Reading Event at The Railway Hotel in Boort

On 21 March 2019 a group of readers in the small Mallee town of Boort met at the Railway Hotel to discuss a long-forgotten novel, The Wind on the Water, by Myra Morris. Morris was born in Boort but is no longer known by the locals as she moved away while still a girl. The novel tells the story of Fran, a war widow with a young child, who leaves her aunt’s place in East Melbourne to marry a publican on the edge of the Mallee where she experiences both beauty and despair. Set in ‘Browns Town’, a place which closely resembles Boort, the action of the novel largely takes place in pub which may be inspired by the Railway Hotel. By discussing the novel at the pub with local readers, literary studies researchers Brigid Magner (RMIT University) and Emily Potter (Deakin University) hoped to raise awareness about Myra Morris and her vital contribution to Mallee literature.

You can read Bridgid’s reflections on Wind on the Water here.