By Marina Gomide
WRITER, journalist, line dancer, teacher, electorate officer, farm worker, world traveller and receptionist… Beerwah local of over 40 years Joanna Barrett has done it all and is still going. Joanna recently won first prize in the Marj Wilke Short Story Award for her short story ‘Window in its Wings’.
Being an avid history fan, she drew her inspiration for the story from a 120-year-old fence post on her property, which used to be owned by Beerwah pioneer John Simpson. She says this old, lumpy, worn-down piece of wood gave her a vision of a man fixing his last few fence posts before a herd of cattle arrived at his farm.
“My imagination took it from there, developing a story about an Australia that’s been long gone and themed around the small things in life that matter and make it bearable and comfortable,” Joanna said.
Although she has won various awards for her different works over the years, ranging from novels, poetry and short stories to columns, books and news articles, the petite, soft spoken writer emphasises how it is still a thrill to be acknowledged for her work and how winning these prizes adds to her credibility.
Born in Melbourne to a father in the Air Force, Joanna moved around a lot as child attending six different primary schools, until eventually settling down in Canberra for her secondary school and university.
This nomadic upbringing now bleeds through in her writing. “Moving around so much as a child resulted in me always being the new girl, so I never felt like I belonged anywhere,” she said.
“Belonging became a reoccurrence in my stories, especially early on before moving to Beerwah, which is where I finally found my place.”
Prior to moving to Beerwah in 1979 Joanna and her husband travelled the world, touring South America and Europe, as well as living in Papa New Guinea and Tasmania for a few years, where they owned a cattle farm.
Although writing is Joanna’s passion, she never made a living off it.
“If you’re writing fiction you do it for the love of it, not because of the money.”
Considering modern times of smartphones and social media, Joanna feels that something has been lost with the newer generation in terms of expressing their creativity but emphasizes that just because it has been lost doesn’t mean it can’t be regained.
“People who want to write stories will always write them, regardless of social media because they will always have that creativity inside them,” she said.
The 72-year-old is now retired but still has the spirit of an adventurer, enjoying going camping in a tent for weeks, line dancing, bush walking and sailing.
Read Joanna’s award-winning story at: gcnews.com.au/window-in-its-wings