24 J. A. Flores Ochoa, ‘Contemporary significance of Machu Picchu’, in R. L. Burger & L. C. Salazar (eds), Machu Picchu: Unveiling the Mystery of the Incas, Richard L. Burger (trans.), Yale University Press, New Haven, 2004, p. 120.
25 H. Eakin, ‘Inca show pits Yale against Peru,’ New York Times, 1 February 2006, viewed 19 October 2015,
26 R. L. Burger & L. Salazar (eds), Machu Picchu: Unveiling the Mystery of the Incas, Yale University Press, New Haven, 2004, p. 1.
27 Alan García cited in S. Calderón Bentin, ‘Archaeologies of Empire: colonial Hollywood and the neoliberal academy’, in L. D. Nielsen & P. Ibarra (eds), Neoliberalism and Global Theatres: Performance Permutations, Palgrave Macmillan, London, 2012, p. 44.
28 ‘Cusco: 70,000 visitantes admiraron piezas de Machu Picchu devueltas por Yale’, La República, 4 November 2012, viewed 19 October 2015,
Uluru: How to Travel Without Seeing
1 A. Wright, ‘Is travel writing dead?’, Granta, no. 138, 2017, p. 93.
2 R. Layton, Uluru: An Aboriginal History of Ayers Rock, Aboriginal Studies Press, Canberra, 2001, p. 5.
3 A. Markham, ‘Three things you should know about Uluru’s Aboriginal name’, Travel Outback Australia, 2014, viewed 23 October 2015,
4 Dick Kimber cited in B. Hill, The Rock: Travelling to Uluru, Allen & Unwin, Sydney, 1994, p. 9.
5 B. Hill, The Rock, p. 310.
6 M. Cathcart, ‘Uluru’, in T. Bonyhady & T. Griffiths (eds), Words for Country: Landscape and Language in Australia, University of NSW Press, Sydney, 2002, pp. 216–17.
7 A. McClintock, ‘Climbing the Rock: why do tourists still climb Uluru?’, ABC Radio National, 10 July 2015, viewed 20 October 2015,
8 T. Griffiths & L. Robin (eds), Ecology and Empire: Environmental History of Settler Societies, Keele University Press, Newcastle, 1997, p. 6.
9 W. Gosse, Report and Diary of Mr W. C. Gosse’s Central and Western Exploring Expedition, 1873, Libraries Board of South Australia, 1973, p. 1.
10 ibid.
11 ibid.
12 ibid., p. 15.
13 ibid., p. 10.
14 ibid., p. 9.
15 Northern Territory Government, Dual Naming, 7 August 2014, viewed 19 October 2015,
16 T. Bonyhady & T. Griffiths (eds), Words for Country: Landscape and Language in Australia, University of NSW Press, Sydney, 2002. p. 6.
17 R. Hall, Journey through Australia, William Heinemann, Sydney, 1988, p. 6.
18 B. Gammage, The Biggest Estate on Earth: How Aborigines Made Australia, Allen & Unwin, Sydney, 2012, pp. 51–3.
19 H. Reynolds, ‘Foreword’, in B. Gammage, The Biggest Estate on Earth, p. xxiii.
20 D. Roberts & Mutitjulu community (directors), Uluru: An Anangu Story, Film Australia Limited, 1986.
21 ibid.
22 Mal Brough cited in N. Pearson, ‘Remote control: ten years of struggle and success in Indigenous Australia’, The Monthly, Melbourne, no. 3, 2015, pp. 29–37.
23 D. Malouf, ‘Mrs Porter and the Rock’, David Malouf: The Complete Stories, Vintage, Sydney, 2007, p. 130.
24 National Archives of Australia, The 1967 Referendum: Fact Sheet 150, 2015, viewed 26 October 2015,
25 Traditional owners cited in Layton, Uluru, p. 107.
26 N. Stephen in Handback, The Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies,
27 J. Urry, The Tourist Gaze, 2nd ed., 2002, Sage, London, 1990, p. 11.
28 A. Neuman, Cómo viajar sin ver, Alfaguara, Madrid, 2010.
Porto Velho & Brasilia
1 A. Monterroso, Animales y hombres, Educa, Buenos Aires, 1995, p. 21.
Coetzee in Buenos Aires
1 M. Bail, Homesickness, Text Publishing, Melbourne, 2012, p. 243.
2 Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Censos República Argentina, Incidencia de la pobreza y de la indigencia en 31 aglomerados urbanos, Buenos Aires, 28 September 2016, viewed 15 November 2016,
3 J. M. Coetzee, Elizabeth Costello, Vintage, Sydney, 2004, p. 19.
4 J. M. Coetzee, ‘Literatures of the South: Introductory Remarks,’ Literaturas del Sur, speech given at Universidad Nacional de San Martín, Buenos Aires, 11 April 2016.
5 ibid.
6 J. M. Coetzee, ‘Literaturas del Sur: J. M. Coetzee y Nicholas Jose en UNSAM’, panel at Universidad Nacional de San Martín, Buenos Aires, 14 April 2015, viewed 25 May 2015,
7 Coetzee, ‘Introductory Remarks’.
8 J. Ley, ‘Novelist of the sorrowful countenance’, Sydney Review of Books, 7 October 2016, viewed 15 November 2016,
9 J. M. Coetzee, Foe, Penguin, London, 2010, p. 158.
Parque Lezama
1 C. Lispector, Hour of the Star, B. Moser (trans.), New Directions, New York, 2014, p. 53.
2 J. L. Borges, ‘The Mythical Founding of Buenos Aires’, Selected Poems, A. Coleman (ed.), A. Reid (trans.), Penguin, New York, 1999, p. 54.
Such Loneliness in That Gold
1 D. Falconer, The Service of Clouds, Picador, New York, 1997, p. 70.
2 J. L. Borges, ‘The Moon’, Selected Poems, W. Barnstone (trans.), Penguin, New York, p. 379.
3 M. Kodama & M. A. Renard, ‘Un Borges para el siglo 21’, panel at Feria Internacional del Libro de Buenos Aires, 29 April 2016 (author’s translation).
4 M. Kodama, interview with the author, Buenos Aires, 8 May 2016 (author’s translation).
5 Kodama & Renard, ‘Un Borges para el siglo 21’.
6 Kodama cited in A. Prieto, ‘Quien es María Kodama: la viuda, la elegida, la guardiana’, Clarin, 10 July 2006, viewed 28 June 2016,
7 Kodama cited in K. Takaki, ‘Para mi, Japon era mi padre’, La Plata Hochi, 1 February 2013, viewed 25 July 2016,
8 ibid.
9 ibid.
10 Kodama cited in M. Ruiz Guiñazú, ‘¡Mi padre era más joven que Borges!’, Perfil, 13 January 2013, viewed 21 July 2016,
11 M. Kodama, interview with the author.
12 M. Kodama, Homenaje a Borges, Sudamericana, Buenos Aires, 2016.
13 M. Kodama & M. Pericoli, ‘Mr Borges’s Garden’, New York Times, 1 January 2011, viewed 28 June 2016,
14 Kodama, interview with author.
15 E. Williamson, Borges: A Life, Viking, New York, 2004, p. 417.
16 R. Alifano & A. Vacarro, ‘El Borges Que Conocí’, panel at Feria Internacional del Libro de Buenos Aires, 22 April 2016 (author’s translation).
17 A. Bioy Casares, Borges, Destino, Barcelona, 2006, pp. 1594–95.
18 J. L. Borges, ‘Remorse’, Selected Poems, W. Barnstone (trans.), Penguin, New York, 2000, p. 381.
19 Kodama & Renard, ‘Un Borges para el siglo 21’.
20 J. L. Borges, ‘A Leonor Acevedo de Borges’, Obras Completas, vol. 1, Sudamericana, Buenos Aires, 2011, p. 15.
21 Kodama cited in Ruiz Guiñazú, Perfil.
22 Kodama cited in Prieto, Clarin.
23
Kodama cited in Williamson, Borges: A Life, p. 481.
24 ibid., p. 485.
25 J. L. Borges, ‘Los Conjurados’, Obras Completas, vol. 3, Sudamericana, Buenos Aires, 2011, p. 541 (author’s translation).
26 Kodama cited in Prieto, Clarin.
27 ibid.
28 J. L. Borges, Labyrinths, D. Yates & J. Irby (trans., eds), 1962, New Directions, New York, 2007.
29 Kodama cited in G. Mayer, ‘Entrevista: Borges, como los antiguos griegos, pertenecía a su ciudad: María Kodama’, Sin Embargo, 7 May 2016, viewed 28 June 2016,
30 ibid.
31 J. L. Borges, ‘Epílogo’, Obras Completas, vol. 3, Sudamericana, Buenos Aires, 2011, p. 555 (author’s translation).
32 M. Schifino, ‘Todo Borges’, Páginas Críticas: formas de leer y de narrar de Proust a Mad Men, Fiordo, Buenos Aires, p.87.
33 N. Gelós, ‘Poetic Injustice: María Kodama vs the Lit Scene’, Argentina Independent, 26 August 2015, viewed 28 June 2016,
34 Kodama cited in Prieto, Clarin.
35 Homer, The Iliad, R. Fagles (trans.), Penguin, New York, 1990, p. 210.
San Miguel del Monte
1 D. F. Sarmiento, Facundo, Project Gutenberg, 2010, viewed 12 July 2018,
The Lakeside House
1 J. Wright, ‘The Curtain’, Collected Poems 1942–1985, Angus & Robertson, Sydney, 1994, p. 216.
2 J. Wright, ‘In Praise of Marriages’, Collected Poems, p. 152.
3 J. Wright, ‘Two Songs for the World’s End’, Collected Poems, p. 107.
4 G. Albrecht et al., ‘Solastalgia: the distress caused by environmental change,’ Australasian Psychiatry, vol. 15, no. 1, 2007, p. S95.
5 J. Wright, Half a Lifetime, Text Publishing, Melbourne, 1999, p. 280.
6 P. Clarke & M. McKinney (eds), With Love and Fury: Selected Letters of Judith Wright, National Library of Australia, Canberra, 2006, p. 83.
7 Wright, Half a Lifetime, p. 283.
8 M. McKinney, ‘Memoir of Judith and Jack’, in P. Clarke & M. McKinney (eds), The Equal Heart and Mind: Letters between Judith Wright and Jack McKinney, University of Queensland Press, 2004, p. 9.
9 S. P. MacKenzie, ‘Beating the odds: superstition and human agency in RAF bomber command, 1942–1945’, War in History, vol. 22, no. 3, 2015, pp. 392–5.
10 Clem Christesen cited in V. Brady, South of My Days: A Biography of Judith Wright, Angus & Robertson, Sydney, 2006, p. 112.
11 Wright cited in Clarke & McKinney, The Equal Heart and Mind, p. 26.
12 Jack McKinney cited in Clarke & McKinney, The Equal Heart and Mind, p. 27.
13 ibid., p. 73.
14 Wright cited in Brady, South of My Days, p. 129.
15 J. McKinney cited in Clarke & McKinney, The Equal Heart and Mind, p. 38.
16 Wright, Half a Lifetime, p. 186.
17 Wright cited in S. Walker, Flame and Shadow: A Study of Judith Wright, University of Queensland Press, Brisbane, 1996, p. 211.
18 J. McKinney cited in Clarke & McKinney, The Equal Heart and Mind, p. 132.
19 Wright, Half a Lifetime, p. 280.
20 E. Brown, Cooloola Coast, University of Queensland Press, Brisbane, 2000, p. 13.
21 M. Flinders, A Voyage to Terra Australis, W. Bulmer and Co., London, 1814, p. 7.
22 J. Wright, ‘Phaius Orchid’, Collected Poems, p. 88.
23 Brown, Cooloola Coast, p. 82.
24 J. Wright, ‘At Cooloolah’, Collected Poems, p. 140.
25 W. Wordsworth, The Pedlar, Tintern Abbey and the Two-Part Prelude, J. Wordsworth (ed.), Cambridge University Press, 1985, p. 34.
26 Heraclitus cited in Wright, Collected Poems, p. 118.
27 Wright, ‘At Cooloolah’, p. 140.
28 J. Wright, The Generations of Men, ETT Imprint, Sydney, 1995, pp. 58–9.
29 ibid., p. 105.
30 G. Arnott, ‘Extract: The Unknown Judith Wright’, Teaching History, vol. 50, no. 4, 2016, p. 21.
31 Wright, ‘At Cooloolah’, p. 141.
32 Oodgeroo Noonuccal, ‘Last of His Tribe’, My People, Jacaranda, Brisbane, 1990, p. 11.
33 J. Wright, ‘The Graves at Mill Point’, Collected Poems, p. 193.
34 ibid., p. 194.
35 ibid.
36 J. Wright, ‘Conservation as a Concept’, Quadrant, vol. 12, no. 1, 1968, p. 32.
37 Wright, ‘The Graves at Mill Point’, p. 194.
38 ibid.
39 J. Wright, ‘The Vision’, Collected Poems, p. 263.
40 J. McKinney, The Structure of Modern Thought, Chatto and Windus, London, 1971, p. xi.
41 Wright cited in F. Capp, My Blood’s Country, Allen & Unwin, Sydney, 2010, p. 145.
42 Wright cited in Clarke & McKinney, With Love and Fury, p. 182.
43 J. Wright, ‘Lake in Spring’, Collected Poems, p. 333.
44 MacKenzie, War in History, p. 386.
45 Wright cited in Clarke & McKinney, The Equal Heart and Mind, p. 139.
46 J. McKinney cited in Clarke & McKinney, The Equal Heart and Mind, p. 146.
47 Wright cited in Brady, South of My Days, p. 262.
48 S. Cooke, ‘Orpheus in the New World: poetry and landscape in Australia and Chile’, Antipodes, vol. 24, no. 2, 2010, pp. 143–50.
49 J. Wright, ‘For New England’, Collected Poems, p. 22.
50 Wright cited in Clarke & McKinney, With Love and Fury, p. 109.
Acknowledgements
Kind acknowledgement to the Fundación Elena Poniatowska for permission to reprint lines from La noche de Tlatelolco (Ediciones Era 2002), Penguin Random House UK for permission to reprint sections from Malcolm Lowry’s Under the Volcano published by Jonathan Cape (1984) and from Willis Barnstone’s translations of two poems by Jorge Luis Borges ‘The Moon’ and ‘Remorse’ published in Selected Poems (2000), Penguin Random House USA for permission to reprint lines from Robert Fagles translation of The Iliad by Homer (1990), Harper Collins Australia and the Judith Wright Estate for permission to reproduce lines from Judith Wright’s Collected Poems, and John Wiley & Sons Australia for permission to reproduce lines from Oodgeroo Noonuccal’s ‘Last of His Tribe’ (My People, 3rd ed. Jacaranda Press 1990).
I am grateful for the support of a University of Queensland Research Scholarship while working on this project.
‘Requiem with Yellow Butterflies’ first appeared in Open Letters Monthly and ‘We Want Them Alive’ in 1966. ‘Coetzee in Buenos Aires’, ‘Such Loneliness in that Gold’ and ‘The Lakeside House’ were published in the Sydney Review of Books. Much earlier versions of ‘Caracas’, ‘Roraima & Manaus’, ‘Porto Velho & Brasilia’ and ‘Parque Lezama’ appeared in Nomadology.
Thank you to the ACT Writers Centre, the Amenta family, Venero Armanno, Leonard Barton, Rex Butler, Félix Calvino, J. M. Coetzee, Alejandro Cortéz, Mary Cunnane, Arturo Desimone, Helen and Ron Diamond, Roberto Esposto, Delia Falconer, Nigel Featherstone, The Fryer Library, Stuart Glover, Kári Gíslason, Frida Hessel, Ivor Indyk, Gail Jones, Nicholas Jose, Anna Kazumi Stahl, Iris Kennedy, María Kodama, Bronwyn Lea, Meredith McKinney, Catriona Menzies-Pike, Gerald Murnane, the Queensland Writers Centre, Emma Schwarz, the State Library of Queensland, Angela Tuohy, Terri-ann White and the team at UWAP, and Gillian Whitlock.
Love and thanks to my parents, Kim and Barbara; to my suegros Juan and Carmen; to the Halford-Itos; and to my darling daughter, Vera. Above all, love and gratitude to Chío, my chispa.
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