In Mary Rachel Brown’s Rosieville a dream pigeon helps a girl | The Canberra Times

And Rosie’s older brother Xavier (Oscar Abraham) immerses himself in making a flying contraption for the Birdman Rally. The rally was an event that took place in Canberra from 1985 to 1992 in which brave or possibly foolhardy folk would launch themselves in homemade aircraft from a 10-metre high platform above Lake Burley Griffin. To collect a cash prize, fliers had to be able to glide at least 50 metres before hitting the water. Brown, 53, remembers the rally and has resurrected it for her story, which is set in the present.