ON BONDI BEACH

Another beautiful  sunrise over Bondi Beach
Another beautiful sunrise over Bondi Beach.(c) Mick Duck

It was time to again sing the praises of one of Sydney’s great natural treasures. Last night saw the well attended launch of ON BONDI BEACH. Michael Caton emceed the launch,(hosted by the resident Tamarama Rock Surfers Theatre Company, in the upstairs theatre at the Bondi Pavilion. The launch  featured excerpts being read by local actors including Arky Michael and Odile Le Clezio.

ON BONDI BEACH is the fifth work put together by Ann Game, Andrew Metcalfe and Demelza Marlin, academics working in the School of Social Sciences at the University of New South Wales, following on from ‘Passionate Sociology’, ‘The mystery of everyday life’, ‘The first year experience’, and ‘Teachers who change lives’.

Their new work is the result of interviews, aided by research assistants Belinda Clayton, Ian Lennie and Luca De Francesco, that they carried out with people from all walks of life who shared a passion for Bondi. They then went on to transcribe these interviews so that  the ensuing rich variety of perspectives could be enjoyed.

During the editing process, a few style decisions were made. Each take would be published in the viewer’s own words, and then combined to form an ‘album’ of snapshots, a collage of perspectives.

Whilst sorting through the transcripts, the editors discovered that every-one had their particular favourite or interesting time/s of the day. For Waverley Council worker Jeanna dawn is a special time …for restauranteur Sharon it is night-time when Bondi truly comes alive. With this in mind the interviews were grouped together in different time periods from dawn to well into the Bondi night.

This book makes for entertaining reading with sentiments expressed that will resonate with many. ON BONDI BEACH, co-authored and edited by Ann Game, Andrew Metcalfe and Demelza Martin, academics from the School of Social Sciences at the University of New South Wales, has been published by Australian Scholarly Publishing. It is retailing for $24.95.