Sewell is a thirty-something New Zealander and his autobiographical doco told of being brought up by his high powered feminist mother in NZ in the 1970s, surrounded, almost immersed in, the feminist campaigns for legal and safe abortions. This documentary was remarkable for its candid ear, its heartbreaking revelations and its honourable but nonetheless tough view of a mother from a son's point of view. Sewell is currently working on a novel based on this material. Georgia Blain's Candelo also features a feminist mother, one who, like NYC 's feminist 'mother', spends a lot of time sitting at a table smoking.
Adoption is a hard story.
John Howard's meticulous and mathematical denial of the Stolen Generations being the latest move in what is both a deeply personal and psychological story and one that is deeply historical and ideological. The Underwharf which tells of a young woman's search for the father. Catherine Ford's NYC is part of this literary moment. NYC begins as many novels do these days, on the plane. Astrid is flying from Melbourne to New York to meet her American birth mother Carole for the first time.