Yarraville blogger and psychogeographer Nick Gadd has spent years walking around Melbourne exploring the history of ‘ghost signs’ – faded signage – on buildings.
Psychogeography, a term coined by Marxist theorist Guy Debord in 1955, refers to the effect of a geographical location on people’s emotions.
Gadd is among more than 80 authors who will appear at the Williamstown Literary Festival on June 18 and 19.
Two years ago he started walking from Williamstown in an anti-clockwise ring around Melbourne, finding ghost signs and writing about them on his Melbourne Circle blog.
“I’m a creative writer not a historian, so my project is really about using specific places as a starting point for writing, which may include writing about history, architecture, politics, fiction and poetry, whatever,” Gadd said.
“It’s about finding an oblique way into little quirky, lost bits of social history.
“I’m not that interested in famous buildings or famous people … I’m more interested in an old milk bar rather than in Parliament House.”
One part of history he discovered was an old greyhound racing track in Tottenham.
“There was also a station between Sunshine and Tottenham called White City,” Gadd said. “It was there between about 1927 and 1959.
“The greyhound track used to have things like monkeys riding greyhounds.”
Nick Gadd will host Walking and Writing the Suburbs from 2-3pm on June 18. Early bird discounted tickets for the festival are available until midnight on May 31. To view the festival program, visit willylitfest.org.au
