First Nations Book Club at Story Lounge – God, the Devil and Me by Alf Taylor
Our First Nations Book Club is an introduction to a diverse range of texts by First Nations authors. Through an informal conversation we discuss each text, explore its themes, and celebrate First Nations stories and storytellers. Everyone is welcome to attend this safe space. This session will be facilitated by Luisa Mitchell, a storyteller descended from the Whadjuk Balardong Nyungar people, and the selected text is God, the Devil and Me by Alf Taylor.
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In this unique and highly entertaining autobiography, Alf Taylor chronicles his life growing up in the infamous New Norcia Mission, north of Perth in the fifties and sixties. At once darkly humorous and achingly tragic, God, the Devil and Me tells of the life and desperation of the young children forced into the care of the Spanish Nuns and Brothers who ran the Mission. Their lives made up of varying degrees of cruelty and punishments, these children were the ‘little black devils’ that God and religion forgot. Written with an acerbic and brutal wit, Alf intersperses dark childhood memories with a Monty Pythonesque retelling of the Bible, in which Peter is an alcoholic and Judas is a good guy. As a child, underfed, poorly clothed and missing his family, Alf sought refuge in the library in the company of Shakespeare and Michelangelo. He writes with joy about the camaraderie of the boys, their love of sport and their own company, but also notes that many descended into despair upon leaving. Most died early. Alf Taylor is one of the ‘lucky ones’.