One of the things I love most about the
Australian summer festivals is the opportunity to meet with other people
working in the oral tradition. At the
Cygnet Festival 2014 I had the pleasure of meeting Phil Rush.
Born in 1939, Phil worked as a teacher for
36 years. He was drawn to the country and spent most of his teaching years in
one and two teacher schools. In the early 80s he took on the job as Educational
Consultant for an area that included Rosedale, Malacoota, Tubbut, Omeo, Swifts
Creek … In 1957, alongside the teaching,
Phil began working as a Methodist preacher (later the Uniting Church).
With his teaching and work for the church,
Phil has been in a great position to refine his craft and absorb stories. No
wonder they say, ‘Phil Rush has a story about anything’.
Phil reckons he was a shy boy who hated
poetry at school but at 16, decided it was time to ‘speak up’. He discovered
the pleasure of memorising and reciting poems and up until 1994 had a head full
of Banjo Patterson, Henry Lawson and CJ Dennis. But over the years, these poems
have receded and been replaced with original works.
In 1993, Phil moved to the Huon Valley in
Tasmania. A few years later, he approached ABC Radio 936 Country Hour with an
idea that fell on fertile ears. Since 1994 he has written and recited 927 poems
(at the time of our meeting) for broadcast on Fridays. The only times he misses
is if its Good Friday or the cricket is on. And for Sunday he’s written 660
true stories, all ending in a poem.
But Phil’s storytelling interests are broad
and like many of us, he has a shelf groaning under the weight of global
anthologies: Tibetan, Russian, South Pacific, Australian Indigenous, Irish,
Scottish, Hawaiian … Still loved by children for his storytelling, Phil took on
the task of ‘veteran storyteller’ for the Australian Wooden Boat Festival
2013 (Hobart). Expecting small numbers, he was amazed, when the Festival came
to a close he’d told stories to hundreds. He enjoys drawing with soft block
chalks as he tells but reckons as an artist, he’s ‘pretty rough’. He must be
doing something right to attract such a following!
Phil Rush is best known in the Bush Poetry
circles where he recites and MCs. He is acknowledged by the Australian Bush Laureate Awards having
had 7 books, 5 poems and a CD in the finals and in 2006 he was awarded Book of the
Year with Australian Poems that would Captivate
a Koala. He has self-published 20 books and sold over 156,000. I reckon
that would have to be some kind of record for selling poetry.
Phil has 75 poems memorised. He keeps a
small notebook in his back pocket with the first lines of all of them, just to
jog his memory, how long the poem takes to recite and the volume and page
number of the publication where it can be found.
Phil and Yvonne Rush left Victoria over 20
years ago – a win for Tasmania! Sitting with Phil at the Cygnet Festival and
listening to his story, I was in no doubt I was in the company of a Living
Treasure.
Learn more about Philip R Rush HERE
On Sunday I took a train ride up to 'the hills', to Belgrave. I was invited by the Australia Wild Project to talk about the story behind the story of Lyrebird! A true story. This project 'seeks to increase awareness of our unique native flora and fauna through art and through seminars on environmental topics in conjunction with community environmental groups'. As always, when I talk about the research behind the book, I come away having learned more and with a deeper respect for the folk who work to protect the habitat of wild animals.
