Robyn Davidson
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Robyn Davidson is an Australian writer best known for her 1980 book ''Tracks'', about her 2,700 km (1,700 miles) trek across the deserts of
Western Australia Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...
using camels. Her career of travelling and writing about her travels has spanned 40 years. Her memoir, ''Unfinished Woman'' was published in late 2023.


Early life and education

Robyn Davidson was born at Stanley Park, a cattle station in
Miles, Queensland Miles is a rural town and Suburbs and localities (Australia), locality in the Western Downs Region, Queensland, Australia. In the , the locality of Miles had a population of 1,874 people. Geography The town is on the Warrego Highway, west of ...
, the second of two girls. When she was 11 years old, her mother took her own life, and she was raised largely by her unmarried aunt (her father's sister), Gillian, and attended a girls' boarding school in
Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...
. She received a music scholarship but did not take it up. In Brisbane, Davidson shared a house with biologists and studied zoology. In 1968, aged 18, she went to Sydney and later lived a bohemian life in a
Sydney Push The Sydney Push was an intellectual subculture in Sydney from the late 1940s to the early 1970s. Its politics were predominantly left-wing libertarianism. The Push operated in a pub culture and included university students, academics, manual w ...
household at
Paddington Paddington is an area in the City of Westminster, in central London, England. A medieval parish then a metropolitan borough of the County of London, it was integrated with Westminster and Greater London in 1965. Paddington station, designed b ...
, while working as a card-dealer at an illegal gambling house. In 1975, Davidson moved to
Alice Springs Alice Springs () is a town in the Northern Territory, Australia; it is the third-largest settlement after Darwin, Northern Territory, Darwin and Palmerston, Northern Territory, Palmerston. The name Alice Springs was given by surveyor William ...
, in an effort to work with camels for a desert trek she was planning. For two years, she trained camels and learned how to survive in the harsh desert. In her final year in Alice Springs she was assisted by Sallay Mahomet, who provided her with the required camels. Davidson said later that she would often recall Mahomet's advice and warnings, especially when faced with the ferocity of in-season wild camels eyeing her herd. Mahomet also provided her with two camels, Kate and Zeleika; Kate would not go on the upcoming journey due to a serious skin infection, which Davidson attempted to nurse for several months. During this period she was peripherally involved in the Aboriginal land rights movement.


''Tracks''

In 1977, Davidson set off for Australia's west coast from
Alice Springs Alice Springs () is a town in the Northern Territory, Australia; it is the third-largest settlement after Darwin, Northern Territory, Darwin and Palmerston, Northern Territory, Palmerston. The name Alice Springs was given by surveyor William ...
, with her dog Diggitty and four camels: Dookie (a large male), Bub (a smaller male), Zeleika (a wild female), and Goliath (Zeleika's offspring). She had no intention of writing about the journey, but eventually agreed to write an article for the magazine ''
National Geographic ''National Geographic'' (formerly ''The National Geographic Magazine'', sometimes branded as ''Nat Geo'') is an American monthly magazine published by National Geographic Partners. The magazine was founded in 1888 as a scholarly journal, nine ...
''. Having met the photographer
Rick Smolan Rick Smolan (born November 5, 1949) is a former ''Time'', ''Life'', and ''National Geographic'' photographer best known as the co-creator of the ''Day in the Life'' book series. He is currently CEO of Against All Odds Productions, a cross-medi ...
in Alice Springs, she insisted that he be the photographer for the journey. Smolan, with whom she had an "on-again off-again" romantic relationship during the trip, drove out to meet her three times during the nine-month journey. The ''National Geographic'' article was published in 1978 and attracted so much interest that Davidson decided to write a book about the experience. She travelled to London and lived with
Doris Lessing Doris May Lessing ( Tayler; 22 October 1919 – 17 November 2013) was a British novelist. She was born to British parents in Qajar Iran, Persia, where she lived until 1925. Her family then moved to Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe), where ...
while writing ''Tracks''. ''Tracks'' won the inaugural Thomas Cook Travel Book Award in 1980, and the Blind Society Award. In 1992 Smolan published his pictures of the trip in the book ''From Alice to Ocean''. It included the first interactive story-and-photo CD made for the general public. It has been suggested that one of the reasons ''Tracks'' was so popular, particularly with women, is that Davidson "places herself in the wilderness of her own accord, rather than as an adjunct to a man". Her desert journey is remembered by
Aboriginal Australians Aboriginal Australians are the various indigenous peoples of the Mainland Australia, Australian mainland and many of its islands, excluding the ethnically distinct people of the Torres Strait Islands. Humans first migrated to Australia (co ...
she encountered along the way. Artist Jean Burke remembers Robyn in a painting called ''The Camel Lady'', which was produced in 2011 for a Warakurna Artists' exhibition in Darwin. Burke's father Mr Eddie, a Pitjantjatjara man, had trekked through
Ngaanyatjarra The Ngaanyatjarra, also known (along with the Pini) as the Nana, are an Indigenous Australian cultural group of Western Australia. They are located in the Goldfields-Esperance region, as well as Northern Territory. Language Ngaanyatjarra is ...
lands with Davidson, guiding her to water sources along the way. Mr Eddie originally planned to accompany Davidson for a short period, a few days, between Docker River and
Pipalyatjara Pipalyatjara (formerly Mount Davies) is an Aboriginal community in the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara Lands in South Australia, comprising one of the six main communities on "The Lands" (the others being Amata, Pukatja, Kaltjiti, Indu ...
to help her respectfully bypass
sacred sites A sacred space, sacred ground, sacred place, sacred temple, holy ground, holy place or holy site is a location which is regarded to be sacred or hallowed. The sacredness of a natural feature may accrue through tradition or be granted through a ...
; however he ultimately accompanied her to Warburton. Being accompanied by Mr Eddie results in Davidson's timeline for completion of the trek having to be altered. She says of this: After their arrival in Warburton Davidson and Mr Eddie part company and Mr Eddie suggests that another older Aboriginal man accompany her on the next leg of the journey as the next sections will be difficult. Davidson decided that she wanted to do it on her own.


Film adaptation

2013 saw the release of a film adaptation of Davidson's book, also called '' Tracks'', directed by John Curran and starring
Mia Wasikowska Mia Wasikowska ( ; born 25 October 1989) is an Australian actress. She made her screen debut on the Australian television drama '' All Saints'' in 2004, followed by her feature film debut in '' Suburban Mayhem'' (2006). She first became known t ...
. It made its debut at the
Venice Film Festival The Venice Film Festival or Venice International Film Festival (, "International Exhibition of Cinematographic Art of the Venice Biennale") is an annual film festival held in Venice, Italy. It is the world's oldest film festival and one of the ...
.


Nomads

The majority of Davidson's work has been travelling with and studying
nomadic Nomads are communities without fixed habitation who regularly move to and from areas. Such groups include hunter-gatherers, pastoral nomads (owning livestock), tinkers and trader nomads. In the twentieth century, the population of nomadic pa ...
peoples. In ''
The Age ''The Age'' is a daily newspaper in Melbourne, Australia, that has been published since 1854. Owned and published by Nine Entertainment, ''The Age'' primarily serves Victoria (Australia), Victoria, but copies also sell in Tasmania, the Austral ...
'' newspaper, Jane Sullivan wrote that, "while she is often called a social anthropologist", she had no academic qualifications and said that she was "completely self-taught". Davidson's experiences with nomads included travelling on migration with nomads in India from 1990 to 1992. Those experiences were published in ''Desert Places''. She has studied different forms of the nomad lifestyle — including those in Australia, India, and Tibet — for a book and a documentary series. Her writing on nomads is based mainly on personal experience, and she brings many of her thoughts together in ''No Fixed Address'', her contribution to the ''
Quarterly Essay ''Quarterly Essay'', founded in 2001, is an Australian periodical published by Black Inc., concentrating primarily on Australian politics in a broad sense. Printed in a book-like page size and using a single-column format, each issue features a ...
'' series. Sullivan wrote about that work:
One of the questions we need to ask, if we are to have a future, she says, is "Where did we cause less damage to ourselves, to our environment, and to our animal kin?" One answer is: when we were nomadic. "It is when we settled that we became strangers in a strange land, and wandering took on the quality of banishment," she writes, and then later adds: "I shall probably be accused of romanticism".


Awards

Davidson was awarded the Medal of the
Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an Australian honours and awards system, Australian honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Monarch ...
(OAM) in the King's Birthday Honours List in June 2024.


In popular culture

Davidson is the subject of a song written by Irish folk singer and songwriter Mick Hanly. The song, "Crusader", was recorded by
Mary Black Mary Black (born 23 May 1955) is an Irish folk singer. She is well known as an interpreter of both traditional folk and modern material which has made her a major recording artist in her native Ireland. Background Mary Black was born into a m ...
on her 198
self-titled album
In 2024 Davidson was interviewed by Indira Naidoo fo
episode 9
of the 38th series of '' Compass'' on ABCTV


Personal life

For three years in the 1980s she was in a relationship with the Indian novelist,
Salman Rushdie Sir Ahmed Salman Rushdie ( ; born 19 June 1947) is an Indian-born British and American novelist. His work often combines magic realism with historical fiction and primarily deals with connections, disruptions, and migrations between Eastern wor ...
, to whom she was introduced by their mutual friend,
Bruce Chatwin Charles Bruce Chatwin (13 May 194018 January 1989) was an English travel writer, novelist and journalist. His first book, ''In Patagonia'' (1977), established Chatwin as a travel writer, although he considered himself instead a storytelling, s ...
. Davidson has moved frequently, and has had homes in Sydney,
London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
, and India. In 2014 she was living in Castlemaine, Victoria, Australia.


Bibliography

* * * * * * * * * ;Screenplays * ''Mail Order Bride'' (1987 feature film for
Australian Broadcasting Corporation The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) is Australia’s principal public service broadcaster. It is funded primarily by grants from the federal government and is administered by a government-appointed board of directors. The ABC is ...
)


References


Sources

*


External links


No Fixed Address
– transcript of a talk by Davidson in December 2006 on ''Perspective'' program, ABC
Radio National ABC Radio National, more commonly known as Radio National or simply RN, is an Australian nationwide public service radio network run by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC). From 1947 until 1985, the network was known as ABC Radio 2. ...

Robyn Davidson in conversation
MP3 MP3 (formally MPEG-1 Audio Layer III or MPEG-2 Audio Layer III) is a coding format for digital audio developed largely by the Fraunhofer Society in Germany under the lead of Karlheinz Brandenburg. It was designed to greatly reduce the amount ...
download of conversation with
Richard Fidler Richard Fidler is an Australian radio presenter and writer. He hosts an hour-long interview program, '' Conversations with Richard Fidler'' on ABC's Radio National, and was a member of the Australian comedy group the Doug Anthony All Stars. '' ...
ABC Local Radio ABC Local Radio is a network of publicly owned radio stations in Australia, operated by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. ABC Local Radio stations broadcast across the continent using terrestrial transmitters and satellites. Its programm ...
6 December 2006
''Nomadic cultures, journeys and coming home'', Robyn Davidson joins desert archaeologist Mike Smith for a discussion about her travels in Australia, India, China and Tibet, National Museum of Australia, Historical Interpretation series, 16 September 2007
* Robyn Davidson a

1 September 2008. * Participation a
Germaine's Legacy – After ''The Female Eunuch''
– session at Adelaide Writers' Week, April 2008
"Robyn Davidson reflects on 40 years since 'Tracks'"
- talk with Hilary Harper on ABC Radio National "Life Matters" in March 2018. * {{DEFAULTSORT:Davidson, Robyn Living people Australian explorers Australian travel writers Recipients of the Medal of the Order of Australia Explorers of Australia Female explorers Granta people Australian women travel writers Year of birth missing (living people)