On Women and story: Carmel Bird

Carmel Bird released two books in 2010, the novel Child of the Twilight and an edited collection of personal essays on the meaning of ‘home’ called Home Truth. Three of her novels have been shortlisted for the Miles Franklin Award. Here, she writes about women and story.

On my dressing table I have a tiny statue of the black madonna from Guadalupe in Spain. She is dressed in a robe of atmosphere-sensitive chips that change colour with the weather. When it is hot she is bright turquoise, when it is cold she moves through pale yucky pink to icy-blue white. She came from the display pictured. See the little black faces?

I was in Guadalupe doing research for my novel Child of the Twilight, some of which is set in Spain, and much of which is concerned with the theft of a religious statue. In Writing Women, I will discuss the question of the black images of the Virgin Mary – as well as other things.

At Dog’s Tales, I will be telling a story. It won’t be a story about black madonnas, so just so you know, the story of the lady of Guadalupe goes like this:

In 1326 a cowherd, in response to seeing a vision of the Virgin, dug up a casket which contained a black statue of Mary. The statue had been buried six centuries earlier by knights fleeing from the Saracens. It became an object of veneration, and is believed to have been responsible for many miracles. When Columbus set out to discover the New World, he began his journey from the steps of the cathedral at Guadalupe, and placed his ships under the patronage of the Black Virgin of Guadalupe.

A great story, I think.