Description
About this book
Soon after it opened in 1976, Al Grassby described the Addison Road Community Centre in Marrickville as ‘one small world in Australia’. Here was a remarkable multicultural experiment. A handful of determined migrant groups banded together to create their own community centre, to hold festivals, performances, share culture, language, and help each other; a refuge in an English-speaking world.
The centre is a place that has seen many transformations. Once boggy land with a creek that ran into Gumbramorra, it was transformed into a market garden, and then into an army depot that for sixty turbulent years was a focal point for war, peace and protest.
One Small World brings to life the humour, hope and purpose that have marked this place in all its years. Many people know the centre today for its vibrant markets, its street food and organic vegetables. This book reveals how a rich and fascinating history has made the Centre the special place it is today; how one small place has shaped a community and helped define Australia.
About the author
Sue Castrique is a writer and researcher who lives in Marrickville. She is the author of the prize-winning publication, Under the Colony’s Eye: Gentlemen and Convicts on Cockatoo Island, (Anchor Books, 2014). Her essay, On the Margins of the Good Swamp was joint winner of the Nature Writing prize in 2019 and published in Griffith Review.
Sue also has extensive experience in script writing and editing, particularly in historical documentaries which have been recognised with Australian Writer’s Guild awards.
Sue worked for many years from an office in one of the World War Two huts at the Addison Road Community Centre.
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