Lines to the Horizon

by Sam Carmody, Sally Breen, Jake Sandtner

From Gold Coast surf culture to the life and death relationships of humans to the sea; from surf travel in Mexico to Taj Burrow’s final campaign in Fiji, this collection features six authors writing about surf, and the ocean, in six very different ways. Their stories are reverential, energetic and mystical and between them cover thousands of kilometres of coastline, at home and away.

Genres: Nonfiction, Australia

240 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 2021

About the author

Sam Carmody is a writer and award-winning musician from the mid-west town of Geraldton on the central coast of Western Australia. He is also a previous recipient of the Mary Grant Bruce Award as part of the Fellowship of Australian Writers (FAW) National Literary Awards and his short fiction and non-fiction have been published widely online and in print.

Carmody's first novel, The Windy Season, was shortlisted for the 2014 Australian/Vogel's literary Award. He is currently living in Darwin on Australia's Northern Territory coast lecturing in creative writing at the Batchelor Institute of Indigenous Higher Education.

Reviews

[L Phillip Lucas · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've spent the last ten mornings in bed with some of Australia's finest writers, thinkers and lovers of all things thalassic.

Lines to the Horizon is a thoughtful meditation on our multifarious relationships with the sea, almost kaleidoscopic in the shifting perspectives of its six contributors. Awash in insights from research and theory like Ashcroft and Serong; references to legends of the surf like Occy, Slater, Burrows and Fanning; and invocations of mythic maritime masters like Melville, Winton and Homer; it's jam-packed with the tall (yet true) tales and colourful characters that come hand-in-hand with life on the coast. Monster waves and near-death encounters and those who can't resist them, the lines and laws crossed in search of the perfect set, the treacherous saga of the Solo Globe Challenger, grievous wounds healed by immersion in the earth, the highs and lows of competition.

Like the waves they so closely survey, there are certainly peaks and troughs among the pieces in this collection – but they will vary from reader to reader depending on how general or specific the interest in the subject matter. To risk a marketing cliche for creative nonfiction collections like this, Lines to the Horizon has 'something for everyone': surf travel memoir, athlete and artist biographies, autobiographical 'surf culture manifesto', interview-informed and personal essays, and narrativised biography.

Depending on your own relationship with the ocean and how much you've interrogated it, you may emerge from Lines to the Horizon feeling a striking kinship with your fellow devotees or a newfound respect for its place in our culture. Surfing, sailing, swimming, diving, coast living, and all the practices that support them – these rites and rituals take everything that makes us human and pitch it directly into the sublime. It's a potent mix of passion, awe, adrenaline, skill, respect, power, beauty and danger that we can't help but make profound, spiritual, meaningful. It's poiesis. It's alchemy. And books like Lines to the Horizon are its ineluctable product. Unsurprisingly, I can't put it better than Australia's literary thalassophile-in-chief himself, Tim Winton, on the cover: 'Surfing is not just a sub-culture, it is culture, and here's proof.'

[Allie Reynolds · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a keen surfer, I loved this collection of Australian surf-themed writing! The cover quote by Tim Winton sums the book up perfectly: Surfing is not just a sub-culture, it is culture.

There's a nice mix of different writers. First up is Madelaine Dickie whose novel Troppo I really enjoyed a few years ago. I loved her stories of surf trips to incredibly dangerous places such as Mexico and Senegal. Next, Mark Wilson tells the stories of several amazing individuals and how the ocean and surfing is integrated into their lives.

Sally Breen provides a fascinating account of Australia's Gold Coast. I've lived on the Gold Coast since 2004 and I loved her insight into this unique place. She describes the crew she used to work with at a City Beach store so aptly: surfers and skaters who walked the walk and looked like a GC version of a Californian dream. The girls, megawatt: bright eyes, exposed midriffs - all long hair, platform sneakers, health. ...And the boys, ultra-cool, so laidback they were always staring off into space as if dreaming of something they'd never tell you about. Uniform of knee-length quick dries, boxy surf and band shirts, skate shoes - Etnies, Globes, DCs - bright white socks to mid-calf, Arnette sunglasses, chunky silver chains...I also love her comments on Australian surfing mag Tracks : no articles on women surfers, no articles written by women, and the only picture of a woman in the entire magazine is one where you can't see her face, just her pert ass. I love her for pointing this out as this has annoyed me so many times. How about printing a picture of a male surfer's ass for a change, LOL.

We also get accounts of terrifying hold-downs and other near-death experiences in the water, and a fascinating insight into surf champion Taj Burrow's head.

Any surfer will enjoy this collection. It's the next best thing to getting an empty wave at Snapper (and much easier to find, LOL.)

[Susan C · Rating 4 out of 5]

I grew up with the sound of waves breaking. My primary school had a primo view over Kirra point. As a teenager - you'd find me on the beach and in the water at either Kirra or Rainbow. As a blue eyed, blonde haired, incredibly fair skinned, somewhat uncoordinated girl I wasn't a surfer. But the boys and girls who I grew up with were. The gist of so many of these stories, particularly Sally Breen's, were familiar to me.

There is something healing about the ocean, the feelings of stress in everyday life will wash away as the salty ozone breeze washes over you, as you feel sand between your toes, as you watch what the surf is doing today.

I enjoyed the stories in the book, some more than others - but that surely is the case with every anthology. Some writers you connect with, others you don't.

Its been a long time since I immersed myself in the ocean. If anything this book is inspiring me to see if my swimsuit still fits and stop being a bystander at the beach.

[Charlotte · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed reading Lines to the Horizon by Madelaine Dickie, Sally Breen, Emily Brugman, Sam Carmody, Jake Sandtner and Mark Smith. As Tim Winton says, surfing is not just a sub-culture, but global culture, feeding a vast international industry, and an entire way of life.

Whether you're a surfer or not, you'll enjoy this series of essay. I really enjoyed Madelaine's 'Following the Birds', which gives a detailed account of what it's like to live and travel in Oaxaca, in Mexico, as a surfer, and solo female. Madelaine thoroughly explores Mexico's reputation for being quite dangerous, particularly in regards to theft and cartel-related violence, and surf rage and localism in Escondido.

Each of the essays take you on a journey revolving around passion, bliss and fear. 5 stars from me, well done to all of the Australian authors.

[Madelaine Dickie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had a ball writing 'Following the Birds'. It begins with a string of bodies, dangling from a bridge, hung by their necks. It begins with a flock of sea birds, a deep sea troll, a terrible, aching pull toward danger, a new adventure. The new adventure is Mexico, and in 'Following the Birds' I consider violence: in Mexican textile art, lithographs and literature, as well as within the surf culture. I'm stoked that my story has found a home in Lines to the Horizon, alongside fresh visions from Sam, Emily, Mark, Jake and Sally. It's a stellar collection! *****

[Stef Rozitis · Rating 3 out of 5]

I just had a gin and tonic which I didn't measure properly so talk later

[Underground Writers]

This review was first published on the Underground Writers website: http://underground-writers.org/review...

The Lines to the Horizon anthology is a reminder of the sunshine and blue water many of us might feel we are lacking in these wintry months. I am not a surfer, despite the one wave I tried to catch at a camp six years ago. I love the beach though, and as an Australian it truly is hard not to when we are all thrown into it at some point in our lives.

This collection of stories takes readers from the coast of Mexico, where the surf is not the only danger, to the beautiful and lush coasts of Western Australia. It is a collection of six stories from six different authors describing the almost religious experience people can have while surfing. Each author presents their work differently, with some autobiographical work and others opting to tell the stories of others. Each story takes you somewhere new, where the water could wash up a great and terrible beauty of a wave or a terrifying near-death experience.

Devouring the words from each author was quick, with the ocean itself written every time as a special and unforgettable character. Emily Brugman’s story The Sea: Friend or Foe tells of near-death experiences that some people have gone through. There is a story from a group of swimmers, a sailor and two surfers. Each group or person’s story gives the ocean a much more sinister depiction and discusses the dangers that lurk above and below the surface. The group of swimmers was a standout to me, with Emily describing their ocean experience as “about feeling yourself as part of the universe and understanding that you are not so different to other species, be they water- or land-dwelling creatures” (p.127). Brugman’s story really drives home how small we are in comparison to the vast ocean that surrounds us, while also maintaining that the ocean and the surf is always there, and with it come elements of healing and reflection.

Sally Breen’s story Don’t you know you’ve got legs was a standout as well, depicting some of the gender disparities found in surf culture. It brings readers to the sunny Gold Coast and the euphoria surfing has for those residing there. Sam Carmody’s Hold Down was also an incredibly honest depiction of mental health and how the water and surfing can be a healing journey for both our bodies and our minds

Surf culture is truly a culture of its own, with some of the stories transporting readers across the globe to some of the most magnificent surf spots in the world. It describes the joys, friendship and pain that being in the water can bring. I think it is valuable to acknowledge how the ocean can often impact human beings in so many ways, as well as how integral it is to some people’s lives.

I had very little knowledge of surfing before beginning this anthology, and I left it with not a lot of understanding of the technical jargon that comes with competing and wave styles, but I was certainly left with a newfound passion for the ocean that meets so many of us at our back doors. It was also a wonderful escape from the wet weather, and so I think whether you are a kook or a grom this book is calling your name!

[David McAuley · Rating 4 out of 5]

As someone who loves surfing and the ocean and was raised in Western Australia this anthology inevitably spoke to me in a number of different ways.

One of the pieces did fail to click with me due to some major malfunctions in form and execution but, overall the quality of writing here is exceptional.

I especially enjoyed Sally Breen and Sam Carmody's contributions and would recommend this book to anyone with an interest in not just surfing but the ocean itself and how we as human beings weave ourselves and our stories through it's currents.

[Michael Doherty · Rating 4 out of 5]

First and last essays are outstanding. The stronger essays seem to be the ones that don't emphasize competition or fame.