Sybille Smith, Mothertongue with the help of three

with the help of three other artists

co-devised with John Warwicker)

and is often exuberant in expression and passionate in its sympathy for the poor and the working class

Winner of the 2009 Walter McRae Russell Prize

The Australian and ABC Radio National’s The Book Show

Sybille Smith, Mothertongue with the help of threeFrom street dogs of Buenos Aires to street cars of Vienna, from Sydney in the1940s to the puzzles of return journeys and the enigmas of ageing, these precisely observed and finely crafted essays are by turns moving, funny and profound. More than a memoir, they are an investigation of the act of remembering and the intricate part language plays in retrieving the past: There is a sort of continuous band of surface memory, registering daily events and