Tony Birch's "Dark as Last Night" teachers' review

Brief description and distinctive features

Dark as Last Night is written by the esteemed and engaging First Nations writer, Tony Birch who has a wonderful capacity to explore the everyday, the ordinary and those little moments in life which define our humanity. These stories use ordinary people, some are certainly marginalised and many have not had positive experiences in their lives but always there is some connection with the people and those around them. Some stories are dark and difficult but always there is a sense of hope. There is a compelling realism in Birch’s writing and this collection will not only make for engaging reading for your students but will give them some ideas to craft their own short stories. 

This collection would be well suited to Advanced and Standard Reading to write and Standard Close study of literature. In Reading to write the focus is not just on ‘intensive and close reading of quality texts’ but on how such texts can help our students compose their own texts. Dark as Last Night offers many examples of ideas, conventions and stylistic features which could be an inspiration for students writing their own short narratives. The stories could also provide insight to a different world than their own which could then be explored through the discursive style. 

A possible focus could be Australian Voices: Now and Then and Dark as Last Night could be the core text and other short fiction, poetry and film could be considered including The Taste of River Water (poetry) by Cate Kennedy, The Boy Behind the Curtain (nonfiction essays) by Tim Winton, stories by Nam Le and a selection of poetry which is not on the HSC by Bruce Dawe, Robert Gray, Judith Wright. The ‘Growing Up’ series could be excellent here especially Growing up in Australia and Growing up in Rural Australia. Films could include The Sapphires, Top End Wedding, Bran Nue Dae, The Castle, Red Dog, Priscilla and Queen of the Desert. Other short stories from different countries and times could also be considered including stories by Roald Dahl, Edgar Allan Poe, Ray Bradbury and Jack London.

‘Close Study’ for Standard could also be explored through Dark as Last Night where the conventions of short fiction could be closely analysed through a range of stories from the collection.

Dark as Last Night has a verisimilitude which is possibly shaped by Birch’s own childhood experiences growing up in inner-city Fitzroy, Melbourne in the 1960s. His parents worked hard but the family lived in impoverished conditions and recollections of the men in his life are not positive. The working-class suburb was a melting pot of different cultures, which gave the young Birch a ‘natural appreciation for people from different backgrounds.’

He also saw the grim elements of local life: poverty, poor access to education, racism and meeting challenges with violence. Some of his stories have a specific focus on Aboriginal ‘lived experiences’ but not all so there is a universality about his insights about those who live on the margins of society and at times, struggle to fit in. 

Tony Birch is often interviewed on ABC radio and an ABC article ‘Award-winning author Tony Birch reveals what ignited his passion for stories about human connection’ provides some fascinating insight to Tony growing up as a ‘Fitzroy Blak’ in the 1960s.

In October the Sydney Morning Herald included a Q&A on Tony Birch where Benjamin Law asks public figures to discuss a range of topics.

Another longer article can be found in the Sydney Morning Herald  ‘Good Weekend’ (July 22 2023) which provides more detail on Tony’s unhappy school days. In this article he discusses how two interests saved him: reading and long-distance running:

Any opportunity to return to education would not have been possible without the aid of two regulated habits of mine: reading and long-distance running. Whatever else I failed at during my school years, I was a voracious reader, obtaining my first public library card at the age of five. I read storybooks, followed by novels, and was never without a book beside my bed, in my schoolbag, or in my hands when riding the train to and from school. After leaving school, my reading habit widened to works of non-fiction, mostly political titles, and quality daily newspapers.

Synopsis of Dark as Last Night

There are 16 stories in the collection and I would recommend these for Stage 6:

‘Dark as Last Night,’ ‘Bobby Moses,’ ‘Bicycle Thieves,’ ‘Starman,’ ‘The Librarian,’ ‘Animal Welfare,’ ‘Flight,’ ‘Lemonade’ and ‘Riding Trains with Thelma Plum.’

‘Dark as Last Night’ is the titular story and the longest in the collection. It is told from a child's perspective as she tries to protect her mother from an abusive father. ‘Bobby Moses’ is a touching and sensitive story where we witness an Aboriginal man returning to his people’s Country, and the suspicion with which he and the colonial residents of the land regard each other. ‘Bicycle Thieves’ appears to be a moving story about brothers and bikes but reveals a darker undercurrent. In ‘Afterlife’ we join a brother and a sister in clearing out their deceased older brother’s flat, while learning of his importance to his community. In ‘Starman’ we follow two teenagers and their clumsy first attempts at romance and see how it doesn’t take much more than a shared interest in music to establish a strong connection. The musical references are fun. ‘The Librarian’ is an endearing tribute to teachers, reading and libraries and resonates with Tony Birch’s own childhood of libraries being a haven for him. ‘Animal Welfare’ is quirky and reminiscent of Roald Dahl as it explores some strange characters. ‘Flight’ is a beautifully-crafted story about the challenges of so many families and how sometimes humans can be desperately cruel. ‘Lemonade’ is a moving story about love, loss, devotion, families and confronting truths. ‘Riding Trains with Thelma Plum’ is a story set during the pandemic, which deals with themes of race, music, joy, and fear and offers an excellent model for student writing using a journey. 

Distinctive features of Dark as Last Night

• The stories provide excellent models for exploring the short story as a literary form and for writing their own narratives in this form
• The stories reinforce to students to tap into their own lives for ideas and content
• Some stories are dark and unsettling, others are humorous and hopeful. Families and community are there despite the grimness of others’ lives 
• Families and their idiosyncrasies feature in several stories
• Stories are set in a wide range of locations- across Australian neighbourhoods, the outback, and inside homes both welcoming and others in conflict
• Authentic texts to deliver these two content points re First Nations Authors:
  • how Country/Place, Community and lived experiences shape the perspectives of Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander Storytellers and audiences
  • how Storytelling, Aboriginal Languages and Aboriginal English are expressions of Culture, identity and Customary practices

Ways to use Dark as Last Night in the classroom

I recommend starting with ‘Riding Trains with Thelma Plum’ or ‘Flight’ or ‘Lemonade’ as they are shorter than the opening story and their brevity builds confidence and competence. 

The short story form

Reacquaint students with the short story as a specific literary form which share features of its more sustained cousin, the novel, but has features to suit the brevity and compression which characterises a short story.

The short story is a popular form and often preferred by many readers. 

The distinctive features of a short story are:

• They are short
• They tend to have a single focus
• They have few characters
• They often have a surprise ending 

This accessible and popular literary form has several key features: 

• Narrative which is intended to be read in one sitting unlike a novel which may be read over days or weeks
• The short story captures its narrative features in a compressed entity 
• Unity of time and place is a feature: it is unlikely that the short story will cover a wide timeframe or occur in many different locations 
• The structure might start in media res with little backstory 
• The short story usually finishes at the high point of action and leaves the story there: generally there is no epilogue as to what happens with the characters or beyond the story.
• Sometimes the ending can leave the reader a little quizzical about what has happened.
• Like a novel, the short story writer will choose stylistic devices to suit their purpose and subject matter
• Choice of the narrative voice will mainly be the first person or the third person. First person will sometimes contribute to the story’s realism and is often creates an immediacy, intimacy and personalises the relationship between the narrator and the reader. The reader often feels closer to the speaker when the first person is used. The third person narrative is also called ‘omniscient’ which comes from the Latin meaning ‘all knowing’- and this narrator is everywhere and can provide information about everyone in the story but is often more limited in its ability to provide personal insights about specific characters.
• The number of characters is usually one, two or three as there is little time or space to develop many more and in a short space it can become confusing if there are too many characters. 
• The title may be unusual or a little quirky but it will to be part of the story. It may not be clear in its relevance until the end and may even be ironic.
• The short story often opens with a short sentence that immediately draws the reader into the story.

In responding to a short story from Dark as last Night there are some options for you to give students:

1. Some story-specific questions to build student understanding of key features of the narrative and the style 

OR

2. A set of general questions like these:

• What is the story’s title and how relevant is it to the content or ideas of the story? At what point does the title have clarity? 
• Where is the story set and how does this contribute to the ideas and themes of the story?
• How many characters and how are they delineated?
• Structurally where does the complication occur?
• Is the ending effective in resolving the key ideas or does it leave some ambiguities for the reader?
• In what ways has the writer used specific stylistic devices or language choice to create interest, humour, thematic links and in the case of Tony Birch, compelling realism? 

OR

3. A table format where students complete details from their stories:

As well as the generic questions for each story consider these which are specific to some stories. 

‘Flight.’

• The title is important as a metaphor and as a key idea in the story. How effective is ‘flight’ as a title for this story? 
• What is the benefit of the third person narrative in this story? For example, consider comments like: ‘Nish who cared for his younger brother with a blend of tenderness and hell.’ The portrait of Nish (p.171) changes on the next page when Nish sees the butterfly kite. How does Birch build the relationship between Nish and the old man?
• Birch often includes specific details of what the people are wearing (see p. 173 and the details of the old man’s clothes). Where else does he add this specific detail in ‘Flight’?
• What did you think of the ending? 
• Own writing: Open a paragraph with ‘Saturday mornings were different.’ In about 300-400 words capture the features of your real or imagined Saturday morning.

‘Lemonade’ 

This is a very moving and beautiful story about love, loss, siblings, family, self and the kindness of strangers. 

• How does the first-person narrative shape the story? 
• In what ways does this comment contribute to the ideas of this story: ‘I looked into the face of a total stranger and felt safe for the first time since my brother’s death.’ P. 209. 
• What are the various meanings of the title ‘Lemonade’?

‘Riding Trains with Thelma Plum’ 

• This story uses the immediate post-Covid context and suburban Sydney for its time and place. Conduct a class discussion about memories of Covid and its impact on your students’ lives. This story captures some Covid details as well as some colourful characters on the train to Redfern. The story is an excellent model for students’ own writing as it has a very specific and tight timeframe: a train journey from Penrith to Redfern
• Which character most engages you from this story?
• Write you own story of about 600-800 words which takes place on a journey for example, bus, train, plane from and to a specific place. Include 2-3 people you observe on this journey. Incorporate some specific details of the journey.

‘The Librarian’

This story is both moving and engaging. The opening sentence immediately sets the scene: ‘The New School Year.’ The first two pages establish the era when Get Smart and Bandstand was on the television and Don McLean’s American Pie was a popular song. Spider Miller is a character many of us may have encountered as students or teachers. 

• What makes Spider so appealing? 
• The story moves to the importance of teachers in our lives and for me, this makes this story so important. We would all like to think we can make a difference. In what ways has Birch developed the character of Miss Costa? Cite specific textual references that builds this characterisation. 
• Students’ own writing: Stories set in schools always appeal to us; school is probably one of the few common denominators for everyone. My nephews used to implore me to share stories about my 10E8 class of recalcitrant boys. Totally different lessons from my Year 12 Advanced class, ‘The Boys’ affirmed my job was more than sharing Shakespeare and Steinbeck. Most of my 10E8 stories were R-rated hence my nephews’ delight but they were always true. 
• Open a story of about 500 -800 words with ‘The New School Year.’ The purpose is to create a story which has specific textual detail of time and place and also incorporates some humour. Something must happen- consider if that will be at the beginning or the end of the story.

‘Dark as Last Night’ 

• In what ways does the title capture key ideas of the story? 
• What hints does Birch give us about the time of the story’s setting? 
• On p.19 Little Red says:
  And what is wrong with sad stories? The world is always sad. This world, you must be ready for it, brave girl. You must understand that,’ she said, kindly.
  To what extent does this comment capture the impact of this story?

Final task: Following close reading and analysis of at least six stories, students are to respond to this task 

        Birch succeeds in making the unremarkable remarkable, in showing that all lives have their victories, no matter how small. The Australian

The endorsement above appears on the back cover of the UQP edition of Dark as Last Night. With close reference to three stories from the collection discuss to what extent this applies to the stories you have chosen. 

Reviews of Dark as Last Night

Academics, writers and journalists will often write reviews of newly-published books. The purpose of a book review is to make some judgments about the book, provide a concise summary of its content alongside a personal evaluation to help potential readers decide whether to read it. 

Student task: Search online for two reviews which most resonate with your own reading of Dark as Last Night. Give reasons for your choice. Add another comment from the reviews which captures the power of these stories. 

Use the list below as a starting point for your search. 

• ‘Tony Birch’s short stories are precious gems. Written in a deceptively simple prose, the pages of Dark as Last Night capture the humanity, courage and humour of characters in the midst of life’. The Guardian
• ‘Birch’s clear eye for detail, as well as for darkness and quirk of character, shines through at every turn’. Books+Publishing
• ‘Dark as Last Night is a reminder of the lives that can be shared through the short story, and what a punch they pack when written well. In this stunning, timely collection Birch brings a softness to real and fictional spaces that is sorely needed right now.’ Readings
• ‘They are stories that stay with us: powerful evocations of how the past bears down on the present’. Australian Book Review
• ‘This collection sings with poetic brevity. Birch writes with enthralling crisp prose, each short story dancing in the mind akin to a flashback’. Kill Your Darlings
• ‘Common throughout is a sense of the author’s honesty, decency and commitment to the rigours of his craft’. The Saturday Paper
• ‘There are so many things to take away from Dark as Last Night ... Birch's skill in bringing a place and its people to life is second to none. These vignettes shine a light on the ordinary, highlighting the brief moments which define us’. The AU Review
• ‘Tony Birch tells incredibly important stories incredibly well and Dark As Last Night is both antidote and a lullaby in pandemic times’. Sydney Review of Books
• ‘Birch's version of realism gives voice to those who don't have much and shows beauty where an outside observer might find it lacking.’ ArtsHub
• ‘Australia’s greatest short story writer. Birch is more at home with his material than any other modern writer I know’. Alex Miller for The Age

Access this review on the Australia Book Review site and read what it says about the influences on Birch’s writing:

As part of a wide reading quest, students could choose a book from the list below to further their interest and understanding of the power of texts authored by Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander Peoples.

Relevant details in relation to the new NSW English Stage 6 syllabus

Text requirements: Dark as Last Night meets Stage 6 text requirements for prose fiction, Australian author, a range of texts authored by Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander Peoples.
Find supporting resources in our Year 11 texts and study guides at Five Senses Education.

Relevant NSW English 11-12 Syllabus content

Across Stage 6, the study of a range of texts authored by Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander Peoples should consider:

1. the artistic and Cultural value of these texts, including ideas, arguments and representations of identity, histories and Cultures
2. how Country/Place, Community and lived experiences shape the perspectives of Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander Storytellers and audiences
3. ethical responsibilities surrounding Indigenous Cultural and Intellectual Property (ICIP) in the production of texts
4. how Storytelling, Aboriginal Languages and Aboriginal English are expressions of Culture, identity and Customary practices
5. how the modes of these texts may recognise and contribute to Cultural conventions or practices of oral Storytelling
6. how Cultural symbolism, imagery, allusion and irony are used to shape meaning
7. how personal values and perspectives are broadened and reconsidered through engagement with these texts
8. texts that originate from a range of diverse Communities.

(English Standard 11-12 Syllabus 2024, English Advanced 11-12 Syllabus 2024 © NSW Education Standards Authority for and on behalf of the Crown in right of the State of New South Wales, 2023) 

Connecting texts