National Bookshop Day 2016

National Bookshop Day is going to be great fun this year, with a line-up of in store appearances, balloons for the kids and an exhibition with local flavour.

This year, we will be joined by legendary caterer Simmone Logue and musician, artist and local legend Jeff Duff.

Simmone will be in store from 12pm, signing books and giving away biscuit samples from her beautiful and tasty cookbook In the Kitchen. Jeff will be in store from 3pm and he will be signing his outrageous memoir This Will Explain Everything.

We will be featuring in store a gallery of images from bestselling local history book Kings Cross: A Pictorial History. This is your chance to see some incredible images that tell incredible stories about our neighbourhood up close and personal.

And don't forget - there will be balloons for the kids. About the Authors

 Simmone Logue started her food business in a small flat in Sydney's Neutral Bay, hand-delivering her cakes to local cafe owners.  She then leased an old butcher's shop, added pies, braises and salads to her repertoire, and her business continued to grow.  Now 25 years on, Simmone has created a $10 million business in wholesaling, retailing and catering.  

Jeff Duff is arguably the most flamboyant, creative and controversial entertainer Australia has produced. His musical gifts and fantastical androgynous performances parallel the artistry of David Bowie. While Duffo's career kicked off in the 1970s, he continues to grow as an artist, creating new music and performing sell-out concerts to this day. 

And no man looks as good in a leotard. 

Anna Low - 2016 Bookseller of the Year

Anna Low, Australian Bookseller of the Year, in good company at the Australian Bookseller Conference.

Our boss, Anna Low, was the recipient of Text Publishing ABA Bookseller of the Year at this year's booksellers conference.  

We are so thrilled that Anna has been recognised for her wonderful contribution to the industry and as an amazing bookseller and boss!

Anna shared the honour with Deb Force of The Sun Bookshop and is pictured above with Magda Szubanski (winner of Book of the Year), Amelia Lush (Young Bookseller of the Year), Deb Force, Robyn Huppert (winner of the Elizabeth Riley Fellowship).

Paris Up, Up and Away - all the way to Potts Point Bookshop

Paris has come to Potts Point Bookshop and it makes for a very pretty picture indeed.

"The Eiffel Tower is bored today.
Wouldn't it be nice to fly away?
Paris is full of things to do.
The Tower would like to see them too."

Paris Up, Up and Away is a gorgeous book by Helen Druvert (published by Thames & Hudson) which features elaborate cut outs about the Eiffel Tower hitting the high spots on a tour around Paris.  It sails through the night air, glides over the Seine; a short hop away, it finds the Opera.  The Tower weaves through crowds on the streets and in department stores, falls asleep in the sun, and wakes up to the jangling bells of Notre Dame.
This delightful book is not only a stunning piece of artwork but is also a wonderfully imaginative introduction to Paris and it's monuments for young children.

"The sun comes out and the sky is clear,
The Tower lands in a park that's near.
While the children play and the birds fly free,
The Tower snoozes under a tree."

We thought as the Eiffel Tower was going on a tour around Paris, we would invite it to visit our gorgeous picture window which faces onto our lovely garden right here in Potts Point.  A little bit of Paris enchantment at the Paris end of Potts Point.

Come in and take a look for yourself.

Paris Up, Up And Away is published by Thames & Hudson 

and is in store now $27

Top 10 Bestsellers in 2015

What were you reading in 2015?

It was a year where the colouring book captured people's imaginations, politicians vied for literary status via their competing memoirs and the future of Australian produced illustrated titles (for adults) came into question.

So, what did our customers want to read?  Unsurprisingly, the following ten books are a mixture of the beautiful, the word-of-mouth bestseller, the literary powerhouse, the unmissable insiders read and staff favourites.

1. My Brilliant Friend (Book One of The Neapolitan Novels)
by Elena Ferrante ($23, Text Publishing)

A literary powerhouse and a word-of-mouth phenomenon, our top bestseller of 2015 has started many a conversation in the shop this past year and has polarised (some) opinions.  Set in 1950's Naples, this novel is a compelling evocation of female friendship and a fascinating glimpse of Italy - a very worthy start to the list.

2. A Little Life
by Hanya Yanagihara ($33, Picador)

Talk to Tim he will tell you that this is his favourite book on the list.  Talk to Anna and she will recall staying up 'til all hours at night crying her eyes out (and keeping her husband awake) unable to put this book down.  A Booker Prize shortlisted title, A Little Life is a big New York book about male friendship - confronting, disturbing, but deeply human.

3. The Girl with the Dogs
by Anna Funder ($9.99, Penguin Books)

This small tome proved irresistible to fans of Miles Franklin winner Anna Funder and for those who wanted a small but significant read during the busy Christmas season.
A poignant novella about family and "the siren call of the past", this book was inspired by Chekhov's The Lady with the Little Dog and is a fantastic addition to the Penguin Specials collection - a collection of short stories, novellas and essays all priced at $9.99.

4. The Girl on the Train
by Paula Hawkins ($33, Doubleday)

Not a new book (it was released at Christmas in 2014), but by golly a stayer, The Girl on the Train was touted as the new Gone Girl.  Not necessarily a correct (or promising) comparison, but it has certainly reached almost as many people via word-of-mouth recommendations.
A slow burning psychological thriller, this one will keep you guessing.

5.  All the Light We Cannot See
by Anthony Doerr ($20, Fourth Estate)

Nothing garners attention like winning a major literary prize.  This beautiful book won the Pulitzer Prize in 2015 and went from a word-of-mouth booksellers' favourite to an international bestseller.
Set against the backdrop of WW2, this story which binds together a blind girl and a Nazi soldier will surprise and enthrall.

6.  H is for Hawk
by Helen MacDonald ($23, Vintage Books)

Nothing garners attention like winning a swag of prizes.
Helen MacDonald's powerful memoir about grief won amongst other honours the prestigious Samuel Johnson Prize for Non-Fiction and the Costa Award for Non-Fiction in 2014 and solicited a great deal of critical praise and attention.  A beautiful and haunting book, she sold out audiences at the Sydney Writers' Festival when she was here last year with her story about training a goshawk in the wake of the death of her beloved father.

7. M Train
by Patti Smith ($33, Bloomsbury Publishing)

Talk to Marg and she will tell you she has read this book multiple times and will probably read it again and again.  Anna and Megan will also wax lyrical given half a chance to expound on their love for this terrific memoir.
You need not know who Patti Smith is, need never have listened to any of her music or read her previous book Just Kids to enjoy this terrific memoir about solitude, obsession, literature, New York, inspiration ..... and much, much more.  A beautiful book from a unique writer.

8. Flower Addict
by Saskia Havekes ($80, Lantern Books)

The gasps, the envy and the pure delight displayed by customers every day when they pick up this gorgeous book cannot be matched by any other on this list.
This is a collection of the work (photographed by the very talented Nicholas Watt) renowned flower artist Saskia Havekes and her team at Grandiflora produce at their Potts Point premises for events all around the country.  Not only a visual delight, Saskia's words provide insight into her unique world and perspective as an artist.

9.  Nopi
by Yotam Ottolenghi ($60,  Ebury Press)

It was no surprise that Ottolenghi would provide our bestselling cookbook of the year, as he has done so these past few years.  Nopi is not only an extraordinary addition to Ottolenghi's culinary collection (including Ottolenghi, Plenty, Plenty More and Jerusalem), but is also a gorgeous book with it's gold edging and eye-catching cover.

10.  Keating
by Kerry O'Brien ($50, Allen & Unwin)

When Australia's most intriguing Prime Minister sat down to talk to Australia's most respected journalist for the ABC's four-part series Keating, it created landmark TV.
This book, which represents further interviews, provides even further insights into the man, the politician and strategist.  That our copies were signed by both the author and Mr Keating was certainly a boon and we know many a local household will certainly treasure this book in the years to come.
 

Author Interview - Frank Woodley, comedian and author of the new Kizmet series

PP:  Can you tell us about your new series of kids' books?

FW:  They're based around the adventures of a girl called Kizmet who's a courageous super-sleuth.  She's so smart when she sees a set a footprints information pours out of them like a wikipedia page.  She can tell how old the person was - whether they were walking or running.  I wouldn't be surprised if she could tell if they had freckles or not.  Her dad is a bumbling detective who would love to be here but just accidentally handcuffed himself to a departing helicopter.  The stories are narrated by Gretchen who is Kizmet's best friend.  Oh, and she's a currawong.

"the stories are narrated by Gretchen...... Oh, and she's a currawong."

PP:  Most Mums and Dads would know you from your comedy skits and appearances on TV.  How did it come about that you started writing children's books?

FW:  I just follow my nose.  It's one of the reasons I would never consider rhinoplasty.  My ample nose makes it easier to follow.  I've done lots and lots of narrative comedy, so it doesn't feel very different.  I hadn't written mystery stories before but I think they're quite similar to comedy.  Comedy and Mystery are both about creating tension and then offering a surprise resolution.

PP:  The illustrations in the books are fantastic.  And they are done by none other than... well... you!  Did you enjoy illustrating the series?


FW:  It was really enjoyable.  Drawing is a very introverted activity, and I spend a fair bit of my time showing off so it was a really nice change.

"Comedy and Mystery are both about creating tension and then offering a surprise resolution."

PP:  Gretchen is a bird, but is also the narrator of the Kizmet series.  Why did you choose for Gretchen to be a Currawong, and not a Rainbow Lorrikeet (so pretty) or owl (so wise) for instance?

FW:  A friend of mine, James, lives in the country and a currawong was once taunting his little Jack Russell by dropping leaves on it from the safety of a high branch.  James threw a ball to scare it away and accidentally hit it.  The next day he found an enormous birdpoo in the middle of his windscreen and he's convinced it was the currawong.  Ever since I heard that story I've had this sense that currawongs are very intelligent and cheeky.

PP:  Kizmet's Dad, Spencer Papanicillo is not a very good detective, but he provides plenty of laughs with his bumbling behaviour.  Where (or from whom) did you take your inspiration from when you created him?

FW:  He's pretty much cut from the cloth of Inspector Clouseau and Maxwell Smart, but I must say there's a fair bit of me in him too.  Just last weekend I was trying to run an extension cord across the roof of my garage and I cable tied my thumb to a pipe and was stuck there for an hour and a half 'til my wife got home and could pass me some scissors.

"I must say there's a fair bit of me in him too."

PP:  Kismet is super smart, incredibly agile and is a terrific detective, but she must miss a lot of school going away on all these crazy adventures.  How does she manage to keep on top of everything?

FW:  I'll have to ask her about that.  I think she may be home schooled.  Which in her case almost certainly means that she reads all sorts of books, and watches all sorts of videos and online stuff, and talks to everyone she meets and listens with fascination to what they have to say.... and Spencer watches it all happen in bewildered amazement.

PP:  We've followed the team across the globe chasing down kooky (and hairy) scientists and nefarious musicians so far - can you tell us what you have in store for Kizmet, Gretchen and Detective Spencer next?  Just a hint or little detail.....

FW:  I'm not sure.  Maybe the strange appearance of a person claiming to be from the middle ages.  Or a circus that has it's big top stolen in the middle of a show.  Or a mugger who gets people to give him their wallets by just asking really nicely.  Or a patient who gets an experimental stem-cell treatment for a head injury and becomes a super intelligent criminal.  Or a virus that is taking away the voices of all newsreaders.  Or a boy who every few weeks finds an envelope with a thousand dollars in it and a note requesting him not to play soccer with his local under eleven's soccer team that week.  Or... I 'm just rambling really, I haven't even started yet.

PP:  What was your favourite book as a child?

FW:  It would have to be the Asterix comics.  The gall of that little Gaul.

PP:  And lastly, what sort of books do you think Kizmet likes to read?  And for that matter, Detective Spencer and, dare I ask Gretchen?

FW:  Kizmet loves mainly non-fiction.  All sorts of stuff that gives you new ways of looking at things.  She loved Mind's Eye by Oliver Sacks and Mother Tongue by Bill Bryson.  Spencer reads Jackie Collins romances but puts them in a Wilbur Smith dustjacket.  And Gretchen never learned to read, but she enjoys watching Total Wipeout and having her suspicions that currawongs are more intelligent than humans confirmed.

Kizmet and the Case of the Smashed Violin $10
Kizmet and the Case of the Tassie Tiger $10
are both out now.

Author Interview - Antonia Hayes talks about "Relativity"

Australian author Antonia Hayes worked in bookshops and publishing, juggled motherhood and was a co-director of the National Young Writers Festival whilst writing her debut novel Relativity.
Relativity appeared on a number of "most anticipated" lists earlier in the year and now that it is out you can find out what all the fuss is about!
First take a look at what Antonia had to say to us about Relativity, publishing and her love of science.

"Fiction and physics aren't too different.... they even use the same vocabulary"

PP:  Tell us about your debut novel Relativity.
AH:  Relativity is about science, love, unbreakable bonds and irreversible acts.

PP:  You have had quite a varied career in the book industry already.  You've worked as a book publicist, bookseller and also as a Co-Director of the National Young Writers Festival.  What do these experiences mean to you now as an author?
AH:  I suppose all my various jobs sprang from my love of books and reading, and then trying to figure out how to turn that love into a career.  As a new author, those experiences have made me really appreciate the entire ecosystem of publishing and bookselling and all the amazing, enthusiastic people who work in the industry.  Editors, sales reps, publicists, booksellers, festival staff, bloggers, media (and many more!) all play a vital role in getting new books to readers.  Writing the book is just one step.  It takes a village and I'm extra grateful for this village because I've seen how hard everyone behind the scenes works.

"now it's sold in six territories, which is completely insane...!"

PP:  Can you tell a little about the main characters in Relativity - Claire, Ethan and Mark?
AH:  Ethan is a 12 year old boy who loves physics.  He's extremely curious and constantly thinking about how the universe works.  Claire is Ethan's mother and even though she loves her son intensely and is a bit overprotective, she does often find Ethan's obsession with physics mystifying.  She's also a former ballerina but now works behind the scenes.  And Mark is Ethan's estranged father who lives on the other side of the country.  Relativity begins when Mark suddenly comes back into Claire and Ethan's lives.

"Ethan is much more like 12 year old me."

PP:  As a mother writing about motherhood, and with a son who is around the same age as Ethan, how did you approach writing Relativity?  In fact, the dedication in the book is for your son, Julian - are you going to get in trouble with him for stealing elements of his growing up to create the character Ethan?
AH:  When I started writing the book - and when I created Ethan - my son was only four years old.  So even though Julian caught up and has outgrown Ethan now, the inspiration for that character didn't come directly from my son.  If anything, Ehtan is much more like twelve year old me.  Although there are a couple of moments that I shamelessly stole from Julian (he doesn't mind I put them in the novel, I asked first): he did actually compare my reproductive system to The Hunger Games, and he does often ask for pizza at inappropriate moments.

PP:  Mark and Ethan share a scene where they talk about understanding paradoxes and extreme duality (p 337).  They are talking about scientific principles, but I would suggest that your treatment of the issues in the book - including child abuse, bullying, love and family - also require this same understanding, as nothing is black and white in Relativity.  Would you agree?
AH:  Absolutely.  One reason I was drawn to writing about science when dealing with those particular issues was because they can be just as counterintuitive as understanding theoretical physics.  Light can be a particle and a wave at the same time, just like how good people can do bad things.  I think particularly inside families and with people we love, we see them at both their best and their worst - and everything in between.  All these issues require empathy to understand them too, and that means zooming out and not seeing them in a binary way.

"learning not only forgiveness, but also what it takes to be forgiven."

PP:  "Closure was fiction, it didn't exist" (p 348)
Your characters don't necessarily find their happy endings in the pages of your novel, however do you think Relativity is a story of redemption?
AH:  I suppose it is, in a way.  I think the idea of recovery and bouncing back - like living with failed ambition and being able to redefine yourself, or recuperating from damage or hurt - inadvertently became one of the themes of the novel.  And perhaps learning not only forgiveness, but also what it takes to be forgiven.

PP:  There is much to be learnt in the pages of Relativity about science.  Many of your metaphors are beautifully played out in scientific theory or conjecture.  Does it please you that some of your readers will inadvertently walk away with a better scientific knowledge of the work than before they opened the pages of your novel?  Where does your own interest in science come from, and how did that become combined with fiction?
AH:  Physics is a bit of a weird preoccupation of mine, which started when I was very little and my dad would point out constellations in the night sky.  Later, when I was in primary school, my teachers discovered I was pretty good at maths.  Numbers and patterns just made sense to me (although I really preferred reading Babysitters Club books), so I studied math and physics until I finished high school.  I never intended for Relativity to be a crash course in physics, I guess connecting science and the story/characters is just how my brain is wired.  Fiction and physics aren't too different anyway, they even use the same vocabulary; tension, friction, momentum, resonance, trajectory, etc all apply to storytelling as well.

PP:  You were formerly a co-director of the National Young Writers Festival which champions young and innovative writers working in both new and traditional forms.  How important do you believe such festivals are in promoting and supporting new Australian voices such as your own?
AH:  Festivals like NYWF and Emerging Writers Festival are really important, not just for discovering and promoting young and new Australian writers, but also because of the community and friendships they create.  I've met many great friends through these festivals, who not only support each other's careers and creative practice, but who also share a sense of solidarity about work that can often feel very isolating.

"Because my illness is unpredictable, I don't have time to procrasinate."

PP:  You wrote an incredible article for Meanjin last year about your Lupus diagnosis which was incredibly powerful and inspiring.  How has this illness affected the writing of Relativity and your creative output in general?
AH:  Thank you:  that essay was difficult to write!  Living with a chronic illness like lupus sometimes slows down my writing output.  There are days when I'm quite unwell and have trouble finding the mental and physical energy to write.  At the same time, I think my lupus diagnosis really spurs me on.  Because my illness is unpredictable,  I don't have time to procrastinate.

PP:  Can you tell us your publishing story?
AH:  When I did the Faber Academy novel writing course in London in 2009, all the students had extracts from our novels-in-progress published in an anthology.  Karolina Sutton, a UK literary agent, contacted me after reading my extract and asked to see the manuscript.  Six months later, I sent Karolina the first draft of Relativity, and she sent back a huge list of problems I needed to fix.  But it took me four years to fix them!  Last year when I moved to San Francisco, I wasn't able to get a job here for the first 90 days because I needed to wait for my work permit to be approved.  So I used those three months to finish rewriting Relativity again, then sent it to Karolina, and after fixing a few more things, she submitted it to publishers.  That was about a year ago.  Now it's sold in six territories, which is completely insane to me!

PP:  You are currently living in San Francisco and Relativity is to be published in the US in 2016.  You have received praise from the likes of S. J. Watson (who described the book as "wonderful, beautifully written and heartbreaking") and have appeared on countless "Most Anticipated Books of 2015" lists since the book was announced.  How does it feel to be the subject of so much anticipation?  And is it bittersweet being that you are so far from home (do you still call Australia home?)?
AH:  Australia will always be home!  To be honest, I was sad not to be home on Relativity's release day (which was also my birthday!) two weeks ago.  I can't walk into a bookshop and see it on the shelves, so if feels extra surreal and abstract to now be a published author.  I've been completely blown away by all the support Relativity has received so far, but I'm much more excited now that people are reading it and sharing their thoughts with me.  Hearing directly from readers is the most wonderful part of publishing a book.

"Writing the book is just one step.  It really takes a village."

PP: Do you have a favourite book?
AH:  I have about a million!  But my favourite author is Ian McEwan.

Make sure you check out our event with Antonia on Tuesday 25 August.  She will be in conversation with Benjamin Law about Relativity as part of the Authors Up The Cross event series.

Q & A with Alice Robinson, author of "Anchor Point"

Anchor Point is an emotional tour de force. 

It starts with a flood and ends with a fire - such strong metaphors - the deluge that keeps on getting higher and harder to hide from and then at the end the blazing inescapability of bare truths. This was a book that had me riveted to the page and reaching for the tissue box.

Debut author Alice Robinson agreed to answer some questions about Anchor Point for our blog. This is what she had to say.

PP: Tell us about your debut novel Anchor Point. 


AR: When I sat down to write Anchor Point I was concerned about climate change. But very quickly, I came to understand that an ‘issue’ isn’t really what carries a work of fiction for readers – characters do. I didn’t have any characters at the ready, so I spent years just writing and writing in order to unearth the people who would grapple with the ideas and consequences I was so anxious about. It surprises me now to find that the novel I ended up with is very much a family story, a narrative that at first glance seems small, domestic, compared to the large, global issue I set out with.

Anchor Point is the story of Laura, who is ten when the novel opens, and her little sister Vik. They live on a large rural property with their parents Bruce and Kath, who have a tumultuous relationship – Bruce is practical, a farmer, while Kath fancies herself an artist; their ideas about what constitutes “real work” differ widely, and there is a lot of conflict in the house as a result. As many children do in such circumstances, Laura attempts to keep peace between her parents, an impossible task. When Kath disappears during a flash flood, Laura essentially steps into her mother’s role in the family. The responsibility she shoulders shapes the course of her life, as does the secret she alone carries about Kath’s fate.

"An issue isn't really what carries a work of fiction for readers - characters do."

PP: The relationships between the land and the characters in Anchor Point are incredibly complex. How much of your own rural background and experiences came into forming these characters and their emotional ties or lack thereof to the land? 


AR: The characters and story are fictional, but certainly my understandings about what it is to live on and look after land, and my experiences of belonging (or failing to belong) are drawn from encounters with all kinds of home places from my life – rural properties, urban houses, cities, nations – and I was actively thinking about these experiences as I wrote the book. One of the complexities in the novel is the fact that, although Laura feels very responsible for and connected to her father’s property, she is aware of (but also ambivalent about) an Indigenous presence in the community. The idea that the land she so loves and feels connected to might actually belong to another group of people is deeply troubling to her. I think this tension is probably something many Australian readers can relate to.

"The idea that the land she so loves and feels connected to might actually belong to another group of people is deeply troubling to her."

A number of readers have commented that they enjoyed the authentic-sounding descriptions of rural life and work in the novel, but despite growing up in the country (on a hobby farm and really only on weekends, it must be admitted) I am really a bookish, indoor, city kind of person. I’m not particularly handy or practical where outdoor work is concerned and I’ve never done that kind of physical, farming labour myself. So I’m not very much like Laura at all. But my father – an excellent storyteller – did grow up on a sheep farm. He spent a lot of my childhood talking about the experiences he had as a boy, and those stories became family folklore: part of my identity. If I was able to invest the novel with any rural authenticity at all then the power of story to pass down experience is not to be underestimated. It is a profound inheritance.

PP: Whilst the plot of Anchor Point starts with an absent mother, the relationship that is portrayed between Laura and her father is incredibly austere and moving. Can you tell us more about Bruce and where his character came from?

AR: In a very real way that is difficult to articulate or explain, I don’t know where Bruce came from. I think questions such as this really relate to other more fundamental questions about how fiction writing works such as, ‘How fictional are fictional characters?’ And, ‘How does writing fiction happen?’ It is such a magical business, creating people and worlds from nothing, one that I think writers themselves find troubling and mystifying, difficult to pinpoint or fully understand. Anchor Point took 7 years to write, many hundreds of thousands of words written (and mostly discarded) in that time. At first Bruce was shadowy, but over the years as I wrote and edited the text, his voice and character strengthened until I came to understand the kind of man he was: a little rough around the edges, but also loyal, hardworking. He is vey much shaped by his own inheritance: the sheep farm his parents lost long ago and which he wants to recreate, at great cost to himself and his own children. I am so interested in the gifts and burdens we inherit from our parents (and their parents) and then pass on to our own children, sometimes unwittingly: ideas, desires, moral compasses. I feel very tenderly toward Bruce, as I think Laura does, though he is certainly the product of his limitations and experiences, as are we all.

"Writing fiction..... is such a magical business... one that I think writers themselves find troubling and mystifying, difficult to pinpoint or fully understand."

PP: One theme of the book is belonging - to the land, family, community and about finding one’s place. Can you talk a little about this in regards to how the characters develop in Anchor Point? 


AR: Each character has a particular relationship to the places they find themselves inhabiting – their homes and farms and towns or cities. When you look after something, including a piece of land, you become deeply invested. Laura loves and feels responsible for the land she grows up on, but I was interested in exploring the idea of an anchor as something that both protects one from drifting into unchartered waters, as well as something that can drag one down. On one level, Laura longs to get away from the farm and strike out on her own, and on another, she feels at sea when she is away from her place. That struggle: to be free, but at a cost to her sense of self, is one Laura has to grapple with. Her little sister, Vik, has quite a different relationship to the farm, partly because Laura’s dogged labour protects her from having to do much work, and so I think Vik never really develops the same kind of connection. Kath has a different relationship to the place again, in that, unlike her daughters, she is a migrant. She finds herself transplanted to this remote property, but in her own way she respects the landscape – and uses it for her own purposes – in that she creates her clay objects from the very soil of the farm. There are suggestions that Laura’s local Indigenous friend Joseph has quite a different relationship again. He knows and understands the lands in a way that Laura finds intriguing, but also unsettling. Without giving too much away, for me one of the greatest sorrows in the book is the fate of Laura’s land: for Laura and Vik, but perhaps especially (or equally) for Joseph.

PP: The environment and it’s mishandling is another strong theme - you touch on activism, land clearing, indigenous rights and climate change. What did you want the reader to take away from their reading of Anchor Point in regards to modern rural life and it’s future?

AR: Although it saddens me to admit it, I feel largely pessimistic about the future. This is an uncomfortable position to be in, because I am also the mother of two very small children – babies, really. What kind of world are they facing? When I began writing Anchor Point I wanted to believe that my attempts to explore all the issues you’ve pinpointed might have some kind of impact on the trajectory of events; I wanted to believe that fiction writing could help make change in the world. Now I’m not so sure that it can. In the time it has taken me to write the book (from the reign of Kevin Rudd to Tony Abbott) things seem, if anything, to be getting worse in Australia, environmentally speaking.

"I wanted to believe that fiction writing could help make change in the world. Now I'm not so sure that it can."

A number of readers have found the novel melancholic, which I think it probably is. I feel so much sadness about the prospect of many of the remarkable ecosystems and animals and places I love and enjoy being damaged or destroyed in decades to come as a result of our inaction. Whether readers take any of this away from the book I’m not sure, and no doubt it will impact each reader uniquely. Regardless, I think literature and ideas are powerful and important. I’m so grateful to be contributing to the conversation around Australian environmental issues in some small way.

PP: The ending of Anchor Point is set in the year 2018. Why set the ending in the future and not the here and now?

AR: The novel is set largely in the recent past and near future. The year 2018 seemed just far enough into the future to allow some creative license over events, but also close enough, I hope, to be relatable and believable. I was writing the book when Black Saturday occurred, and after that event the final scene in the book began to feel eerily possible. As I see it, the action of the novel takes place in the last gasp before any definitive, destructive or world-ending event, which means that there remains a sliver of hope for the characters beyond the pages. A novel set a long way off in the future would focus on the lives of characters surviving in a world that is already significantly altered, probably for the worse. But most of those changes haven’t happened yet in Anchor Point. To some extent, the characters can see destruction approaching, but from a distance. There is something terrifying about that, to me.

PP: This is your debut novel. Can you tell us about getting your book published?

AR: I finished the book in the months just before my first child was born. I entered it into a couple of prizes for unpublished manuscripts, but nothing came of them. I was so tired and so pregnant and a bit burned out by the whole protracted experience of writing the novel. I was really ready to put the manuscript away. “I’ll just be a mum now,” I thought. “That’s an okay thing to be.” But I happened to speak to a friend on the phone who had read the book and enjoyed it. She urged me to keep sending it out to publishers. I grumbled, but she made me feel sufficiently lazy, so I decided to send it out one more time – to Affirm Press. The first three chapters landed in their slush pile. They may have stayed there indefinitely, had their publisher Martin Hughes not taken a couple of manuscripts away with him on holidays, as a favour to his colleagues. He read my chapters and requested the rest. When he phoned to say that he wanted to publish the book, I understood what it must be like to win Tatts lotto. A sense of incredible good fortune and gratitude has never left me. After Martin phoned I also realised that, although I will always be the mother of a gorgeous little girl (and now a lovely boy too), I can have another kind of life at the same time: a writing life.

"When he phoned to say that he wanted to publish the book, I understood what it must be like to win Tatts lotto."

PP: You also lecture in creative writing at Melbourne Polytechnic. Can you tell us one invaluable piece of writing advice that you give to your students?

AR: The thing I really stress to my students is that writing well is a kind of intellectual fitness: the more you do it, the easier it gets. This goes for both quality and quantity, I think. When I am writing in a serious way every day, I notice a big improvement in the ease with which the words come to me, the satisfaction I feel with what I produce, and the pleasure I derive from the experience of writing. But when I am unable to write regularly, my skill grows flabby quickly and it all feels like impossibly hard labour.

My students normally write for an hour during each of my classes, and I can see that at the beginning of semester it is hard for them to sit at their desks for more than about five or ten minutes without getting fidgety; they can’t sustain the concentration. Writing a novel, something that many of them long to do, requires many, many hundreds of hours of intense focus, so I work with them over the course of our time together to build their writing fitness incrementally. It is amazing how much they can produce in sixty minutes by the end of semester – their surprise and gratification is a source of joy for me.

Anchor Point is published by Affirm Press and is in stock now. Rrp $25

Author Interview with Michelle De Kretser, author of "Springtime: A Ghost Story"

Springtime by award winning author Michelle de Kretser is a rare, beguiling and brilliant ghost story set in Sydney.  At 85 pages, it is the perfect antidote for any post Christmas reading slump you may be feeling and a brilliant way to bring in your 2015 Year of Reading.
Michelle de Kretser very kindly agreed to answer some questions we had for her about Springtime and here is what she had to say.

PPB: When I think of a ghost story, I usually imagine gothic architecture and cooler climates.  Your novella Springtime is set in sunny Sydney, but your towering oaks, creeping tropical plants and inner-city suburban streets provide a setting almost as dark and brooding.  Can you tell us a little about writing a modern ghost story in a modern setting?

MDK:  As you point out, in setting Springtime in sunny Sydney I was going against the gothic conventions of the traditional ghost story.  I've long been interested in playing with generic conventions; my novel The Hamilton Case simultaneously draws on and undoes the "rules" of the whodunnit.  Unsettling formal expectations is a way of creating tension, surprise and - with luck! - pleasure for the reader.
There is no resolution at the end of Springtime - the presence of the ghost is not explained, nor is it exorcised - because I wanted to write a story that would linger in the mind of the reader.  When it comes to the purely gothic, film does scary far more effectively than fiction.  I hope that what a modern ghost story can do, however, is haunt the reader by not providing closure; a lingering eeriness is the effect I was after.

"Discovering Sydney was a way of exchanging information about each other" p22

PPB:  You are well known for your masterful descriptions of place and there is a wonderful line in your novella - "Discovering Sydney was a way of exchanging information about each other." (p22) - that I think speaks to your larger body of work.  Why do you place such importance on place in your writing?

MDK:  Possibly because place matters to me.  that might be a consequence of migration.  An outsider can never take place and all that it implies - a sociology, a history - for granted in the way a local can.  I'm conscious of being alert to the way behaviour and psychology - character, if you like - is marked by place.

"It's a story about being haunted: by the past, by one's actions, by the unknowability of other people and of the future."

PPB:  Like yourself, the main character Frances, has recently moved to Sydney from Melbourne.  She finds the city compelling yet never seems at home there.  Do you feel like a Sydneysider these days?  And do you believe like Frances does that certain places seem to attract certain types of people?

MDK:  I do feel at home here, and have done so from the start, unlike Frances.  Place, in the sense of climate, is very much bound up with that.  Sydney in Summer reminds me forcefully of Sri Lanka, where I grew up:  the vegetation, the humidity, the raucous birds, the downpours.  The light here is golden as it is in Sri Lanka, whereas the light in Melbourne, where I loved for over thirty years is blue; the nature of the light makes a tremendous difference to one's unconscious sense of wellbeing in a place.
When I moved from Melbourne to Sydney, I noticed the difference in the people here: in Melbourne it's predominantly dark, tailored clothes, in Sydney it's bright colours and floaty fabrics, and there's much more flesh on display.  The difference in climate explains all of this, of course, but a dyed-in-the-wool Melbournian will draw the conclusion that Sydneysiders are flashy and superficial.  Frances inclines to that view at times while remained charmed by the gorgeousness of Sydney.

PPB:  I love describing this book by saying it is about unexplainable things - yes, it is a ghost story, but it is also about human behaviour and interaction, which can be just as inexplicable.  There are also many references to invisible threats in the story.  Can you tell us a little about the darker threads of Springtime?

MDK:  Oh, "unexplainable things" is wonderful - I'm going to borrow that phrase!   The answer to this question is related to my first answer.  If film does scary better than fiction, what fiction does better than film is interiority.  So this is really a story about Frances.  I think the question "Who sees ghosts" is an interesting one that Springtime attempts to answer.  It's a story about being haunted: by the past, by one's actions, by the unknowability of other people and of the future.

"I'd never spend the night alone in a haunted house!"

PPB:  Do you believe in ghosts?

MDK:  I'm going to have a bet each way:  no, I don't, but I'd never spend the night alone in a haunted house!

PPB:  Your last book was the Miles Franklin winner Questions of Travel, which was over 500 pages long.  This gorgeous novella is under 100 pages.  How much does your process change when writing a short story rather than a novel?

MDK:  Well, the process is obviously on a reduced scale when writing a story:  there are fewer characters, the story unfolds over a shorter period of time, there is much less research involved and so on.  But the daily practice of sitting in front of a work-processor and trying to write accurate and interesting sentences doesn't change - it just doesn't go on for as long.

PPB:  Are you working on anything new that you can tell us about?

MDK:  I can tell you that it won't be a very long novel like Questions of Travel or a very short book like Springtime - something in between!

Springtime is published by Allen & Unwin and is in store now!  rrp $15