the new Black Inc anthology ‘Growing Up In Country Australia’.
The new book, a collection of memoirs by established and emerging Australian literary talent, attempts to put in words the unique character of life in the country.
Miss Plazzer said her work for the collection, ‘Rain Rain, Go Away’, zeroed in on time spent running Jeparit’s Hindmarsh Hotel during the Millennium Drought.
“The story embraced challenges of unregulated water, almost losing my first born, and my life as a young publican in the middle of the farming community in Jeparit through the great drought,” she said.
“Water is our health currency and most people don’t think twice before taking a sip or a dip, but they should.”
Miss Plazzer said her contribution to the collection emphasised an importance of storytelling in everyday life.
“What inspires you to get out of bed each day? If you aren’t doing that, or don’t know what that is – start by sharing your story,” she said.
She said it was crucial for people of all ages to share stories of belonging and encouraged young writers to consider what was central in evoking their own history.
“We are all teachers and students in an interdependent community,” she said.
“Through sharing and connecting in story, this informs our inner compass to rise and grounds us in purpose and belonging.”
Miss Plazzer now resides in Melbourne’s inner north, but her family has deep-seated roots in the Wimmera.
Her immediate family cemented itself in the Horsham community during the postSecond World War influx of Mediterranean migrants to Victoria in the 1950s.
Miss Plazzer’s extended family had previously made the journey from northern Italy in the 1920s, migrating after the First World War.
Her father, Mario Plazzer, remains a familiar figure in Horsham’s agricultural community, his business Wimmera Mallee Ag has operated since 1988 supplying farming machinery and equipment to the region.
Miss Plazzer said ‘showing’ up in community and participating was an important part of everyone’s relationship to country and belonging.
“No matter where you are from, sharing your personal stories is a perfect way to connect and understand each other and embrace differences in a productive way,” he said.
“It’s everyone’s responsibility to be inclusive.”
Miss Plazzer joins other prominent Australian writers and journalists who shared stories for the new anthology including Annabel Crabb, Benjamin
Riley, Angus Thompson, Tony Armstrong and Lily Chan.
Growing Up In Country Australia editor and The Saturday Paper senior reporter Rick Morton said the collection revised the true experience of Australian life away from its cities.
“You will find in these pages a colourful and gripping pastiche that updates the experience outside Australia’s cities and large regional centres,” he said.
“You will find, despite the absolute variety in these essays, that there is still something ineffable about life in the country.”
Growing Up In Country Australia was released yesterday and is available online at blackincbooks.com.au and Redrock Books in Horsham.