I would like to express my gratitude and respect to my countryman Kevin Cairns, Chairman, and the Board of the Waanyi Nation Aboriginal Corporation, for your kind permission to use the Waanyi Language Dictionary.
Thank you to Aboriginal traditional landowners and elders of the Coorong, Ellen and Tom Trevollow, for your generosity, friendship, and guidance.
My gratitude to Professor Raoul Mulder, Department of Zoology, University of Melbourne, for research material on the behavior and ecology of black swans; Ray Chatto, Parks, Wildlife and Conservation, Northern Territory, for invaluable information about brolgas in Northern Australia; Bernard Blood, Curator of Lake Wendoree in Ballarat, for your wonderful story of swans returning to the lake after the drought.
I have watched swans in many places, and learnt the best place to see swans on the Liffy in Dublin from a truly amused interviewer at RTÉ Raidió na Gaeltachta. I learnt from Seamus Heaney’s poem ‘Postscript’, displayed at Dublin airport, that if I wanted to see swans, I should look on the Flaggy Shore in County Clare. Many friends, colleagues, and family members very kindly and thoughtfully told stories, sent information, and swan presents, including music inspired by swans, or poetry, photos, pictures, objects, books, and life size statues of swans. Thank you Hal Wolton, Sudha Ray, Forrest Holder, Jeff Hulcombe, Ann Davis, Murrandoo Yanner, Evelyn Juers, Andreas Campomar, Benoit and Christine Gruter, Steve Morwell, Kevin Rowley, Pip McManas, my sister Robyn and brother-in-law Bill, sister-in-law Larissa, brother- and sister-in-law George and Barbara Sawenko, Francis Bray, Kim Scott, Terry Whitebeach, Stewart Blackhall, Robert Adamson, Dimitris Vardoulakis, Steve Morwell and Karina Menkhorst. Thank you to Nicholas Jose for showing me the nesting swans along the Torrens River, and Bruce Sims who went on visits with me to the Melbourne Zoo.
My daughter Tate travelled with me on a special trip to the Coorong, and also came on many walks along the Torrens River to see nesting swans and find the man who nurses a wild swan on his lap. My daughter Lily enthusiastically found images of swans that she sent to my computer in the middle of the night, and we had several special trips to the Melbourne Zoo where we visited a lone Mute Swan befriended by goldfish. Thank you to my step-son Andre for telling me the story about the swan that lost its way on a busy highway in Melbourne.
I am indebted to many people who offered encouragement and support, including my former colleagues at RMIT, and especially Antoni Jach. Thank you most sincerely to Evelyn Juers and Alice Grundy for reading the final manuscript and offering invaluable feedback; and to Darren Gilbert for permission to use his wonderful image of the swan on the cover of this book.
I am very grateful for the support of Professor Wayne McKenna, the University of Western Sydney, and Professor Anthony Uhlmann and all of my colleagues in the Writing and Society Research Centre at the university.
Ivor Indyk, my publisher, editor and critic knows the work that went into this book. Thank you.
Thank you to my husband Toly for our trips to Lake Wendoree, and for many thoughtful references you found from the beginning of a journey that continued through many parts of the world.
Of course, all of those swans, and also our kelpies Jessie then Ruby, and our cats Pushkin then Luna, for the company.
This project has been assisted by the Australian Government through the Australia Council, its arts funding and advisory body.