Thin Top End

In September 2011, the two authors embarked on a critical and creative exploration of one of Australia’s ‘thinnest’ places – the Top End, a space full of history and crocodiles and misunderstanding. The resulting creative nonfiction article is a journey through the contemporary and mythical elements of the region’s landscape – from boabs to curlews,gorges, highways and UFOs. Integrating history, myth and conversation, the writers investigate the relationship between story and place, past and present, fact and fiction. The notion of boundaries is central to this exploration – physical, cultural and historical boundaries are warped, contested and rearranged throughout the essay, as the writers ask difficult questions about one of Australia’s most beautiful and lonely spaces. In coauthoring the essay, the writers also investigate the act of shared storytelling and the influence of perspective, place, and position when constructing stories.