Image: Antiques of the Orient
Joseph Conrad lived an adventurous life at sea in the final and glorious days of sailing ships and his favoured destination was Asia, the port of Singapore and the remote ports of the Indonesian archipelago.
Towards the end of his sailing career he began to write of his experiences of a river and a settlement in East Borneo which he described as ‘One of the last, forgotten, unknown places on earth’. His first novels Almayer’s Folly, The Outcast of the Islands, Lord Jim and The Rescue were all based on the places he had visited, the stories he had heard, and the people he had met during these voyages.
In this fascinating talk, Ian Burnet explores the life and times of Conrad, sharing the extensive research behind his latest book, Joseph Conrad’s Eastern Voyages – Tales of Singapore and an East Borneo River.
About Ian BurnetIan Burnet grew up in South Gippsland, Victoria, and graduated with a degree in Geology and Geophysics from the University of Melbourne. He first went to work in Indonesia in 1968 as a young geologist and became fascinated by the diverse cultures and rich history of the archipelago. He has spent thirty years living, working and travelling in Indonesia.
Ian is the author of six books that relate to both maritime history, the spice trade and the Indonesian archipelago. These include Spice Islands, East Indies, Archipelago, Where Australia Collides with Asia and The Tasman Map.
In his latest book, Joseph Conrad’s Eastern Voyages – Tales of Singapore and an East Borneo River, Ian tells the story of Joseph Conrad’s life at sea and how he came to meet the people and places that formed his first books – Almayer’s Folly, An Outcast of the Islands, Lord Jim and The Rescue, which are all set in what was then the Dutch East Indies and is now Indonesia.
The life of Józef Teodor Konrad Korzeniowski reads like an adventure story, an adventure story that could be written by somebody like Joseph Conrad.
Ian Burnet joins us via Zoom to explore the life and times of Joseph Conrad, sharing the extensive research behind his latest book, Joseph Conrad’s Eastern Voyages.
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SMSA (Sydney Mechanics’ School of Arts)