Meandering Road by Johan du Toit
A young man embarks on a journey across outback Australia in search of his father, on the other side of the world an innocent soul finds himself on death row; a family responds to the new South Africa at the end of the apartheid era; an only daughter confronts her mother about a family secret; a classical musician reflects on the privilege of having an older sister who is always there to take care of him; a singer in a bush hat gives new meaning to the life of a boy ridiculed by his family; in an English pub an old fellow reflects on the chairs left empty by the young men who sacrificed their lives; two unrelated events have a dramatic impact on the life of a Darlinghurst tattooist.
These are just some of the characters in Meandering Road who will take you along on their individual journeys.
“The short stories in Meandering Road were created as my regular contributions to our writers’ group in Sydney. It all started when Chris, a character worthy of a work of fiction, invited his mother and a group of friends to write a short story about an oil painting he saw in a golf club. Thirteen years later our writers’ group continues to create short stories against a picture nominated by the winner of the previous round.
From my fifty plus entries to the writers group since 2008, I have rewritten 21 stories for Meandering Road. The characters and places in these stories were shaped by my personal journey across a few continents. While each of them started with a picture, with the benefit of time and free from the keenly monitored word count discipline, I have learned more about the characters and their life experiences. Along the way I met a few new characters.
Without exception these stories have benefitted from the opportunity to work with Peter Vaughan-Reid as editor.”
– Johan du Toit
A young man embarks on a journey across outback Australia in search of his father, on the other side of the world an innocent soul finds himself on death row; a family responds to the new South Africa at the end of the apartheid era; an only daughter confronts her mother about a family secret; a classical musician reflects on the privilege of having an older sister who is always there to take care of him; a singer in a bush hat gives new meaning to the life of a boy ridiculed by his family; in an English pub an old fellow reflects on the chairs left empty by the young men who sacrificed their lives; two unrelated events have a dramatic impact on the life of a Darlinghurst tattooist.
These are just some of the characters in Meandering Road who will take you along on their individual journeys.
“The short stories in Meandering Road were created as my regular contributions to our writers’ group in Sydney. It all started when Chris, a character worthy of a work of fiction, invited his mother and a group of friends to write a short story about an oil painting he saw in a golf club. Thirteen years later our writers’ group continues to create short stories against a picture nominated by the winner of the previous round.
From my fifty plus entries to the writers group since 2008, I have rewritten 21 stories for Meandering Road. The characters and places in these stories were shaped by my personal journey across a few continents. While each of them started with a picture, with the benefit of time and free from the keenly monitored word count discipline, I have learned more about the characters and their life experiences. Along the way I met a few new characters.
Without exception these stories have benefitted from the opportunity to work with Peter Vaughan-Reid as editor.”
– Johan du Toit
A young man embarks on a journey across outback Australia in search of his father, on the other side of the world an innocent soul finds himself on death row; a family responds to the new South Africa at the end of the apartheid era; an only daughter confronts her mother about a family secret; a classical musician reflects on the privilege of having an older sister who is always there to take care of him; a singer in a bush hat gives new meaning to the life of a boy ridiculed by his family; in an English pub an old fellow reflects on the chairs left empty by the young men who sacrificed their lives; two unrelated events have a dramatic impact on the life of a Darlinghurst tattooist.
These are just some of the characters in Meandering Road who will take you along on their individual journeys.
“The short stories in Meandering Road were created as my regular contributions to our writers’ group in Sydney. It all started when Chris, a character worthy of a work of fiction, invited his mother and a group of friends to write a short story about an oil painting he saw in a golf club. Thirteen years later our writers’ group continues to create short stories against a picture nominated by the winner of the previous round.
From my fifty plus entries to the writers group since 2008, I have rewritten 21 stories for Meandering Road. The characters and places in these stories were shaped by my personal journey across a few continents. While each of them started with a picture, with the benefit of time and free from the keenly monitored word count discipline, I have learned more about the characters and their life experiences. Along the way I met a few new characters.
Without exception these stories have benefitted from the opportunity to work with Peter Vaughan-Reid as editor.”
– Johan du Toit