A new edition of Beverley Farmer's out-of-print classic A Body of Water, which in its mixing of genres essay, memoir, fiction, folk tale opened up new frontiers for Australian literature. A Body of Water was first published thirty years ago. The writing of the book takes place over a year, and portrays a complete cycle in the writer's life. It begins on her forty-sixth birthday, in a period of emotional inhibition and loneliness -- her marriage has broken down, and she is living on her own. By the end of the cycle the narrator has written short stories and poems, which are included in the book, alongside essays about the writing process, journal entries, excerpts from books she has been reading, spiritual meditations, and finely detailed observations of the life around her.

Originally published: St Lucia, Queensland : University of Queensland Press, 1990.Includes bibliographical references (pages 315-319)