Black Swan Lake: Life of a Wetland is part of emerging fields in film studies (transnational, ecocriticism). It features a wide range of films from established and emerging filmmakers and industries. It focuses on different national contexts, as well as on art and commercial cinema. Ecocritical approaches are increasingly recognised/popular in the humanities.
Rod Giblett came to live by Forrestdale Lake in southwestern Australia in 1986. Based in part on a nature journal he kept for several years, Black Swan Lake: Life of a Wetland traces the life of the plants and animals of the surrounding area through the seasons. Presenting a wetlands calendar that charts the yearly cycle of the rising, falling, and drying waters of this internationally significant wetland, this book is a modern-day Walden. The first book to provide a cultural and natural history of this place – taking into account the indigenous people's concept of the seasons (six instead of four) – Black Swan Lake: Life of a Wetland will be enjoyed by conservationists, as well as others seeking connection with place, plants, and animals in their own bioregion.
Rod Giblett is associate professor in the School of Communications and Arts at Edith Cowan University in Australia. He is the author of People and Places of Nature and Culture, also published by Intellect.