The Lit Chicks

Rowe Street, Sydney and Nina Mae McKinney — Two Jewels of the Past

Bohemian Heart, the story I contributed to the free ebook anthology Stomping Ground, is set in both current day Sydney and the Sydney of the 1930s. Rowe Street, which began life in the mid 1800s, features in the storyline because of its colorful history. Little more than a narrow lane hidden behind grand edifices, it became a vibrant part of the city’s life almost from the very beginning and a haven for artists, writers, theatre folk, craftsmen and women, and free-thinkers. Its tiny shops were at the forefront of fashion, jewelry, decorating and art. There were no ‘off-the-rack’ items in its precinct. Its wares were unique. According to those who remember it, avant-garde Rowe Street would have rivaled some of the celebrated streets of Paris. Sadly the little laneway was all but obliterated in the early 1970s to make way for a shop and office complex.

Somehow, the beautiful and talented African-American actress, Nina Mae McKinney, who came to Sydney in 1939 to star in the Tivoli theatre’s hit stage play Hello Harlem, seemed to fit into Bohemian Heart’s storyline as well. I could just picture the exotic actress being drawn to Rowe Street where gifted people like her gathered. It was as though the pair were made for each other and it wasn’t too hard to imagine how the charms of both would have lit up the city.

The Stomping Ground anthology is published by DLSIJ Press and is available FREE from The Lit Chicks page by clicking on the link in the Blogroll sidebar. It contains 10 stories by DLSIJ Press authors. Come join them as they explore a wide range of literary landscapes, both real and imagined.