ABC’s Radio National Breakfast is my daily background companion. This morning it surprised me by making me a little teary — a segment on the National Library of Australia.
National libraries have followed me around the world. My first book lives in the Library of Congress in the U.S.; later years added titles to the National Library of Canada.
Since arriving in Australia in 2021, I’ve published quietly — mostly for myself or family. With The Reluctant Farmer, I finally sent print and digital copies to the National Library of Australia. Today I checked, and there they were, already catalogued.
Which means my small book now sits somewhere in the stacks alongside Sir Donald Bradman’s cricket bat, James Cook’s journal, and Katherine Parr’s handwriting.
Not bad company for a reluctant farmer.