Sybille Smith, Mothertongue sounding out the ways in

sounding out the ways in which a self possesses time and language

Winner of the 2009 Walter McRae Russell Prize

ISBN 978-1-925735-57-4Release: February 2023

ISBN 978-1-922181-37-4

Anne Elvey

Sybille Smith, Mothertongue sounding out the ways inFrom street dogs of Buenos Aires to street cars of Vienna, from Sydney in the1940s to the puzzles of return journeys and the enigmas of ageing, these precisely observed and finely crafted essays are by turns moving, funny and profound. More than a memoir, they are an investigation of the act of remembering and the intricate part language plays in retrieving the past: There is a sort of continuous band of surface memory, registering daily events and