Nov 3, 2011 ... Author Fiona Higgins recently spoke at the ICPA conference in Rockhampton.
The Jandowae mum relocated to the bush from. Sydney after ...
Queensland Country Life 03-Nov-2011
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Page: 87 Town and Country By: Paula Heelan Market: Brisbane Circulation: 31546 Type: Rural Size: 775.95 sq.cms Frequency: ---T---
Fiona Higgins:
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Author Fiona Higgins recently spoke at the ICPA conference in Rockhampton. The Jandowae mum relocated to the bush from Sydney after falling in love with a cotton farmer.
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Queensland Country Life 03-Nov-2011
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Page: 87 Town and Country By: Paula Heelan Market: Brisbane Circulation: 31546 Type: Rural Size: 775.95 sq.cms Frequency: ---T--By PAULA HEE LAN
SPEAKING at the Isolated Children's Parents Association's (ICPA) conference in
Rockhampton recently, Fiona Higgins had the audience hanging on her every word. Compelling, witty and forward-thinking in relaying her own story, Fiona inspired her listeners from rural and remote areas to consider writing their own. "At a time of great structural change across Australia, there are simply fewer people telling rural stories in Australia today. So being rural or remote makes your story even more important," she explained. Fiona's best-selling memoir, Love in the age of Drought, began as a series of emails to city-based friends after she abandoned her Sydney life to follow and marry cotton farmer Stuart Higgins, from Jandowae in South East Queensland. "My girlfriend in New York, a literary agent and writer herself, told me people who had never been west of the Great Dividing Range found rural stories fascinating and I should consider writing a book." Fiona fell in love with rural Australia and the sense of community she found at Jandowae. "I took up marathon running, linedancing and flying. I also went from being a domestic disaster in Sydney to winning first prize in the scone-baking competition at the
Jandowae Show my greatest sense of achievement to date,- she laughed. But drought was a major issue for the Higgins. "Stu farmed with integrity during three of the worst droughts in Australia's recorded history with financial and psychological implications," she said. "My time at Jandowae also gave
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me a chance to consider questions I hadn't previously thought about. Questions like: Are consumers as accountable as farmers for the environmental consequences of agriculture? Should genetically modified crops be outlawed, or accepted? Why are city-dwellers so ready to dismiss farmers, when farmers are actually the lifeblood of our nation?" As a city girl who'd embodied all the cliches of urban living, Fiona said it was only by moving to rural Australia that she finally understood the primacy of farmers. "I suddenly realised it was farmers who were sustaining all those Sydney-based corporate lawyers and merchant bankers who were busy producing things like GFCs!"
While Fiona's second book, The Mothers' Group, is due for release in May 2012, she is still cautious about being called an author. "Writing isn't my day job; first and foremost I'm a mother to my three children. I've also worked for over 10 years in the non-profit sector serving on a couple of boards, including the Royal Agricultural Society Foundation." In her current role as philanthropy services manager at the Fairfax family office in Sydney, she assists high net worth individuals distribute millions of dollars of vital philanthropic funding. "Philanthropy is a pretty special place to be," she said. "I work with committed people often entrepreneurs who've made their mark commercially and now wish to give back to the community. It's a real privilege." Her work in the non-profit sector began in 1999 when, at 25, she spent nine months cycling around Australia to raise funds for international development work.
"We managed to raise $100,000, which wasn't a bad effort. But funnily enough, I pedalled the wrong way around Australia, into headwinds all the way. Any grey
nomad can tell you you go north from Sydney first."
She now looks back on that journey and wishes she'd written about the experience. "I was just too tired to write," she recalled. "I was averaging 100km a day, so all I could manage was a few lines in the diary. Maybe one day I'll capture it. I certainly met lots of interesting people, especially in rural and regional areas." Addressing delegates, she urged others who might be "too tired to write" to take even five minutes a day to record their experiences. "Consider who in your life right now might receive enormous joy or comfort from reading your story long after you've gone," she said. "When there's no longer any physical evidence of your life's labour, what will survive? Your story will, if you've recorded it." To write a memoir, Fiona says a good place to start is to note down the five "dramatic moments" in your life so far. "Even mundane or personal things are worth writing about. You have to hang a narrative of any kind around dramatic moments. With Love in the age of Drought, my dramatic moments included meeting my husband, breaking up with him, realising I'd made a huge mistake, then packing my bags and moving from Sydney to Jandowae. And then, of course, the fun really started!" Love in the Age of Drought is available at most leading bookstores, by contacting Paula Heelan: 4983 5283, or visiting the author's website, www.fionahiggins.com.au. Fiona's second book, The Mothers' Group, will be published in 2012, by Allen & Unwin.
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