Hello my reader friends,
I spent last weekend having a wonderful time at the Brisbane Writers Festival. On Saturday I was on a panel called Miss-Behaving, with an incredible group of women – Naima Brown (Mother Tongue), Suzanne Do (The Golden Sister), Meg Bignell (The Good Losers), and moderator Sita Walker (The God of No Good). We could have talked for hours about writing rebellious women and finding joy in storytelling.
The first question Sita asked me was a big one: did I think there was a common thread that weaves throughout my writing? If you’ve known me for a while you probably won’t be surprised that I talked about intergenerational female relationships and stories that offer new maternal perspectives. It’s nice to have a favourite subject, and it made me realise just how much more I want to do in this field.
My Sunday panel was Cop Shop, where I spoke alongside Laura McCluskey (The Wolf Tree), Angie Faye Martin (Melaleuca) and Zahid Gamielden (All the Missing Children), who all had their debut works of fiction released over the last year. We discovered that none of us set out to write a crime novel, but we all had characters and events we wanted to focus on which ended up making us lean into the genre. I remember being so surprised to find myself labelled a crime writer when The Hidden Hours came out in 2017, as until then I’d thought I was writing general fiction – however, over the years I’ve found there’s so many stories to play with under the ‘crime’ umbrella that the genre label has - mostly - stuck.
I also went along to as many sessions as I could. I was particularly intrigued by an interview with Sophie Christie about her new book Girl on Girl: How Pop Culture Turned a Generation of Women Against Themselves. I’m listening to this one on Audible and jeez it’s good - I’m nodding ferociously at everything. Sophie, a Pulitzer Prize finalist, decided to write the book in 2022 when Roe v Wade was overturned and she felt angry and powerless. In the book she talks about the rise of post-feminism as less of a movement and more as a response to feminism itself. Postfeminism asserts that feminism is no longer needed, women have achieved everything and can go out and have fun. Meanwhile, we’re presented with endless images of beauty, swamped with consumerism, and existing under hyper-surveillance as though it’s normal. Hmmm… there’s a LOT we need to examine here.
Another panel I loved was called Place as Story-Holder and Story-Teller, with Anita Heiss, Nardi Simpson and Fiona Foley, chaired beautifully by Sharlene Allsopp. Anita read a gorgeous passage from her recent novel Dirrayawadha, written from the point of view of the land, and Nardi spoke with lyricism and deep reflection about how she sees stories as coming through her rather than belonging to her.
I also loved Fiona’s story of how she worked on a commission for a sculpture in front of the Brisbane’s Magistrates Court. When first given the project it was decided that the sculpture and names on the pavestones would be reflections of places where extreme weather events had occurred across the state. However, Fiona secretly worked on a different project – and three months after the sculpture was erected, the locations embedded into the stonework were revealed to be 93 sites where massacres of Indigenous people had occurred.
I think we were all impressed by Fiona’s bravery and determination in making sure there was a public acknowledgement and memorial to those who died, and since I had some time in Brisbane the next day I decided to go see it. As I stood in front of the sculpture and began reading the lists of names written into the pavestones, I felt a heaviness descend - a weight at bearing witness to so much pointless horror. It’s a powerful work: a testament to how great art moves us from intellectual space to heart space. And it reminded me of how much we need to share the stories around the creation of art too.
Events
I’ve still got a couple of really fun events left this year. The first is at Perth’s sold-out Festival of Fiction this weekend, where on Sunday I’m on a panel called ‘It’s Not Easy Being Green’ with Candice Fox, Tasma Walton and Jackson Harvey, moderated by Claudine Tinellis; and the second at The Lane bookshop in Claremont where, alongside fellow crime writers David Whish-Wilson and Alan Carter, I’ll be providing the audience with a mini murder mystery to solve. None of us have tried something like this before, but if it works I’ll offer my story up for you all to have a crack at in the next newsletter!
BIG NEWS: When She Was Gone is on the Likewise Choice Awards shortlist in the US and I need your votes!
Just as I was prepping this email I heard the news that When She Was Gone is on the Likewise Choice Awards shortlist in the US - whoo hoo! The awards ask for votes, so if you have a moment please jump online here and give me a click - or five ;)
You’ll see from the incredible list that I’m a minnow in this field (which includes Freida McFadden, Taylor Jenkins-Reid, Rebecca Yarros, Emily Henry and Suzanne Collins), but what a privilege to be on the shortlist!
And finally…
I thought you’d enjoy this photo of our little cavoodle joining in the group family facetime while I was away in Brisbane…
Until next time, happy reading!