If there is magic on this planet, it is contained in water. – Loren Eiseley

Seldom have I read non-fiction and feel like I am entering the universe of that author’s mind, to see the world through their eyes, and to feel every other sensory sensation they feel as you turn the pages of their book. Indeed, the world of non-fiction is a vastly different one from the universe of the fictitious author, as facts constrain the non-fiction writer’s world. Or so I thought. Towards the latter stages of 2024, a fellow fictional author, and also a colleague of mine, Simon Clearly, wrote a non-fiction book recording of his daily experiences over four weeks, when he walked 344 kilometres from the inland source of the Brisbane River all the way to its mouth that leads out to the splendid waters of Moreton Bay. In his book, Everything is Water, Simon Cleary did not just record his daily adventures; he also transported you, the reader, into his world, so that you felt as though you were walking side-by-side with him, as he tenaciously explored the fascinating rural and urban environments the Brisbane River carves its gentle, yet sometimes tempestuous, way through. It’s a rare skill for an author to be able to traverse the first-person narrative in that manner in a non-fiction book, yet take you, the reader, on a journey, as though you were entering the fictional universe of a novel.

Simon Cleary grew up in Toowoomba before studying literature and law at the University of Queensland. I first met Simon many years ago, when we were both working for Legal Aid Queensland, and his erudition was evident from the moment I met him. Indeed, his professional calling has been one of exemplary service, having committed himself to assisting the less fortunate in life through community legal centres before joining Legal Aid, and now practising as a Barrister-at-Law. Simon Cleary is the author of three novels, including The Comfort of Figs (2008), which was published after the manuscript was shortlisted for the Queensland Premier’s Literary Awards. His second novel, Closer to Stone (2012), was inspired by his experiences in North Africa at the commencement of the Algerian civil war in the 1990s. It went on to win the Queensland Literary Awards People’s Choice Award in 2012. Simon’s third novel, The War Artist, was published in 2019. Everything is Water is his first work of non-fiction. He is a lifelong walking and environmental enthusiast, and lives in Brisbane. The picture above depicting Simon is also a link to his website, where you can read more about him and his books.

As I previously stated, as a writer, Simon has the rare ability to take you, the reader, on his epic journey from source to sea in his book, Everything is Water. Indeed, as I read each absorbing page of Simon’s book, I became immersed in the environment he was writing about, smelling the odours of the landscape, feeling the rugged terrain under my feet, and enduring some harsh conditions as part of Simon’s journey required him to perilously navigate his way through or around, as he walked in an environmental wonderland that many rarely experience during their lifetimes. What I found particularly charming about Simon’s luxurious language was his execution of the craft of imagery in a work of non-fiction, thereby indelibly stamping his versatility as a writer, as is evident from this superb passage of his book:

Before us, the river continues to spill off the range, following a route circumscribed by deepest time. A route with its genesis in the explosions of stars and the gathering of cosmic particles into planets, and much later, into continents. By elemental forces. By gods and volcanoes.

Brilliant writing is good food for your mind, and when it is Simon’s writing, it is a feast that sustains your imagination long after the final word is read. Marvellous, Simon. Simply marvellous.