Plague Days
Foster St Surry Hills, Sydney
Words by Marjorie Lewis-Jones | Sounds by Anna Tomaszewska
‘What if we all have it?’ she shouts. ‘Won’t you be happy then, you dirty girl?’
Childhood squats in the shadow of sickness, the height of Plague Days in Sydney circa 1901.
About the Artists
MARJORIE LEWIS-JONES is an award-winning Sydney writer published by Spineless Wonders, ABC Radio National, Picaro Press, Poetry Australia, Cordite, Hunter Writers Centre, Best Australian Writing, the ACU Prize for Poetry and other anthologies. Prizes include the Carmel Bird Award, the Lane Cove Literary Award, Peter Cowan 600, Clare Writers and Hawkesbury River Writers.
ANNA TOMASEWSKA is a soundscapes and music composer and producer, and a sound designer. She loves blending electronic ideas with acoustic sounds. Some of her personal projects include ambisonic microphone building and creation of nature-focused sound packs, as well as recording and producing her own music under the name ZANNA. Fueled by a never-ending thirst for knowledge and natural curiosity, Anna firmly believes in the power of learning and exploration.
This story is part of
Imaginative Recreation Project 2023 – sharing little-known stories from Sydney’s past.
curated + presented by
SONIC CITY SYDNEY
Stories and sounds of Sydney. Sonic City Sydney is a series of audio-stories, each under five minutes in length, produced by Spineless Wonders and Echidna Audio and funded by the City of Sydney.
