Melbourne Writers Festival – Day 6 By the Book

There can be a lot of sitting and listening to people talking about books at Writers Festivals. Until - three years ago they came up with a new revolutionary idea - walking and listening to people talk about books!

Fiona Sweetman from Hidden Secret Tours leads Melbourne by the Book, a tour of the ins and outs of Melbourne’s laneways with an emphasis on the city’s literary culture and the history that made Melbourne a UNESCO City of Literature.

Today, it rained, quite a lot which wasn’t an auspicious beginning for a walking tour. But this didn’t seem to deter anyone as we headed out from Fed Square’s Visitor’s Centre and down Flinders Street. Fiona was easy to follow wearing a fabulous skirt from by Hook Turn Industries that is printed with a night scene of Melbourne.

‘I think one of the things you want from a walking tour is to be taken to places you wouldn’t ordinarily go,’ says Sweetman as we make our way over the road and plunge down on of the subway entrances.

And this is the case, as one of our company admits she wouldn’t have dared go down the stairway alone. The subway to Campbell Arcade was built in the 1950s and is one of several that burrow from the railway station under Flinders Street and up the other side. It was also the location for several scenes in the famous 1959 film ‘On the Beach’ with Gregory Peck and Ava Gardner, which is fun to think about.

Below of course, is the famous Sticky Institute, which has opened early today especially to let us have a poke around. There is much appreciative ‘ooohing’ and ‘isnt’ that amazing’ from our group, especially when Sweetman unravels ‘graffendalas of melbourne’ a titchy high-quality accordion-folded photo zine by ‘made with joy’. Most of the ladies on the tour (our only man is Paul, the Festival volunteer) had never heard of zines or Sticky before, so it’s already a tour revealing secrets.

These are small group tours, so there are only eight of us. This is a big bonus, as the tour can take its time, participants can hear what’s being said and ask questions.

We weave our way through alleys and darkened lanes featuring Laneway Project installations, into shops and down stairwells with Fiona stopping us regularly to point out architecture and history such as the original homes of Melbourne’s Age and Herald newspapers, and to talk about Melbourne personalities and entrepreneurs like EW Cole. The irony that Fiona has mild dyslexia certainly isn’t lost on her. But it’s no hindrance. She’s a bubbly and enthusiastic tour guide.

Around half way through the tour we stop at the Athenaeum Library. The Athenaeum was originally the Mechanics Institute established in 1839 and is full of wonderful vintage features. The library smells thickly warm and rich like a dried, preserved forest. The floors squeak and crack under your footfalls and the shelves are scored from generations of readers sliding books. A ladies’ bookclub is vigorously discussing this month’s read as we creep around. It’s a perfect secret retreat from the bustle of the city.

Further along we stop at the corner of Russell and Collins Street, a crucial location in Melbourne’s most famous early mystery-novel, Murder in a Handsome Cab (1886) by Fergus Hume. All four corners of this intersection have the original buildings, including Scot’s Church and St Michaels, making it a great spot to imagine that historic setting.

It’s a shame there’s not more made of Melbourne landmarks featured in various fictional works, the exploits of Murray Whelan and Phryne Fisher come to mind. However, this is a tour focussed on the literary nuts and bolts, the industry and culture, rather than the fictitious. Just as it’s about having a pleasant introduction to Melbourne’s ‘secrets’, rather than being an academic tour.

We continue up Collins and thread through to Bourke, ending up at the wonderful Hill of Content bookstore before having coffee and cake at nearby cafe. Normally the tour would take a slightly different path to the State Library but the rain has slightly altered our route.

Everyone on the tour seemed to agree that the sights we visited were places you just wouldn’t look at if someone didn’t point them out to you. And though you might research and look into the history yourself, the tour’s provides a valuable synthesis. It was two hours well spent, getting to know the city in a different way, and showing us many new places to go back to and enjoy.

For more information about the City of Literature go to www.arts.vic.gov.au
For Melbourne by the Book see www.melbournebythebook.com

See the Melbourne Writers Festival for more information on Walks