Description
Gumbramorra was a wetland in Marrickville and an ancient water place for the Gadigal peoples. Once it teemed with life, but in the nineteenth century it was subdivided and sold; its waters were diverted into stormwater channels, underground tunnels and pumped away. Houses and factories were built on a wetland that was turned into real estate.
Yet far from disappearing, water continues to find its way to Gumbramorra and Marrickville continues to flood. Despite being drained and built over, Gumbramorra has shaped both the land and the community in striking ways. Still, it returns to irrepressible life.
This book peels back the concrete and bitumen of the city to show how Gumbramorra has been a force to be reckoned with. It is for readers who want to find the creeks that snake behind the factories and the remnant swamp disguised as an empty place. It is for those who peer into drains and wonder at the history beneath our feet.
And every thunderstorm, the water remembers the way.
From the author of On the Margins of the Good Swamp, joint winner of the
Nature Writing Prize, 2019.
Gumbramorra: Water, Place and People
Author: Sue Castrique
Date of Publication: 2026
Place of publication: Sydney
Imprint: Local Field Notes
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