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| Jo Langdon, Gunyah lounge room |
We arrived at Gunyah before dusk on the first day to bursts of wattle in the garden, and followed what my daughter Ada, 4, soon called the ‘crocodile rocks’: the stone steps to the jetty with its rock pools and perilous oyster shells. The space was immediately captivating and extraordinary—especially coming from a 2-bedroom apartment and Victoria’s cold June—with its pole structure and spaciousness, loft bedroom, exposed beams and cosy living room. (I especially enjoyed the warm shine of the floorboards and bright teal couch and window seat cushions—the main rooms glowed both in sunlight and firelight.)
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| Jo Langdon, Ada and the Gunyah window seat |
Gunyah offered the impossible gifts of time and space, and new perspectives. The house has many ideal work positions, from the kitchen/dining table to the window seat and the downstairs studio desk, all of which offer views to the water through eucalypts. However, the steady days of sunshine made it hard to resist the deck outside, from where we glimpsed dolphins passing through the cove as well as kookaburras, king parrots, and at the jetty a very friendly white duck… before lighting the fireplace by late afternoon.
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| Jo Langdon, Ada and the duck at Gunyah |
From the house and on daily walks we watched the water in the cove change colour across the day, moving from a vivid sky blue to deep jade green to silver. Exploring North Arm Cove we encountered a wallaby, friendly border collie ‘stick dogs’ at the nearest public/shared beach, and endless ingredients for Ada to mix into witch potions and spells.
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| Jo Langdon, Dolphin sighting Gunyah jetty |
I’m deeply grateful to Kath Fries and Sylvia Griffin, this year’s application judges, and to the rest of the Gunyah committee and community. This residency offered such a generous setting, and made it possible to undertake a residency flexibly, as a family with a young child—a factor which can often preclude artist and writer parents/caregivers from residency opportunities. During our stay I worked on existing sections of my poetry manuscript, revisited source texts—particularly on the artist Alina Szapocznikow—and drafted new poems, but I’m also excited to see how generative the experiences of Gunyah might be in translating into future works.
Gunyah residency report, June 2023
Jo Langdon (with Cameron Lowe and Ada Langdon-Lowe)
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| Jo Langdon, Gunyah jetty |
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