Five years ago I peered through the shutters of a merry go round in the centre of Canberra and took this photo:

Even closed, the ride intrigued me, not the least because I wondered how it came to be there. A nearby sign indicated that the ride had been in Canberra since 1974, but that it dated back to 1914, when it opened in St Kilda.  I felt sure there was a story just waiting to be uncovered.

And I was right. That night I found, through some online research that the ride had in fact operated on the foreshore in St Kilda for many years – but that the first owner of the ride, a man named Anton Weniger, had not owned it for long – forced to give up ownership because he was born German, and his ride was operating in Australia, during World War 1.

This surprised me. How could a man who lives in Australia, and operates a business aimed at providing fun and entertainment for children, end up driven away?  Although he was indeed born in Germany, he had lived in Australia for more than 20 years, and been naturalised. Still, I discovered, his German origins drew unwanted attention in wartime and, after a riot, he was forced to leave.

It didn’t take me long to decide that I wanted to find out more – and to share this story. What took longer was piecing together just what had happened to Anton both before and after the war, and finding a way to weave this information into a story.

Two years ago I visited Canberra again and, while there, visited the ride with my publisher, Clare Hallifax, who had just read the story I’d written and loved it. We visited the ride together – and even took a spin on it.

Since then that manuscript has become, under Clare’s expert leadership, and with illustrations by Martina Heiduczek, a verse novel and, just a week from today, will be released into the world. I can’t wait!

The Riding Gallery is available to preorder from a local bookshop near you, or online. 

 

And, while you wait for its release you might also like to read this interview about my last verse novel by Queen Narelle, which has been published today on the Alphabet Soup blog.