Kitchen Table Memoirs

Description

In the map of our daily lives, the kitchen table is where we stop for sustenance. What other piece of furniture has witnessed so much and revealed so little? Here, for the first time, some of Australia's best writers and best-loved identities tell their kitchen table memory, complete with gravy stains, bent forks and the odd tale of love and death. Whether it is oak, pine, Laminex, varnished, recycled or modernist glass - in the domestic geography of our daily lives, the kitchen table is a constant. A silent witness to sustenance and solace, deliberation and argument, consolation and celebration. What other piece of furniture has witnessed so much and revealed so little? Here, for the first time, some of Australia's favourite writers and best-loved foodies share their very personal kitchen table memories, complete with gravy stains, bent forks and the odd tale of love and death. From Denise Scott's bittersweet recollection of chats around the table with her mother; to Martin Brown's tribute to the unique and forgotten sport of table climbing; to Helen Garner's quest to find the table that fitted her home and reflected her life - this charming anthology celebrates a beloved domestic touchstone where our lives, memories, stories and favourite recipes intersect. What's your favourite kitchen table memory?

In a journalism career spanning 30 years, Australia and the UK, Nick Richardson has reported and edited many of the stories, large and small, that have shaped and moved us.He has worked for THE AUSTRALIAN, THE BULLETIN and the HERALD SUN, and his work has appeared in a range of UK regional papers. He currently looks after editorial training for News Ltd in Australia and is adjunct professor of Journalism at LaTrobe University. He has a PhD in history and lives in Melbourne with his family. He swapped his childhood Laminex table a while ago for an oak version that has four squat legs and a growing list of memories.