Coal Dust on Roses: last days of a mining town

An engrossing, detailed, moving account of a community dealing with crisis. The Australian landscape, the 1970s, and the sense of Australian character and culture are evocatively portrayed.‘ - Nigel Krauth

'I’m impressed with the wealth of experience and information re-created. Congratulations on such a diverse canvas in such a modest space, alive with affectionate wit and perception.’ - Bruce Dawe

In 1978 Susie Utting and her family lived in Yallourn, during which time this Victorian town was being ‘dug up’ for the coal beneath. In her collection of poems Susie attempts to capture what the town meant to those who lived there over the six decades of its brief existence. The poems were written as part of her doctoral thesis at the University of the Sunshine Coast. An earlier book, Flame in the Fire, was published by Ginninderra Press in 2012.