Glass Canoe

Synopsis

The Glass Canoe (1976) is the pub where the male workers aggressively shelter from their wives, their lives and their work. It is both a graphic illustration of the alienation of labour under modern industrial capitalism and an insight into the suburbs that surround Australian cities. It's funny; it's tragic; it's real.David Ireland was born at Lakemba, NSW, in 1927. After finishing school, he spent much of his working life in an oil refinery. His first novel, The Chantic Bird, was published in 1968. In 1981, he was made AO in 1981 and in 1985 awarded the Gold Medal of the Australian Literature Society. David has been winner of Miles Franklin Literary Award for: A Woman of the Future in 1979; The Glass Canoe in 1976; and The Unknown Industrial Prisoner in 1971.