People who experienced '74 floods sought for

As part of a Southern Cross University (SCU) publication on 'the flood', local writer and interviewer Graham Irvine is seeking people
who have a story to tell about the 1974 flooding of the Richmond
River and its tributaries on the north coast.

The '74 flood of the area was possibly the worst on record, and where the water level in Lismore's CBD reached as high as the shop
awnings.

Mr Irvine will record interviews with people who experienced the '74 floods, and compile them for a chapter in a book being edited by
SCU's Executive Dean of Arts Paul Thom.

The publication, called 'The Flood Volume', will include essays from academics from a number of Australian universities on various
aspects of the phenomenon of the flood, in history, literature, religion, music, art, science and the law. It will be published by SCU Press and is due out later this year.

"It's also hoped that material from these essays will feed into the libretto of NORPA's planned music-theatre piece on local floods,
expected to be staged early next year," Professor Thom said.

Mr Irvine, who was living in Nimbin in '74 and experienced the floods himself, might also create a radio documentary based on the interviews and using sound effects to follow the course of the flood from the river's headwaters, across the floodplain to the estuary.

He is interested in hearing from anyone who lived through the flood near the Richmond or its tributaries, especially if they have
written or recorded something about their experience, or any funny, odd or tragic anecdotes associated with it.

Contact: Graham Irvine Ph: 6689 1666 (h), Email girvine@scu.edu.au (w) or grairv@yahoo.com.au (h) or by mail: 199 Falls Road, Nimbin NSW 2480