We of the Never Never

"We of the Never Never" is an autobiographical novel by Jeannie Gunn. Although published as a novel, it is an account of the author's experiences in 1902 at Elsey Station near Mataranka, Northern Territory in which she changed the names of people to obscure their identities. She published this book under the pen name Mrs Aeneas Gunn.

Mrs Gunn was the first white woman to settle in the area. Her husband was a partner in Elsey cattle station on the Roper River, some 300 miles (483 km) south of Darwin. On 2 January 1902 the couple sailed for Port Darwin so that he could take up his role as the station's new manager. In Palmerston (Darwin), Mrs Gunn was discouraged from accompanying her husband to the station on the basis that as a woman she would be "out of place" on a station such as the Elsey. However, she travelled south and her book describes the journey and settling in. However on 16 March 1903 Aeneas died of malarial dysentery and Jeannie returned to Melbourne shortly afterwards.Australian Dictionary of Biography|last= O'Neill |first= Sally |year= 1983 |id= A090134b |title= Gunn, Jeannie (1870 - 1961) |accessdate= 2008-01-11]

By 1945, 320,000 copies of the book had been sold. This novel, together with her other book, was adapted for Australian schools. By 1990 over a million copies of the book had been sold.cite web | last = Forrest | first = Peter | authorlink = | coauthors = | year = 1990 | url = http://www.ntl.nt.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0017/25046/occpaper18.pdf | title = They of the Never Never | format = pdf - 14 pages | work = Occasional Papers (no 18) | publisher = Northern Territory Library Service | accessdate = 2008-01-11]

"We of the Never Never" was translated into German in 1927.

Over the years newspapers and magazine articles chronicled the fortunes of the Elsey characters; Jeannie outlived all but Bett-Bett.

The book is regarded as being significant as a precursor of the 1930s landscape writers. Already in 1908 Australia was a significantly urbanised country and the book was seen to provide symbols of things that made Australia different from anywhere else, underwriting an Australian legend of life and achievement in the outback, where "men and a few women still lived heroic lives in rhythm with the gallop of a horse" in "forbidding faraway places".

In 1988 the book was referred to as a “minor masterpiece of Australian letters” by Penguin’s "New Literary History of Australia". [cite news |first= Alan |last= Ramsey |authorlink= Alan Ramsey |coauthors= |title= Fighting for the Never Never |url= http://www.mail-archive.com/[e-mail]/msg00471.html |work= |publisher= Sydney Morning Herald (print) - transcript at The Mail Archive |date= 10 April 1999 |accessdate= 2008-01-11 ]

Film

Infobox Film
name = We of the Never Never


image_size =
caption =
director = Igor Auzins
producer = Phillip Adams executive producer
writer = Jeannie Gunn (novel) film script by Peter Schreck
narrator =
starring = Angela Punch McGregor
Tommy Lewis
Arthur Dignam
Tony Barry
music = Peter Best
cinematography =
editing =
distributor =
released = 1982
runtime = 134 min.
country = AUS
language = English
budget =
preceded_by =
followed_by =
website =
amg_id =
imdb_id = 0084893The book was made into a film in the 1980s and shot on location in the Northern Territory - the setting of the novel.

The film received six Australian Film Institute Award nominations for 1982:
*Best Achievement in Cinematography - Gary Hansen (won)
*Best Achievement in Costume Design - Camilla Rountree
*Best Actress in a Lead Role - Angela Punch McGregor
*Best Film - Greg Tepper
*Best Original Music Score - Peter Best
*Best Screenplay, Original or Adapted - Peter Schreck

References