The Age Review of 'The Thirsty Flowers'

‘Rhyme and Reason’
Jason Steger,
Bookmarks,
The Age, 30/9/06

ONE SUNDAY NIGHT ON the festival club stage at last month's Age Melbourne Writers' Festival, Tony Wilson unveiled his latest creation, The Thirsty Flowers. No, not a band but a hilarious rhyming children's book with illustrations by Julie Knoblock, reminiscent of Dr Seuss and full of Wilson's idiosyncratic humour. He read the whole book - how many authors can read their whole book at a festival reading? - and it went down a treat.

Although the book is published only this weekend (by Hardie Grant Egmont), it is actually the first book he wrote. Mind you, it had little joy with the publishers when he first sent it round.

"I got rejections from everyone," he says, "but two or three suggested meetings." That led to his first picture book, Grannysaurus Rex, being published in 2004. "It was the standard Aussie picture book in terms of success."

But the illustrator, David Cornish, went on to win a $1 million advance for his own fantasy series, Blood Monster Tattoo.

"Keep your eye on Julie Knoblock," Wilson says. "It would be good if I could catch the wave." But he does have something looming. Next month Geoff Slattery Publishing will unleash Australia United on the reading public, an account of Wilson's adventures in Germany during this year's World Cup finals. (Favourite moment for Wilson? Spotting some Australian fans laying out a blow-up kangaroo and using an Australian flag as a mock shroud in a heartfelt death scene following Australia's defeat by Italy.) And his mind is turning to another satire about the sports world along the lines of his novel Players.